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Author's profile photo Vijay Vital

Part 6: HCI, a new option to Integrate SAP to Ariba Network

Hello

 

Ariba provides 3 options to connect SAP system to the Ariba Network on the cloud.

 

 

Option 1. Web Services interfaces can directly consume and sendcXML messages using Ariba Add-on. By removing the need for middleware the landscape is simplified.

 

Option 2. Web Services, mediated via SAP HANA Cloud Integration (HCI), for enhanced data protection and security. (New option)

 

Option 3. Web Services, mediated via SAP Process Orchestration (PI) or similar middleware, with the same use cases as HCI, but you can take advantage of your prior investments into PI.

 

 

Ariba Connectivity.JPG

 

 

 

 

The HCI connector has been recently added as an option to connect the two systems.

 

Features include

Simplified cloud integration for trading partners

Ariba Integration Gateway powered by SAP HCI

Next generation cXML& standards based support

Strong cXML governance for enhancements

 

SCI.JPG

Update 22/06/2017

HCI replaced (Rename?) with SAP ARIBA Cloud Integration Gateway

 

 

The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway

The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway, enabled by SAP Cloud Platform Integration redefines how our customers integrate with the world’s largest B2B network. It gives our suppliers a simple and efficient way to integrate with Ariba Network using standards other than cXML. It reduces the deployment time for suppliers to integrate with Ariba Network. This is currently only available for Ariba Network supplier-side integration.

 

Standard Features

Connect once: The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway changes how suppliers integrate and manage their integration, enabling them to connect once to Ariba Network and manage a single configuration based on their core transaction capabilities regardless of customer requirements.

Single sign-on with Ariba Network: Using the single sign-on functionality, users can access their SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway account from their Ariba Network account.

 

Standard(s) mapping repository: The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway supports various standards that give suppliers the flexibility to use non-cXML data formats to transact with their customers on Ariba Network. Transactions include purchase orders, order confirmations, advance ship notifications, and invoices.

 

Connection protocol(s):The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway supports the AS2 and HTTPS protocols to provide enhanced security for suppliers transacting on Ariba Network. Suppliers can manage their connections by using certificate-based or basic authentication.

 

Integration wizard: The integration wizard automates complex integration tasks by asking a series of easy-to-answer questions. The answers suppliers provide help the SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway derive transaction configurations. Suppliers can reuse all these configurations for future integrations with other customers.

 

Developer tools:The SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway has various tools that are designed to make integrations with Ariba Network simple. For example, the transformation tool transforms the data and verifies that the data meet customers’ requirements. The schema validation tool allows easy validation to ensure that the formatting is accurate and acceptable.

 

One-click deployment: Once suppliers have verified their integration project, a single-click deployment option deploys the project to production.

Transaction tracker with search capability: The transaction tracker allows easy search and tracking of the status of transactions on Ariba Network. Users can also download the source and destination transactions, including attachment(s), processed by the SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway.

 

Test Central:Test Central offers a new approach on how suppliers should self-test and integrate with Ariba Network. It reduces the overall testing timeframe for suppliers to transact with Ariba Network. Suppliers using Test Central to test integrations can validate connectivity, transformation, and content of the documents before they go live.

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      31 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Ashish Panakanti
      Ashish Panakanti

      Is HCI available CI8 onwards or what is the roadmap

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Interesting you have asked this question at the right time. I reached out to Ariba in the US 2 days ago and they have confirmed the following.

      1) Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway (powered by HCI) supports EDI based integration for suppliers only.

      2) It is in limited availability (being tested with 5 pilot supplier I think).

      3) Its planned for general availability by Q4 this year. Not sure of the exact release.

      I will update the blog as soon as we start implementing for our suppliers.

      Follow, like and rate the post one of which should send you update as I update these posts I think.

      Author's profile photo Ashish Panakanti
      Ashish Panakanti

      Thank you for the information.

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      CI8 is now availble

      Author's profile photo Upendra Kumar
      Upendra Kumar

      Hi Vijay,

      Do we have the latest Ariba CI-9 version for  SAP HCI?

      I am not able to find that detail in Ariba connect.
      Can you provide us the link for the same if possible?

       

      Thank you.

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Upendra Kumar,

      HCI is out of the presentation. The latest tool they have is called SAP Ariba Cloud integration gateway not HCI.

      thanks

      Vijay

      Author's profile photo Upendra Kumar
      Upendra Kumar

      Thank you, Vijay, for the update.  I tried finding any Admin doc for the same but failed.
      can you provide me the link for the Admin doc of SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway?

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      update some information on this.

      Author's profile photo Anthony George
      Anthony George

      SAP Ariba CIG is now available on Ariba Connect!

      ~Anthony George

      SAP Ariba Certified Specialist - Ariba Integration

       

      Author's profile photo Eng Swee Yeoh
      Eng Swee Yeoh

      Another integration tool from SAP? How does this differ from the prepackaged Ariba content on SAP Cloud Platform Integration? And when do we use which integration solution?

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Eng Swee,

      This is more a re-branding than a new method for integration. HCI which is HANA could integration is now called Cloud Integration Gateway which is good as HANA confuses people.

       

      Regards
      Vijay Vital

      Author's profile photo shivanjali yadav
      shivanjali yadav

      If we already have HCI, so to leverage Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway, do we need to get anything specific, or with the HCI upgraded version we can use all the capabilities/functionalities of Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway.

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Shivanjali,

      Will the client allow you to expose SAP landscape via SOA manager. If so I will stick on to Add-on for buyer and you can start posting document back and forth from SAP Ariba in matter of days due to native integration. Is this a possibility?

      I presented at Ariba Live in Sydney and this by far was the most common question most asked due to the introduction of the  SAP Ariba Cloud Gateway.

      Regards,

      Vijay

      Author's profile photo Netrey Powdwal
      Netrey Powdwal

      Hi Vijay,

       

      HCI is now known as Cloud Platform Integration (not Cloud Integration Gateway). Following piece of information I found on Ariba website,

       

      SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway, enabled by SAP Cloud Platform Integration, gives you that fast, simple way to connect your back-end systems and trading partners* without the need for multiple adapters.

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Thanks Netrey,

       

      They changed the names/options a couple of times.

       

      Thanks

      Vijay Vital

      Author's profile photo Pramod Kumar
      Pramod Kumar

      Dear Vijay

       

      As you say Cloud Integration Gateway for Ariba is a new integration approach available for connecting SAP ERP (Buyer)with Ariba.

      Can you please advise :

      1. what add-on is required on ECC side. We are integrating sourcing.

      2. Client has subscribed for HCI licence, i understand this will not be required now.

      3.Is Ariba business suite 1.0 sufficient on ECC side.

      Regards

      Jitender

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Jitender,

      Hope this help,

       

      1. what add-on is required on ECC side. We are integrating sourcing.

      While I am yet to integrate Souring module, CI9.X would be preferred option (No Add-on) via PI/XI.

      2. Client has subscribed for HCI licence, i understand this will not be required now.

      If you are using procure to pay you can still use SCP (Foremerly HCP) and Ariba Network with SAP Business Suite

      3.Is Ariba business suite 1.0 sufficient on ECC side.

      For Procure to pay this is a native integration and is a plug and play. It supported till 1709 version of S/4HANA so preferred option.

      Vijay

       

      Author's profile photo Pramod Kumar
      Pramod Kumar

      thanks for your response Vijay.

      My client has planned to integrate Ariba sourcing with SAP ECC. HCI is subscribed by the client on SAP recommendation as we do not have XI PI (middleware). We are able to receive RFQ data via Idocs into HCI (Idoc adapter)but not being able to forward to Ariba Network/Ariba adapter (multiple errors related to schema / content etc ). iFlow fail at the Ariba side adapter/endpoint.

      Can you please advise on this scenario.

      Regards

      Jitender

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      @Jitender

      When are you going live? Have you check SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway?

       

      PS. Over a next couple of months, I will be using my own ID Vijay Vital for further blogs and post. Please follow the other ID.

      Author's profile photo Nitin Deshpande
      Nitin Deshpande

      Hello Vijay,

      As Netrey mentioned, SAP has not renamed CPI to CIG. CIG is nothing but an IaaS on SAP CPI. Hence it is not a different tool, but you can say an add-on to CPI only to enable the Ariba Integration.

      Regards,

      Nitin Deshpande

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Nitin,

      I didn't want to confuse the integration options with history but here is the summary of my answer. (Limited to Procure to Pay Only)

      As you are aware SAP acquired Ariba. During the initial stage, SAP Ariba had SAP Ariba cloud integration (CI) solution managed in US by Ariba team and SAP Business Suite add-on managed in Germany with a SAP/Ariba and they were not always aligned with SAP Ariba functionality.

      If you have SAP Cloud Platform (Formerly HCP) then on the "Cloud Integration - Overview" you will find "Ariba Network with SAP Business Suite" (Limited to Procure to Pay)

      SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway is an integration-as-a-service (IaaS) solution enabled by SAP Cloud Platform Integration which is the new tool to replace both these above. You need to access to the SAP Service Marketplace to download the SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway add-on for SAP ERP

      BUT, due to compatibility issue with CI 9.X, SAP Ariba while publishing Cloud Integration gateway on the SAP market place earlier, it has recently pulled out the product(add-on) with a new go live date of ~Mar, 2018.

      With so many changes, the solution from my perceptive is simple, if you are a buyer then use a native integration which is plug and play and it supported all the way till S/4HANA 1709 version which once you setup SOA manager can transmit date without any difficulty with Ariba especially if you are using Supply chain Collaborative version of Ariba.

      Hope this helps.

      Vijay Vital

       

      Author's profile photo Nitin Deshpande
      Nitin Deshpande

      Hello Vijay,

       

      You are absolutely right with the go-live date for this product, even i have the same news. But how CIG would be offered on top of CPI is one of the grey area and need more clarity on that.

       

      Regards,

      Nitin Deshpande

       

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Nitin,

      One thing great about add-on, SCI (CPi), CGI, CI are that you have various ways to integrate to Ariba. We use Add-on while our suppliers use add-on, CI9, 3rd Party Van and some testing CGI.

      The add-on support cXML while CGI uses cXML, EDIFACT Xcbl etc….If you are already using SCP, then SCI is a viable option. There is no right an wrong answer as it involves various factors such as

      1. what is the current method used for other Supplier/Buyers currently integrated?
      2. where is my business process errors and what are they comfortable with?
      3. what is the right solution for my company Architecture?

      Looking into all these, since we using SAP., Ariba add-on for business suite is by far the best option due to its plug and play and rich functionality.

      If we had one way to integrate only, then it has its own drawback. A detail assessment is need to pick the right option for your company. Good Luck Nitin

       

      Author's profile photo Manoj K
      Manoj K

      Hi Vijay,

      By looking at the comments section the confusion still arises.

      1.Does this mean if I want to integrate my backend S4 / ECC system to Ariba via CIG do I need to have CPI license as well?

      2.Do I need to install the CI9 as well along with CIG or CIG itself has all the required transports for ECC / S4? where exactly is this CIG installed ? is it installed on ECC system like Business Addon?

      3. What I understand is currently CIG is enabled at Supplier end only? And Ariba is working to make this available to Buyer as well right?

      4.Couldn't find any document on CIG ? Can you share some useful links?

      Br,

      Manoj

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      See my comments below

      1.Does this mean if I want to integrate my backend S4 / ECC system to Ariba via CIG do I need to have CPI license as well?

      Comments: S4 HANA talks natively to SAP Ariba. I dont see why you would need CIG in this case. If you are a supplier and your customers (various) request non standard mapping thenCIG might be an option.

      2.Do I need to install the CI9 as well along with CIG or CIG itself has all the required transports for ECC / S4? where exactly is this CIG installed ? is it installed on ECC system like Business Addon?

      Comments: CIG native IDoc via SAP Cloud Connector. Some companies expose SAP via PI systems which then means we need CI mapping. It depends on what your client wants.

      3. What I understand is currently CIG is enabled at Supplier end only? And Ariba is working to make this available to Buyer as well right?

      Comment: Yes this is correct.

      Author's profile photo Varun Goel
      Varun Goel

      Hi All,

      I have recently completed Ariba CI9 integration with S4 Hana using PO 7.5. However, we are getting a new client looking for using HCI instead of PO.

      Is there standard Ariba content (mappings) available for HCI  ? Could you please share the link of  integration guides of Ariba procurement, Ariba SLP with HCI.

       

      Thanks

      Varun

      Author's profile photo Vijay Vital
      Vijay Vital
      Blog Post Author

      Hello Varun,

      The new client, are they on SAP ECC? Are they a buyer or Supplier?

      Thanks

      Vijay

      Author's profile photo Ram Manohar Reddy Bandaru
      Ram Manohar Reddy Bandaru

      Hi Varun ,

       

      Have you done the Ariba CI9 integration with S4 Hana using PO 7.5 for supplier side integration.

      Our client is a supplier and wants to use PO 7.5 to integrate with Ariba cloud.

      Is there any standard PO content available to map inbound cxmls to IDOCs/BAPIs in PO ?

       

       

      Thanks

      Ram

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Vijay,

      I have read the thread and also read the PDF presentation 'Integrating SAP Ariba Cloud Solutions with SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA' (date Sept. 2017) that can be downloaded from https://www.ariba.com/resources/library/library-pages/integrating-sap-ariba-cloud-solutions-with-sap-erp-and-sap-s-4hana.

      SAP Ariba lists 3 integration options in that document:

      • CIG Add -On for Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway
      • SAP Business Suite Add-On for Ariba Network
      • Adapter for SAP NetWeaver

      I have a client that is using SAP Ariba as a buyer. Currently their strategy is move up to S/4 Hana within the next 2-3 years. They also want to draft a new 'EDI' strategy with their suppliers that suits to this accordingly. Right now the are just sending POs via EDI to there suppliers. But they would like to receive inbound advance delivery notes and later invoices.

      Which of three options would you recommend?
      One further question is how are the outbound and inbound 'messages' monitored.
      It seems the CIG Add-On and SAP Business Add-On do not use idocs anymore.
      What are options for error handling.
      NOTE: With idocs you can either monitor messages with transaction WE05 or special monitors like transaction EMASN for the inbound delivery notes. Also we can either use transaction BD87 for example to process an idoc that had an error.

      Thank you & Best Regards,

      Rainer

       

       

       

       

       

      Author's profile photo Mark Wagener
      Mark Wagener

       

      Hi Rainer,

       

      you might also find my blog useful. It's about which choice to make and the limitations ( 😉 ) of the add-on!

      Cheers,

      Mark

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hello All

      For Ariba Sourcing is there a way to pull the bid information via web services or HCI?

      The problem my customer is facing is that, for some purchases they need to award parts of some items to different bidders, in different proportions. This is because strategic reasons out of scope of variables.

      Right now we are solving this exporting the bid to an Excel, calling some Macros on Excel, award in Excel and the upload to Ariba to continue process. But this is very messy. I would like to pull that info via HCI to a more ellegant solution like SCP. Is this possible?