Use SAP BTP Integration Suite to Integrate S4/HANA Cloud with Third-Party System

In many situations, a scenario may span over multiple systems or applications. Take a scenario like Lead to Cash, for example, with multiple steps and spanning several different applications that need to be connected one to another.

Thus, no matter for customers or partners, they have a strong willingness to make an integration between SAP systems and any other third-party systems. In this way, they can optimize business processes and increase efficiency to a great extent.

SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) provides powerful and out-of-the-box integration capability to make it, that is SAP Integration Suite.

SAP Integration Suite combines the integration capabilities such as Cloud Integration (Process Integration), API Management, Integration Advisor, and Open Connectors into a cohesive and simplified toolkit for enterprise integrations. To provide a comprehensive integration experience, these services are not available separately, but only as part of the Integration Suite service plan.

The Integration Suite includes all integration capabilities in simple service plans. To know more about these plans, see Integration Suite service catalog.

In this post, you can know how to use the vital Cloud Integration (Process Integration) in the Integration Suite on SAP BTP to exchange data securely between different systems. We will take BTP@AliCloud as the data center to use Integration Suite, SAP S/4HANA Cloud as the end SAP system, Procurement with External Suppliers as the scenario to explain integration work.

You can do the integration work with Cloud Integration (Process Integration) via the following steps:

1. Analyze and dissect your scenario into detailed steps.
2. Discover API for SAP systems in SAP API Business Hub according to your detailed steps.
3. Set up Integration Suite and design Integration Flow
4. Set up SAP system

Prerequisites

How to apply account on BTP@AliCloud

Canary – Alibaba Cloud Trial (internal): https://cp-control-client.cfapps.canaryac.vlab-sapcloudplatformdev.cn/index.html

Analyze and Dissect Your Scenario

The whole process flow of Procurement with External Suppliers can be found here: https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/Sol_Pack/Library/ProcessDiagrams/2EJ_S4CLD2102_Process_Overview_EN_XX.htm.

The framed parts below show the scope of this post, which includes two directions between S/4HANA Cloud and the third-party system:

• Send Purchase Order from S/4HANA Cloud to third-party system
• Send Order Confirmation from third-party system to S/4HANA Cloud

If you would like to get more detailed information about this process, please visit: https://rapid.sap.com/bp/#/scopeitems/2EJ

Discover API for S/4HANA Cloud in SAP API Business Hub

In the SAP API Business Hub, you can discover and try out APIs that are provided by SAP solutions including S/4HANA Closud.

In our scenario, we can find an APIs collection: Purchase Order – Send, Update, Cancel.

Where the Communication Scenario SAP_COM_0224 is vital and should be quoted in the S/4HANA Cloud system. For S/4HANA Cloud, APIs are organized by Communication Scenarios. Each Communication Scenario includes all relevant APIs that are provided.

Send Purchase Order from S/4HANA Cloud to third-party system

Set up Integration Suite

https://developers.sap.com/tutorials/cp-starter-isuite-onboard-subscribe.html

Design Integration Flow

In the Cloud Integration, you can design integration flow to do data transformation and mapping between SAP systems and third-party systems with simple configuration.

Configuration on inbound connection:

Configuration on message mapping:

Get Integration Flow Endpoint

Once your integration flow gets deployed, you can get the endpoint of this integration flow in the monitoring dashboard. This URL would be consumed later when configuring the communication system and communication arrangement in S/4HANA Cloud system.

Get credential from the key of Process Integration Runtime instance

In order to call integration flow from S/4HANA Cloud system, not only should we have the URL, but also the credential.

You should create a Process Integration Runtime instance and a key for it. In the key, you can find all credential relevant information. For basic authentication, clientid and clientsecret would be configured into the S/4HANA Cloud system.

Set up S/4HANA Cloud

Step 1: Create Communication User

1. Log on to the SAP Fiori launchpad.

2. Open the Maintain Communication Users (F1338) app.

3. Choose New.

4. Maintain User Name, Description, and Password.

5. Choose Create.

Step 2: Create Communication System

1. Log on to the SAP Fiori launchpad.

2. Open the Communication Systems (F1762) app.

3. Choose New.

4. In the dialog box, maintain System ID and System Name.

5. Choose Create.

6. Maintain Host Name with the endpoint you get from the Integration Flow in Cloud Integration service (in the last section).

7. Add a User for Inbound Communication. In the dialog box, choose User Name and Password as Authentication Method. The user name is the user you’ve created in the previous chapter. Choose OK.

8. Add a User for Outbound Communication. In the dialog box, choose User Name and Password as Authentication Method. Both user name and password can be got from the key of Process Integration Runtime instance (in the last section). Choose Create.

9. Add a Business Partner, then choose the supplier from the list that corresponds with the communication system you are currently creating.

10. Choose Save.

Step 3: Create Communication Arrangement

1. Log on to the SAP Fiori launchpad.

2. Open the Communication Arrangements (F1763) app.

3. Choose New.

4. In the dialog box, maintain Scenario SAP_COM_0224 and enter an arrangement name.

5. Choose Create.

6. Maintain Communication System as defined in step Create Communication System.

7. The system now automatically updates default information from the communication system and communication scenario. For example, user IDs as well as inbound and outbound services.

8. Under Outbound Services, maintain the path for service Purchase Order – Send, Update, Cancel. The path to be used is specific to the target system and can be filled with the path of the endpoint you get from the Integration Flow in Cloud Integration service (in the last section).

9. Choose Save.

Step 4: Download WSDL

In the Communication Arrangement that you created, you can download all inbound and outbound SOAP WSDL.

Step 5: Output Parameter Determination

1. Log on to the SAP Fiori launchpad in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

2. Open the Output Parameter Determination app.

3. Enter Show rules for: Purchase Order and Determination Step: Channel.

4. For each supplier to whom you would like to send purchase orders via EDI, create an entry such as the one

   below:

5. Activate the new entries (you have to confirm the activation in a dialog box). .

6. Enter Show rules for: Purchase Order and Determination Step: Output Type.

7. Maintain the following entries:

   ○ Document Type: Empty

   ○ Output Type: Purchase Order

   ○ Dispatch time: 1 (immediately)

8. Activate the new entries (you have to confirm the activation in a dialog box).

Create Purchase Order

In the Manage Purchase Order app, create a new purchase order.

Click into the Item, under the section Supplier Confirmation Control, select Confirmation Control as Confirmations:

Choose Order.

Send Order Confirmation from third-party system to S/4HANA Cloud

Design Integration Flow

In the Cloud Integration, you can design integration flow to do data transformation and mapping between SAP systems and third-party systems with simple configuration.

In order to do message mapping, you should first upload data schemas for both source and target.

In our scenario, source data is in JSON format from third-party systems, and target data is in XML format to S/4HANA Cloud systems. However, the data format of the two side should be consistent. Thus, we should do some preparation ahead of time.

Further configuration on message mapping:

Send Request Reply to S/4HANA Cloud with the communication user that created in the last post:

Send Order Confirmation

Once third-party system sends order confirmation to the purchase order that we created before, we can see its update in the S/4HANA Cloud system:

Conclusion

This post includes:

• Prerequisites
• Analyze and Dissect Your Scenario
• Discover API for S/4HANA Cloud in SAP API Business Hub
• Send Purchase Order from S/4HANA Cloud to third-party system
• Send Order Confirmation from third-party system to S/4HANA Cloud