openSAP

Integration – The Key to the Intelligent Enterprise

Section 1 Unit 1

00:00:09 Hello I'm Katrin von Ahsen and I would like to welcome you to our open SAP nutshell
course
00:00:16 Integration: The Key to the Intelligent Enterprise. I'm a product manager at the SAP Chief
Technology
00:00:24 Office for Integration, supporting the definition and rollout of SAP's integration strategy
00:00:30 in the context of the intelligent enterprise. I will outline the structure of this nutshell course
for you.
00:00:41 This course comprises five sections. Only the first section is defined as a mandatory
section,
00:00:49 so here we will take a closer look at SAP's integration strategy at a glance.
00:00:56 This is the only section where we have a course assignment, which will allow you
00:01:01 to earn the record of achievement points. Then, the next sections are defined as optional
sections.
00:01:09 So here we will focus on more detailed topics on integration technologies and styles,
00:01:15 operational topics, and cross-technology aspects. So even though these sections are
defined as optional,
00:01:24 I would like to encourage you to join these sections to learn more about the
00:01:29 single integration aspects, which are heavily needed for the intelligent enterprise.
00:01:37 So let's get started with the next unit, where I will present the framework
00:01:41 of the intelligent enterprise to you.
Section 1 Unit 2

00:00:12 Welcome back. We're in the second unit of the section.

00:00:16 This is Katrin once again, and I would like to introduce you
00:00:19 to the SAP Intelligent Enterprise Framework. So let's get started.
00:00:25 In the last decades, the level of automation increased along with the introduction of new
technologies.
00:00:32 Starting from shop floor automation in the sixties, over enterprise resource planning,
00:00:38 towards cloud computing and Big Data in the last couple of years.
00:00:44 Now, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of
Things,
00:00:50 advanced analytics, and blockchain have become mainstream. By applying intelligent
technologies,
00:00:58 we can help our customers transform into event-driven businesses
00:01:02 that automate repetitive tasks and enable employees to focus on higher-value tasks.
00:01:09 The intelligent enterprise builds upon the promise of digital transformation
00:01:14 by applying data-driven intelligence to drive automated actions and decisions
00:01:21 based on superior insights. Today, this automation can be administered
00:01:26 far more cost effectively than in previous years because new tools make emerging
technologies
00:01:34 more consumable by embedding the intelligence within the business processes.
00:01:42 What are the next practices? In today's world, the concept of best practices
00:01:48 is becoming increasingly outdated. Winners in the digital economy are characterized
00:01:54 by one main characteristic: speed. First mover advantage is creating new markets,
00:02:01 and capturing mindshare is more critical than ever. These winners have adopted a set of
next practices
00:02:09 that help them to innovate faster than the competition. These next practices are defined by
a set
00:02:16 of capabilities and outcomes that are made possible by next-generation technologies.
00:02:22 So let's take a quick look at the capabilities. First of all, we have the visibility,
00:02:28 which is the ability to collect and connect data that was previously siloed and to recognize
unseen patterns.
00:02:37 Focus is about the ability to simulate the impact of potential options and direct scarce
resources
00:02:44 to the area of maximum impact. Agility is the ability to respond faster
00:02:52 to changes in the marketplace or the business and to pivot business processes
00:02:57 toward the right customer outcomes. Let's take a look at the outcomes.
00:03:04 So here it's to deliver the best-in-class customer experience by anticipating and proactively
responding
00:03:11 to end-customer needs. To deliver a step change in productivity
00:03:18 by increasing the level of automation. Finally, to do more with less and empower employees

00:03:25 through process automation and elevating people to do more meaningful work.
00:03:33 So let's take a look at some examples to see how we can redefine
00:03:37 the end-to-end customer experience. We can think of introducing self-services delivered
00:03:43 by chatbots and voice to interact with customers. A personalized and distinct customer
experience is key.
00:03:51 Omnichannel customer services which can be delivered at any time

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00:03:55 and anywhere across Web shops, across telecenters, and so on.
00:04:01 How can we actually support to deliver a step change in productivity?
00:04:06 With the help of machine learning technologies, we can automate the invoice
00:04:10 and payment matching, for instance. To accelerate the sales cycle,
00:04:16 it's possible to introduce a predictive fleet management.
00:04:20 To automate the supply chain, there are options to automate
00:04:24 the warehouse processing steps. In regards of the workforce engagement,
00:04:30 how can we transform the workforce here to the next level?
00:04:35 Here there are options to introduce CXO dashboards and boardrooms for the future in a
very appealing
00:04:42 We can relieve work from managers by introducing machine learning-enabled employee
approvals.
00:04:48 Finally, you can streamline the whole goods processing and ordering processing,
00:04:53 by introducing guided buying for materials procurement. These are just some examples.
00:05:00 We can think of more by leveraging innovation technologies such as
00:05:05 machine learning, blockchain, Internet of Things, and to apply these to business processes.

00:05:14 Let's take a look at the SAP strategy to deliver the intelligent enterprise.
00:05:19 This strategy comprises three components. First of all, it's the intelligent suite.
00:05:28 We will provide an intelligent suite that enables our customers to automate
00:05:32 their day-to-day business processes and better interact with their customers,
00:05:37 suppliers, and employees through applications that have intelligence embedded in them.
00:05:44 This will be industry-specific, global, and applicable to both large enterprises
00:05:51 and small and medium businesses. The next building block is the digital platform.
00:06:00 With SAP Cloud Platform and SAP HANA Data Management Suite,
00:06:05 We can facilitate the collection, connection, and orchestration of data,
00:06:09 as well as the integration and extension of processes within the intelligent suite.
00:06:16 The third component is the intelligent technologies. Here we have SAP Leonardo,
00:06:23 which enables our customers to leverage their data, to detect patterns, predict outcomes,
00:06:29 and suggest actions. Let's take a closer look at the single building blocks.
00:06:36 Let's start with the intelligent suite. Here we have the customer experience,
00:06:42 which is about gaining a deeper understanding of your customers, predicting and
proactively meeting their needs,
00:06:50 and providing exceptional, differentiated, and personalized customer experiences.
00:06:57 People engagement – this is about transforming your workplace experience,
00:07:04 improving connectivity and engagement across your workforce, attracting, developing, and
retaining the right talent,
00:07:12 and providing personal and role-based employee experience. In regards of manufacturing
and supply chain,
00:07:20 here you can run a highly responsive digital supply chain for advanced
00:07:25 customer-centric manufacturing, leverage predictive processes, smart automation,
00:07:33 and have total visibility across your network. At the center of all this is the digital core.
00:07:40 With an intelligent ERP system, reach new levels of productivity, efficiency,
00:07:46 and insight while maximizing resource and operational agility.
00:07:51 Network and spend management is about simplifying travel expenses
00:07:56 and invoice management, sourcing, buying, and paying on the world's

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00:08:01 largest business networks, and managing and engaging the external workforce
00:08:06 for greater visibility, employee empowerment, cost control, and risk reduction.
00:08:14 The next building blocks are the intelligent technologies.
00:08:19 SAP Leonardo is focused on industry-led intelligent technologies,
00:08:25 such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, and advanced
analytics
00:08:30 that enable SAP customers to become intelligent enterprises.
00:08:36 As each of these intelligent technologies can be consumed within our intelligent suite,
00:08:42 they offer immediate value to any customer using SAP applications.
00:08:49 SAP Leonardo offers game-changing innovation to our customers in three different ways.
00:08:56 There's a tool kit of technologies provided that allows SAP and its customers and partners
00:09:01 to build innovations using these technologies. Intelligence that will be embedded
00:09:07 in core business processes. For example, the intelligent ERP
00:09:12 with self-learning algorithms for automated invoice matching.
00:09:17 The third option is the innovation services and IoT accelerator packages and open
innovation,
00:09:24 all powered by our unique design thinking methodology and industry expertise across 25
industries.
00:09:34 The third building block is the digital platform. A data-driven digital platform is the foundation

00:09:41 for the intelligent enterprise. SAP's digital platform will combine the power
00:09:47 of SAP Cloud Platform with the next-generation HANA Data Management Suite
00:09:53 to provide our customers with innovative cloud solutions that combine structured and
unstructured data.
00:10:01 Here we're expanding the SAP HANA portfolio to cover Big Data use cases
00:10:07 with native integration to HANA in-memory database. This is made possible by the power
00:10:14 of the SAP Data Hub solution, which orchestrates data from SAP and third-party systems
00:10:21 for a 360-degree view of all company data. SAP Data Hub also enables better management

00:10:30 of data landscapes to monitor and improve data quality as well as efficient data processing
for machine learning
00:10:38 and the Internet of Things use cases. With SAP HANA becoming available in the cloud
00:10:45 as a database as a service, it offers complete flexibility for customers
00:10:51 to manage data either on premises, in their private cloud, or in a public cloud.
00:10:59 With SAP Cloud Platform, customers can integrate and extend
00:11:02 the business processes within the intelligent suite and enable new innovations.
00:11:09 With APIs and microservices, we simplify data and process integration across
heterogeneous environments.
00:11:18 These APIs enable the creation of a new ecosystem around the intelligent suite.
00:11:25 Furthermore, all SAP Leonardo will be available as a service on SAP Cloud Platform.
00:11:34 With this, we come to the end of Unit 2. In the next session, I will present the topic of
00:11:39 "The Value of SAP Integration". From me, this is Katrin saying goodbye
00:11:45 and see you in the next class. Have a good day.

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Section 1 Unit 3

00:00:14 Welcome back. In this third unit of this section,

00:00:17 I, Katrin, will talk about the value of SAP integration. So let's get started.
00:00:24 So we are pursuing actually four key principles to ease the integration of SAP applications.

00:00:32 First of all is out-of-the-box integration. This is something which we tackle through various
measures,
00:00:38 but through automation, delivering prepackaged content, and so on. Another aspect,
second, is open integration.
00:00:48 So opening up the applications from SAP, the intelligent suite, by providing public APIs,
00:00:54 which allows you to integrate these applications more easily.
00:00:59 The third aspect is holistic integration. Here we are going beyond
00:01:04 the classic scope of application integration, so the objective is to deliver
00:01:09 a consistent customer experience across the intelligent suite.
00:01:13 This means not only to integrate the technical conductivity, but to align the user experience,

00:01:20 the data foundation, and more. The fourth principle is

00:01:24 artificial intelligence-driven integration. In the same way we plan to apply
00:01:30 intelligent technologies to the SAP applications, we plan to do the same with the integration
technology.
00:01:38 By embedding machine learning technologies, we can leverage experiences from the past
to
00:01:44 further streamline and automate the integration for our customers.
00:01:50 Let's move on and take a look at the single principles in more detail.
00:01:56 In regards to out-of-the-box integration, we deliver turnkey solutions for SAP applications.
00:02:03 We plan to deliver a modular suite with predefined integration points based on public APIs.
00:02:12 For a lot of use cases, we have prepackaged integration content available.
00:02:18 This is not only applicable for SAP-to-SAP integration, but for SAP-to-non-SAP applications
as well.
00:02:26 So this is more than just mapping. It's really the end-to-end integration flow
00:02:31 and you can discover the prepackaged integration content at SAP API Business Hub.
00:02:39 Furthermore, we plan to align the APIs across SAP applications
00:02:46 for the future and new scenarios. So by aligning the APIs,
00:02:51 the integration becomes much more simple, and you have the option to directly integrate the

00:02:57 applications without using middleware as well. Another aspect is to automate the end-to-end
implementation.
00:03:09 So here we have introduced the cloud integration automation service,
00:03:13 which allows you not only to implement the middleware content but the end-to-end
00:03:18 business process from an integration perspective, including the configuration of the sending
applications
00:03:25 and receiving applications. Furthermore, we are standardizing the
00:03:30 technology foundation, so we support strategic SAP technologies, which is
00:03:36 SAP Cloud Platform Integration for process integration and SAP Data Hub for data
integration.
00:03:44 Very crucial when shifting towards end-to-end processes along the intelligent suite
00:03:50 is the complementing monitoring. And here we have an end-to-end monitoring in place,

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00:03:57 which allows us to actually look at the data processing within the sending applications to
track actually
00:04:04 the processing of these documents along the integration solution to its final destination.
00:04:11 Master data services in cloud. This is another aspect we are introducing as well,
00:04:18 which allows us to more efficiently share master data across the intelligent suite and avoid
00:04:27 master data replication scenarios moving forward. Along the modularization of the
applications,
00:04:35 we support event-based architectures using publish and subscribe mechanisms
00:04:41 and are shifting for a more agile and event-driven integration approach as well.
00:04:50 The second aspect is open integration, which goes along with extensibility.
00:04:57 In regards of extensibility options, the applications of our public APIs
00:05:03 which allow custom extensions. The same applies to the prepackaged
00:05:07 integration content SAP delivers. So here your customers have the options
00:05:13 to extend these and to customize these according to their technical needs.
00:05:20 The integration spans across mode 1, the enterprise application, and the innovation as well.

00:05:28 So we have APIs for the Leonardo technologies in place, which you can use for building
innovative applications
00:05:36 on top of the intelligent suite. All this is based on SAP Cloud Platform as
00:05:42 an integration and orchestration platform. So we have various services that are available
00:05:47 to orchestrate the business processes, to integrate the applications, to connect physical
things.
00:05:54 So you will learn this over the course of this openSAP course.
00:06:02 In regards of openness, we go beyond the SAP scope to improve
00:06:06 the integration of non-SAP use cases as well. And here we have delivered enhanced
capabilities
00:06:14 to integrate with non-SAP applications, which is the SAP Cloud Platform Open Connectors.

00:06:21 So an API-based approach to integrate on an aligned canonical data model to integrate with

00:06:28 non-SAP applications in a very convenient way. Moreover, we have enhanced capabilities
in place
00:06:37 to integrate with business partners and local and government authorities.
00:06:43 So the B2G scenarios, such as packaged electronic invoicing solutions for
00:06:49 selected countries which are delivered along SAP applications. Furthermore, the partner
ecosystem is very active
00:06:58 in building additional integration content and adapters as well.
00:07:03 So you may check out SAP App Center to find out about complementing solutions
00:07:09 delivered by our partners. The third key principle is very important.
00:07:17 It's the holistic integration. Here we are looking for a comprehensive
00:07:22 hybrid integration platform which supports all integration needs for end-to-end digitalization.

00:07:29 A lot of customers have already invested a lot in on-premise applications and technologies.

00:07:35 And so we deliver now our complementing integration services in Cloud,

00:07:39 which you can flexibly combine in order to address the integration needs
00:07:44 of your entire organization. We actually cover a broad variety of integration styles,
00:07:51 ranging from process data, user experience, analytics, and Internet of Things integration.

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00:08:01 The platform as such offers flexible deployment options. We're pursuing the multicloud
strategy,
00:08:07 and so you have plenty of options to run the platform and integration services on your data
center
00:08:14 and infrastructure-as-a-service provider of choice. In addition to the technical concepts and
solution,
00:08:23 we offer a methodology complementing our strategy. This is the integration solution advisor
methodology.
00:08:31 It's designed to help enterprise architects to shape their integration strategy.
00:08:36 The objective here is to increase the integration maturity of organizations
00:08:42 and to introduce well-defined integration standards across the organization.
00:08:49 This methodology is vendor agnostic, so it's open to SAP and non-SAP integration
technologies
00:08:56 and has been already successfully adopted by a lot of organizations, partners, and
consultants.
00:09:06 Let's move on to the fourth principle, which is artificial intelligence-supported integration.
00:09:13 Here we are leveraging artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate the integration
content development.
00:09:21 Here we have, for instance, the integration content advisor in place,
00:09:25 which I'll present to you later on in this course with a demo which allows you to leverage
actually
00:09:33 the experiences of the past, to detect patterns out of existing mappings,
00:09:38 and propose to you mappings and interface definitions and in a very convenient way.
00:09:45 Another aspect is to improve the user experience for integration developers,
00:09:51 so to offer context-based assistance and recommendations for integration personas.
00:09:58 There is a further simplification of the integration experience plant.
00:10:02 So going along the whole lifecycle of implementing integrations to explore,
00:10:08 to try, to buy, to develop, to extend, and to operate. Another aspect is the context-based
assistance
00:10:17 going across several personas, not only targeting the integration developers
00:10:23 but line-of-business users as well. So allowing business users
00:10:28 to implement integrations of their area and to turn these into "citizen integrators".
00:10:37 So let's summarize quickly what we have seen so far. The four core principles are, first of
all,
00:10:43 out-of-the-box integration, where we are delivering prepackaged integration and automation
of
00:10:51 the integration implementation. The second principle is open integration to a
00:10:56 change towards public APIs and to better support integration of non-SAP applications
00:11:03 and business partners as well. The third aspect is holistic integration
00:11:08 to cover all the integration flavors of organizations, ranging from data process,
00:11:15 user experience integration, and so on. And last but not least, the fourth principle:
00:11:20 AI-supported integration to embed the intelligent technology into the integration solutions
00:11:27 to take it to the next level of automation and suggest implementations along changing
customer needs.
00:11:40 Finally, I would like here to show you, actually, our integration strategy at a glance
00:11:47 with all the different principles as outlined before, which is actually the key enabler of
00:11:52 the intelligent enterprise. We have here the building blocks,

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00:11:56 ranging across all the integration styles as outlined before, complemented with cross
functionalities, cross technologies,
00:12:04 like process orchestration services, master data services as well.
00:12:10 In addition to that, we cover the aspects of the life cycle management of integration,
00:12:15 like monitoring automation, extensibility – very important.
00:12:19 So this is more or less the integration strategy we're pursuing here, and at the same time,
00:12:25 this is more or less the agenda for this course, and I will walk you in the next sessions
00:12:34 through the single elements of this strategy. I hope you found this topic interesting
00:12:40 and I will look forward to seeing you again in the next unit of this section.
00:12:45 Stay tuned and goodbye.

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Section 1 Unit 4

00:00:09 Hello and welcome back. I'm Katrin, and your instructor for this unit.
00:00:13 We are now in the fourth unit of this section, Delivering a Consistent Experience Along End-
to-End Processes.
00:00:21 So let's get started. To deliver tangible results,
00:00:28 we pursue a focused approach to apply intelligence and to deliver
00:00:33 a consistent customer experience across the intelligent suite.
00:00:38 For this purpose, the top four end-to-end business processes
00:00:43 were chosen as front runners for the intelligent enterprise.
00:00:47 Once proven successfully, it is intended to re-image further core cross- industry
00:00:53 and industry-specific business processes. Now let's take a quick look at the first top
scenarios.
00:01:01 So let's start with the lead-to-cash scenario. This belongs to the cluster Customer
Experience.
00:01:10 The lead-to-cash process is typically one of the most important business processes
00:01:15 for many companies because it is the process ultimately responsible
00:01:20 for delivering revenue for an organization. From a high-level perspective,
00:01:26 the lead-to-cash process connects a customer's interest to buy which is managed in SAP
C/4HANA,
00:01:33 to a company's realization of revenue, which is managed in the back end S/4HANA,
00:01:40 bringing the front office together with the back office. The total workforce scenario
00:01:46 belonging to the People cluster deals with human capital management.
00:01:52 The total workforce process includes all the activities needed
00:01:56 to maintain a productive workforce such as the core HR management,
00:02:01 performance, and training management, but also recruiting, forecasting, and so on.
00:02:07 Total workforce refers to the permanent workers, which are managed in SuccessFactors
applications,
00:02:14 and contingent workers, which are managed with the SAP Fieldglass solution.
00:02:21 The third scenario is a design-to-operate process, which belongs to the
00:02:25 Manufacturing and Digital Supply Chain cluster. The classic manufacturing process
comprises
00:02:33 the steps through which new materials are transformed into final products,
00:02:38 starting from the design over the manufacturing and delivery of an asset.
00:02:42 And in the intelligent enterprise, the process cut also the step
00:02:47 of finally operating the asset at customer site is included.
00:02:54 The last scenario is the source-to-pay process, which belongs to the Spend Management
cluster.
00:03:01 While companies often focus on revenue, sourcing and procurement savings
00:03:06 can increase profits about five times more. In the intelligent enterprise process definition,
00:03:14 both steps, sourcing and procurement, are comprised with sourcing being the strategic
process
00:03:21 of ensuring that the right suppliers get chosen. And procurement being the operational
process
00:03:30 that takes care of the actual procurement of direct material, indirect materials, or services.
00:03:38 All these are managed with SAP Ariba, including the Marketplace solutions and SAP
S/4HANA.

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00:03:46 So let's take a closer look at the two of the first scenarios, lead-to-cash and total workforce.

00:03:55 Lead-to-cash is actually the scenario where are aiming to integrate the front office
00:04:00 with the back office with SAP S/4HANA. For enabling an end-to-end customer experience
00:04:08 along the lead-to-cash process, it's required to tightly integrate
00:04:12 the front office of C/4HANA, which comprises the acquisitions of Callidus Cloud,
00:04:18 and Gigya, which is now SAP Customer Identity, with the digital core,
00:04:26 which is SAP S/4HANA. With respect to in-built intelligence,
00:04:32 this means that with the help of the end-to-end customer master data strategy,
00:04:37 customers will be able to currently track and manage first digital contacts
00:04:43 to late-stage customers that receive many products
00:04:47 and services to drive personalized transparent experience to drive engagement and build
trust in brands.
00:04:57 Let's take a look at the SAP C/4HANA suite. C/4HANA is the unified suite
00:05:04 of cloud solutions that manage the customer experience based on a trusted customer data
model,
00:05:10 which is SAP Customer Data Cloud. It combines SAP's front-office cloud solutions
00:05:18 with SAP S/4HANA powered by artificial intelligence. The C/4HANA portfolio of cloud
solutions
00:05:27 includes the five cloud solutions previously on the market under the SAP Hybris brand name

00:05:35 with some key updates and changes derived from recent acquisitions.
00:05:41 Here we have the SAP Marketing Cloud, which markets with intelligence in the moment,
00:05:48 SAP Commerce Cloud, and SAP Sales Cloud, which includes the acquired CallidusCloud
solutions
00:05:55 for lead management. And SAP Customer Data Cloud,
00:05:59 which includes the newest offering, including the acquired Gigya solutions.
00:06:04 Consent, profile, and identity features differentiate this offering. Finally we have SAP
Service Cloud
00:06:14 to make customers happy along the service cycle. As the outer shell towards line-of-
business users,
00:06:22 it is intended to deliver a unified user experience through conversational, contextual,
00:06:28 and intelligent user experience. Furthermore, it's intended that all modules
00:06:35 will be based on a single data foundation, which is provided by SAP Customer Data Cloud.
00:06:43 Building of extensions is simplified across all modules through an extension factory
00:06:49 which is based on the open source project Kyma. SAP C/4HANA integrates seamlessly with
the back office,
00:06:58 which is SAP S/4HANA. Let's take a quick look at an example.
00:07:06 So how we plan to deliver a consistent experience for the lead-to-cash process.
00:07:12 Here we have a user interface for classic line-of-business users
00:07:16 where we actually embedded intelligence, as you can see on the top left corner,
00:07:22 where we have actually a deal score rate derived by applying machine learning
technologies
00:07:29 on the lead data. Furthermore, we embed into this UI
00:07:35 data from several applications. So here you can see, for instance,
00:07:39 data from S/4HANA Cloud about some contract details
00:07:44 and furthermore, some data from the Service Cloud where you have all data from a
customer collected

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00:07:51 at a single place. Finally, you can obtain a 360-degree view
00:07:57 on your customer interactions across all touch points.
00:08:02 So here we see some examples of data coming in through various channels,
00:08:07 like a Web commerce channel, through telecampaign measures, and so on.
00:08:13 So this is an example of how we plan to deliver a consistent experience
00:08:18 across the lead-to-cash process. Now let's take a look at another example,
00:08:25 at another scenario, which is the total workforce. Here the process spans along an entire
project lifecycle,
00:08:33 from the project planning towards project closing. Such projects are being staffed with
permanent
00:08:40 and contingent workers. Even though both worker groups will follow
00:08:44 the same project lifecycle, there are slight differences between the two.
00:08:50 For instance, the staffing is done in a different using different applications.
00:08:55 From permanent workers, HR managers search for existing resources in SuccessFactors
applications,
00:09:01 whereas contingent workers are requested via SAP Fieldglass solutions.
00:09:08 Furthermore, enterprises are lacking insights into their contingent workforce
00:09:13 opposite to their internal one. This can turn into a significant disadvantage
00:09:19 the more the enterprise relies on contingent workers. Therefore, total workforce visibility
across all employees
00:09:27 and workers is key. From an SAP application integration point of view,
00:09:34 this means to integrate SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Fieldglass, and SAP S/4HANA
00:09:40 to bring this on a common data foundation to allow total workforce visibility.
00:09:48 So let's take a look at an example here for the total workforce.
00:09:52 Here we are looking at a new way of interacting with line-of-business users
00:09:58 to deliver a consistent experience. So here we have introduced SAP CoPilot
00:10:05 as a digital assistant for personalized human resources. This is an intelligent service
powered by machine learning.
00:10:14 It leverages natural language processing and business context awareness information
00:10:19 out of the data foundation. It's a powerful solution
00:10:25 which allows you to allow instance access to various HR activities.
00:10:32 Just with language natural processing, you can interact with these digital assistants
00:10:39 to find out more details on your benefits to manage any learning course
00:10:43 or to get some further recommendations for training. Another advantage is that it's available
everywhere.
00:10:51 It's accessible through desktop applications and you can access it via Microsoft Teams,
00:10:58 and it allows you to interact with text interactions or on mobile and desktop applications.
00:11:09 Finally, let's wrap up this course module. So what we are now executing on
00:11:15 is to focus on top scenarios of our customers, which is the lead-to-cash process,
00:11:22 the total workforce management, design-to-operate, and source-to-pay process.
00:11:28 We will come to more examples of these processes later on in this course,
00:11:33 so there we will have some examples about the remaining processes
00:11:37 like design-to-operate as well. Along these scenarios
00:11:41 we plan to apply the integration quality to deliver a consistent experience
00:11:47 across end-to-end processes. So that's all for this unit from me, Katrin von Ahsen.
00:11:53 Thanks for joining this session and have a good See you in the next class.

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Section 1 Unit 5

00:00:10 Hello, this is Katrin and your instructor for this course. I hope you enjoyed the last class.
00:00:17 In this session we will walk through the SAP application programming interface strategy,
00:00:24 so the API strategy. Let me go to the slides.
00:00:31 So let's start with APIs – what are they all about? APIs are actually the building blocks
00:00:37 for the digital business. APIs support various use cases,
00:00:42 so it's not only integrations where you require to connect with applications.
00:00:48 So these APIs can be used for building and extending applications as well.
00:00:55 In regard of the value of the APIs, these allow you to unlock your data
00:01:00 as the data of your applications is accessible via public and standardized APIs,
00:01:08 and it allows you to empower users with self- services to access the data, to discover the
data via APIs.
00:01:17 Finally, APIs are the drivers for innovation, which allows you to connect applications,
00:01:23 to build innovative solutions on top of the intelligent suite.
00:01:30 So let's take a look at our vision in regards of the API strategy, what we are targeting at.
00:01:37 So we will focus on open APIs, which are easy to discover and to consume.
00:01:43 For instance, it's intended to specify the APIs according to the open API spec.
00:01:50 So we plan to deliver high-quality and conceptually consistent APIs across SAP
applications.
00:01:59 Consistent means here on a technical level, on the level of protocols, and on a semantic
level as well.
00:02:06 So here we are looking to align the APIs on a business semantic level for SAP-to-SAP
integration
00:02:14 in order to reduce the integration effort. In a nutshell, we are pursuing an API-first strategy.
00:02:22 To turn the intelligent suite into a modular suite we need to open up the solutions by
providing
00:02:31 and to provide access to single business processes and capabilities of these applications.
00:02:40 So let's take a look at the technical details of the API strategy.
00:02:44 Let's start with the communication types for integration. So here we can differentiate
between
00:02:49 synchronous and asynchronous communication. So what is the difference?
00:02:54 In the case of synchronous communication, the sender waits for a response back from the
receiver
00:03:01 until further steps are being taken. So to support this integration type,
00:03:08 you need to use synchronous interfaces. So here the use cases applicable
00:03:14 for synchronous communication are, for instance, user experience integration. Why that?
00:03:20 Because a user expects an immediate response in terms of timely communication,
00:03:27 and further use cases are process integration and data integration use cases.
00:03:33 In contrast to that, asynchronous communication is decoupled.
00:03:38 So the sender sends out a request and doesn't wait until the response is coming back,
00:03:43 so it can continue to work in parallel on other requests. For this kind of communications
00:03:50 you require asynchronous interfaces. So where is this integration concept being applied?
00:03:58 It's applicable for process integration and data integration use cases and, for instance,
00:04:04 the business partner integration use case, where you actually send, for instance,
00:04:09 electronic data interchanges to business partners, and you don't want to wait
00:04:15 until the responses are sent back. Let's take another step

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00:04:22 to look at the protocols we are supporting along the intelligent enterprise strategy.
00:04:30 The plan is to focus on public Web-based APIs. So, for instance, REST-based APIs,
00:04:36 which are designed actually for synchronous requests with response.
00:04:42 REST-based APIs means Representational State Transfer protocol support,
00:04:50 which is a common standard in the industries. These can be accessed
00:04:55 via operations such as GET, POST, DELETE, and is based on the HTTP protocol.
00:05:02 SAP has defined a guideline for future REST API harmonization,
00:05:07 to align actually the common presentation of such APIs across SAP.
00:05:14 If you are looking to develop any custom APIs or extensions, you're welcome to walk
through this document
00:05:21 and design your APIs according to this guideline as well. Another option for synchronous
communication
00:05:29 is the OData APIs, which is the Open Data Protocol, which is the special family of REST-
based APIs.
00:05:38 This is, for instance, supported by SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Whenever this is supported by an
application,
00:05:46 this OData Protocol is preferred over a REST- based protocol. In addition to that, SAP is
working on introducing
00:05:57 advanced API qualities on REST and OData APIs. For example, in the future, business and
data change events
00:06:07 we'll be exposed to subscribers to enable real-time integration capabilities.
00:06:13 OData APIs may also support consistent initial loading of large data sets and delta load
capabilities
00:06:21 to support offline scenarios and data replications. For the asynchronous communication,
00:06:29 we will be using SOAP-based APIs. SOAP is the Simple Open Access Protocol,
00:06:35 and is commonly used for exchanging information in distributed environments.
00:06:41 So this is the preferred protocol for asynchronous messaging, including error handling.
00:06:51 Having said that, let's take a quick look at the use cases for open APIs.
00:06:56 First of all, you rely on open APIs for integration purposes.
00:07:02 You can share enterprise data from data lakes, business systems,
00:07:05 to suppliers, partners, and customers. Another use case is actually enterprise
microservices,
00:07:13 if you're pushing more to a modular suite based on single capabilities and microservices.
00:07:20 Here you can build and manage API-first microservices, enabling development operations
of such services.
00:07:30 A third use case is enterprise digital apps. Here you can build enterprise digital apps
00:07:37 for your employees – for instance, field, sales, and support – to support a multichannel
experience
00:07:44 through mobile devices: iPads, desktop PCs, and so on. The last use case is quite
important
00:07:52 for the intelligent enterprise. It's about API products and to monetize APIs,
00:07:58 to expose certain and selected business functionalities towards your customers and
business partners.
00:08:05 Here you can use API products to monetize data and capabilities in a pay-per- use model.
00:08:16 So after we have actually gone through the details of the technical alignment of SAP APIs,
00:08:24 let's go now to the business semantic level. Here we are envisioning an alignment
00:08:30 on the level of domain models. So what is an application domain model all about?

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00:08:36 This is actually a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any
software program
00:08:43 constructed to solve a problem. To follow the domain-driven design principles,
00:08:50 we are placing here the project's primary focus on the core domain and the domain logic.
00:08:57 So if you're dealing with end-to-end business processes, you're dealing with several
domains,
00:09:03 which are interconnected or even to some extent overlapping. So how do we deal here with
domain model alignment?
00:09:11 Here you need to introduce a creative collaboration between the domain experts, to define a
conceptual model,
00:09:19 to address a particular domain problem. So for instance, if you have some common objects

00:09:26 you need to manage or if you want to share business objects amongst applications.
00:09:34 So as this is a bit difficult to understand, let's take a look at an example.
00:09:42 Here we have the example of a finance application. Here, for example, in travel itineraries
and travel expenses,
00:09:54 reports are the core domain of Concur solutions. For an expense report,
00:09:59 the controlling domain is merely a supporting domain, as a cost object is needed to be filed
in an expense report.
00:10:09 The long-term goal here is that applications follow the best practices domain model
00:10:15 that the leading application provides. Domain models manifest themselves
00:10:21 not only in several internal models, such as application object models or persistency
models,
00:10:28 but also in external API models. For new applications, SAP seeks to align
00:10:35 mainly the external API models in the first instance. An even farther-reaching alignment
00:10:44 down to the level of internal models, is only feasible and possible
00:10:48 for newly developed applications and will be applied on a case-by-case basis.
00:10:59 Let's take a look now at how aligned APIs impact the integration,
00:11:04 how this can minimize the SAP-to-SAP integration effort. So let's take a look at an SAP
application
00:11:12 which exposes now APIs via OData, REST or SOAP-based APIs.
00:11:20 Here we plan to offer different types of domains. First of all the domain APIs,
00:11:25 which are related to the business logic, for instance to create a sales order,
00:11:31 to update a goods receipt request, and so on. Additionally, we plan to provide configuration
APIs,
00:11:39 which allows you to configure applications via interfaces. The third category of APIs is
monitoring APIs.
00:11:49 As we plan to offer an end-to-end monitoring solution which includes the processing
00:11:56 within the sending and receiving applications as well, we can then actually use such APIs
00:12:02 to derive the needed data for the monitoring solution out of the applications.
00:12:11 So if these APIs are aligned between two applications within a second SAP application,
00:12:18 what does it mean for the integration? Actually, you have the option
00:12:22 to directly integrate both applications. This means you don't need a middleware solution in
between.
00:12:29 So this is ideal for simple landscapes and if you're applying the SAP standard processes
and APIs.
00:12:40 The option to use middleware in between is always possible.
00:12:44 Here the mediated integration is done using SAP integration technology,

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00:12:49 such as SAP Cloud Platform Integration. This is ideal for customers looking for
00:12:55 governance across their integrations or planning to build any extensions for SAP
integrations.
00:13:06 Finally, you might wonder where to find all these APIs. Here we offer the SAP API Business
Hub,
00:13:14 a single stop for searching, discovering, experiencing, and consuming APIs.
00:13:20 You will find here a catalog as a central place for finding all APIs.
00:13:25 You can test these APIs as there are API sandboxes connected to them.
00:13:31 You find the pre-packaged integration content for out-of-the-box integration for SAP
solutions.
00:13:39 And finally, you can easily consume such APIs with developer environments such as SAP
Web
00:13:49 Let's take a quick look at an example, at a demo. You may check out the API Business Hub

00:13:55 at api.sap.com. Okay, so let's take a quick look

00:14:01 at a demo of SAP API Business Hub. Here, SAP API Business Hub is the central place
00:14:13 for discovering APIs, pre-packaged integrations, and digital content.
00:14:19 So you can find here all the applications listed from SAP, and APIs and integrations
delivered by SAP,
00:14:28 and partner content as well. Let's take a look at one example, which is Leonardo.
00:14:38 Here we have several API packages in place, which allows you to leverage APIs for building

00:14:45 innovation for the mode two of your organizations, leveraging intelligent technologies.
00:14:52 So here we have a comprehensive catalog of APIs like similarity scoring, scene text
recognition, and so on.
00:15:01 These are APIs which you can use for integration for building applications,
00:15:06 and these are the ones which SAP is using for embedding intelligence into SAP applications
as well.
00:15:16 Let's go back and take a look at another example, which is SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
00:15:32 Here we have several API packages in place as well, and S/4HANA Cloud publishes all the
APIs
00:15:40 at SAP API Business Hub. In total, we have more than 200 APIs
00:15:45 which you can discover here, check out the documentation, and even test APIs.
00:15:51 So this is something I want to show you right Let's take a look at sales orders.
00:16:03 Here we have an API to create, read, and update sales orders. This is, for instance, an API
which might be used across
00:16:13 the lead-to-cash scenario, where you are dealing with sales orders
00:16:17 from the C/4HANA suite, which are then transferred to the
00:16:26 S/4HANA application. So first of all, I need to...
00:16:34 need to select the API, and can find here all the details of the API description,
00:16:43 how I can access the API, which parameters to choose and the operations.
00:16:49 So here we will just try out the GET operation to retrieve some sales orders.
00:16:58 As a parameter, I don't want to select all, so let's just take the top five
00:17:03 sales orders from the applications. So the remaining settings we leave as-is,
00:17:09 and we execute then the API call. Now it's loading the data.
00:17:16 You see here the requesting URL, and further down, you see the detailed result information

00:17:23 here with the API of the sales orders listed. This is an example of how you can discover

15
00:17:31 and easily test SAP APIs. And furthermore, you can for instance
00:17:37 connect your S/4HANA Cloud tenant with SAP API Business Hub to test not on the sandbox
APIs,
00:17:45 but even to test on the APIs of your SAP S/4HANA Cloud application.
00:17:51 Having said that, I hope you enjoyed this section. So stay tuned for more.
00:17:57 Let's see each other and meet again in the next course module.

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Section 1 Unit 6

00:00:10 Hello, this is Katrin and I'm your instructor for this course.
00:00:15 I hope you enjoyed the last class where we talked about API strategy.
00:00:20 We are now in the last unit of section one, which is about applying a methodological
approach
00:00:28 for systematic integration, so let's get started.
00:00:34 What is it all about? Currently, our customers are challenged
00:00:39 with an increasing demand of integration. They are dealing with existing on-premise
applications,
00:00:46 are enriching these, and moving slightly towards the cloud
00:00:50 with the need to integrate hybrid applications, so connecting on-premise and cloud
applications together.
00:00:58 These landscapes are fast-evolving, and it's really challenging for enterprise architects
00:01:05 to define a consistent integration strategy across all these integration requirements.
00:01:12 Another question which arises often is the integration platform,
00:01:16 so when to use which technology, when better to choose a cloud-based technology
00:01:22 or a hybrid integration platform for integrations. Last but not least,
00:01:29 there's a stronger need for governing integrations, so how to define integration guidelines
00:01:36 for your organization, how to make sure that this is consistently applied
00:01:42 across all the integration domains and across all organizational units.
00:01:50 Here, for this reason, SAP has defined some concepts around that to help customers and
partners
00:01:57 to define an integration strategy for their organization.
00:02:02 The objective is actually to raise the integration maturity level of organizations,
00:02:08 to shift from an ad hoc-driven integration more to a conceptual compliant integration
strategy
00:02:16 which can be rolled out across the organization. Finally, the objective is to ease the
transition
00:02:23 from classic on-premise landscapes towards hybrid application landscapes,
00:02:29 and finally to cloud-centric environments. This is where we have introduced
00:02:34 the integration solution advisory methodology. So let's take a look at what this methodology
is all about.
00:02:45 The objective is actually to help enterprise architects to define their integration strategy,
00:02:53 not only for the application integration, so tackling all integration dimensions,
00:02:58 like data, process, analytics, user experience integration. For this reason, we have defined
typical integration styles
00:03:07 and patterns which can be extended and further use cases added
00:03:13 depending on the customer requirements. In another step, these can be mapped
00:03:19 to integration technologies. Here, this is always based on the customer context,
00:03:24 for instance, existing skills, technologies, and preferences. This methodology is vendor-
agnostic,
00:03:33 so you can apply this methodology to SAP and non-SAP integration technologies.
00:03:40 There is a free template available which you can apply and further detail out
00:03:45 your integration strategy. This methodology has been successfully adopted
00:03:51 by many large-scale organizations, so we have a quite active community
00:03:56 around that of more than 800 registered customers, partners, and SAP consultants.

17
00:04:07 Let's take a look at the use cases for the integration solution advisory methodology.
00:04:14 The first one is to introduce a common terminology, to provide a holistic view on the
integration
00:04:23 which is technology-agnostic. So it's about the patterns
00:04:26 and domains you are integrating with, the requirements associated with that
00:04:32 to define the right integration technology. Another aspect which is often underestimated
00:04:39 is to improve the communication between the teams and system integrators
00:04:44 to interact with the lines of business users, to understand their needs and requirements
00:04:48 in regards of integration. By applying this terminology,
00:04:53 you can more easily share knowledge across the organization
00:04:58 and actually skill up your lines of business users to apply integrations on their own
00:05:03 to turn these into "citizen integrators". The second use case
00:05:10 is to define an integration strategy. So, first of all, you can leverage this methodology
00:05:16 to review your current integration architecture. Based on these findings,
00:05:21 you can define your target integration architecture, anticipating future investments
00:05:27 into line-of-business applications and strategies around that.
00:05:33 It allows you to identify future building blocks, for instance, for proof of concepts
00:05:38 you plan to execute. The third dimension is integration governance
00:05:45 and integration platform. With this methodology,
00:05:49 you can define integration guidelines for your organizations.
00:05:53 You can introduce blueprints for selected patterns and for your integration platform as such.

00:06:01 Depending on the integration requirements you can define self-services for integrations
00:06:07 which allows business users to apply integrations on your own, whereas there might be
some areas
00:06:14 where you would like to keep the integrations with your integration competence center.
00:06:23 Let's take a look at the building blocks of the integration solution advisory methodology.
00:06:29 Here we are starting at a high level to identify and define the integration domains.
00:06:35 This is more or less what you plan to integrate with your integration technology.
00:06:41 You can detail it out to the next level at the level of integration styles,
00:06:46 which is, for instance, process integration, data integration, user integration,
00:06:51 and define use case patterns for the same. Here we have a list of predefined use case
patterns,
00:06:58 but these are extendable and you can add further ones depending on your integration
requirements.
00:07:07 The last step is then to perform integration technology mapping.
00:07:12 At the level of use case patterns, you can apply then the right integration technology,
00:07:18 so either your existing integration technology or look for new services
00:07:23 which you may apply for selected use cases. Let's dive into the details of the first step.
00:07:31 Here, the first step is to define the integration domains. Most customers have some
investments
00:07:39 in on-premise applications like S/4HANA and have already implemented some integrations
here.
00:07:45 So those are actually the next steps: to enrich integration towards the cloud.
00:07:51 Here we have the integration domains like on-premise-to-cloud integration,
00:07:55 which comes with special requirements like network accessibility,

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00:08:00 to integrate business partners or a government agency,
00:08:05 where often particular technical protocols or standards are needed.
00:08:11 So this is one example. Other use cases you may consider
00:08:16 to integrate user-centric applications, so really interfaces like mobile phones,
00:08:23 like multichannel support, user desktops, where you need to make sure
00:08:30 that you have a consistent user experience applied across all these channels.
00:08:36 Here is the first level of categorization of your integration domains,
00:08:41 which is quite easy to achieve just by identifying the dimensions to integrate with
00:08:50 on the sender and on the receiving side. In the next step, we take it one more detailed level

00:09:00 to define the integration styles and use case patterns.

00:09:04 The integration styles are process integration, data integration, user integration
00:09:10 and thing integration, so it's more or less defined by what you plan to integrate.
00:09:15 If you now define more detailed patterns, you can detail out the single patterns
00:09:21 on requirements like B2B integration where you are leveraging B2B standards,
00:09:28 for mobile integration you may use specific languages and tools
00:09:34 to support Android and iOS SDKs furthermore. So here you can add
00:09:41 further customer-specific use cases as needed. These are actually complemented
00:09:46 by cross-use cases which go beyond or across all these integration styles.
00:09:53 For instance, API-managed integration which you can apply for process integration,
00:09:58 you can expose your data integration towards customers or developers,
00:10:06 using an API management solution. Step three is now to map these use case patterns
00:10:16 to the integration technology, and this is always based on the customer context.
00:10:22 The driving factors are here, for instance, the overall enterprise architecture strategy,
00:10:28 the level of IT and application landscapes, the existing investments.
00:10:33 So maybe you would like to leverage first existing integration technologies
00:10:39 before investing in new ones. Then the skillset if you have in-house skillsets
00:10:44 to implement integrations. And finally, industry and business requirements.
00:10:50 Therefore, it's always an exercise, customers have to assess and perform,
00:10:55 but in addition to that, SAP provides guidelines
00:11:00 for such kinds of integration technologies in the form of CIO guides as well.
00:11:10 Let's now wrap up the session in terms of key takeaways.
00:11:13 So what is the value of this integration solution advisory methodology?
00:11:19 The objective is really to increase the maturity of level of integration at organizations.
00:11:26 So shift from ad-hoc integration to introduce a common terminology,
00:11:31 to define an integration strategy for your integration requirements.
00:11:36 Once this is done, you can define integration guidelines
00:11:40 to introduce an integration governance in a decentral fashion.
00:11:46 Having done this, you can encourage line-of-business users to do self-service integration
00:11:53 to turn these into citizen integrators by applying selected integration matters
00:12:00 within the scope of the defined guidelines. Having said that,
00:12:07 we are now done with the... we would now like to conclude section one.
00:12:13 Please note that this is a mandatory section for doing your course assignment.
00:12:19 I will see you on the discussion forum with our other subject matter experts

19
00:12:25 for your discussions of section one. This is Katrin signing off for now.
00:12:32 All the best for your course assignments, and I would like to see you back soon in section
two,
00:12:40 so you are welcome to join this section as well to learn more about integration styles and
technologies.
00:12:47 Have a great day. Goodbye.

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