Most businesses will need to reconsider their middleware strategies and choose whether or not to transition to a cloud integration platform given the growing significance of the cloud.
The SAP Cloud Integration Platform (SAP CPI), an intelligent hybrid integration solution created using open-source and cloud-native technologies, will likely be evaluated as a migration option for SAP customers from SAP PI/PO, the preferred middleware choice of 12,500+ companies across industries for on-premise integration.
Numerous problems with customer integration have been helped by Iteanz. In our discussions with them, we’ve learned that companies frequently are not only unaware of the advantages of migrating to SAP CPI, but also of the potential costs, time commitments, and skill requirements involved in undertaking what is, in reality, a highly complex technical project.
Arguments in favors of Switching from SAP Process Integration/Process Orchestration (PI/PO) to Cloud Platform Integration (CPI)
As most readers are aware, because to its strong capabilities, user-friendly interface, and developer community support, SAP PI/PO is an on-premise middleware solution that is frequently utilized for various A2A and B2B connection scenarios. However, SAP has unveiled the obvious replacement for SAP PI/PO with the shift to a cloud-first product strategy. Using prefabricated integration material and a wide range of adapters and APIs, SAP CPI assists in smoothly connecting on-premise and cloud-based SAP applications to other SAP and third-party apps. SAP CPI helps you to optimize your business operations, provide linked digital experiences, and improve integration efficiency by bringing diverse data and systems from across your IT landscape together.
There are many compelling arguments for using SAP CPI in your company’s overall cloud strategy. We’ve listed some of the main justifications for moving from SAP PI/PO to CPI below:
- Rapid integration with prefabricated integration content: SAP CPI uses the 2600+ prebuilt integration scenarios, 2500+ ready-to-use APIs, and 200+ connectors available in the SAP API Business Hub to enable you set up cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-on-premise connections quickly and affordably. Because SAP PI/PO lacks such prepackaged integration information, it is less useful than SAP CPI in quick integration scenarios.
- Real-time integration: Unlike SAP PI/PO, SAP CPI offers tools like SAP Event Mesh and SAP API Management to facilitate real-time integrationacross distributed application landscapes.
- Significant cost savings: Since SAP CPI is a cloud-based platform, it is simpler to monitor, operate, and implement than SAP PI/PO, which is installed on-premise. You don’t have to be concerned about on-premise middle ware’sfrequent hardware refresh cycles or high maintenance renewal costs while using SAP CPI.
- variable pricing: Depending on the demands of the customer’s business, SAP CPI offers variable pricing models including the Cloud Platform Enterprise Agreement (CPEA) and Pay as You Go (PAYG). With SAP CPI, unlike SAP PI/PO, you can get started right away with little initial outlay and no long-term financial commitments.
- A strong digital foundation for an intelligent enterprise: According to SAP, companies accelerating their journey to an intelligent enterprise by using SAP S/4HANA Cloud and RISE with SAP solutions should also switch to SAP CPI. This is so because all SAP LoB apps employ SAP CPI as their foundational integration technology.
- End of standard maintenance support for SAP conventional middleware: SAP said that it will continue to provide standard maintenance support for SAP PO 7.5 until 2027, but not for SAP PI/ PO 7.4 or earlier versions. Customers that are now using SAP PI/PO 7.5 should switch to SAP CPI because it is more adaptable and affordable than its predecessor.
Business difficulties during the transition from SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI
While it is undeniably true that SAP CPI provides businesses with a modern and agile integration environment, enabling them to develop more quickly and remain future-ready, migration is not without its difficulties. These consist of:
Longer implementation period: It is challenging for businesses to assure a quick and secure transfer from SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI because there aren’t any high-quality migration automation technologies available on the market. Without a trustworthy automation tool, estimating the money and resources required for the SAP CPI transfer project is particularly difficult.
High prices: Migration from SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI is a difficult process with many steps, including migration evaluation, planning, and implementation. To evaluate their current PI/PO integration environment, define migration methods, and test moved content, businesses need specialized integration developers. (message mappings, interfaces, etc.). For businesses, manual implementation of these processes is more expensive and time-consuming.
Technical migration complexity: Moving from SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI necessitates that integration developers move all of the current integration scenarios or interfaces. These integration scenarios are developed in the SAP PI/PO utilizing various integration artifacts, including adapters and message mappings. Developers must start from scratch when some of these integration artefact or assets are not available in SAP CPI. Several instances include:
- Numerous SAP PI/PO adapters, including CIDX, RNIF, and File, are incompatible with SAP CPI. Furthermore, because SAP CPI doesn’t support the idea of custom adapter modules, all of SAP PI/PO’s custom adapter modules need to be redesigned.
- Restrictions on mapping: Since several mapping functions from SAP PI/PO, like parameterized values, cannot be utilized, SAP CPI must rethink them.
Poor testing: SAP service interfaces must be properly tested before switching from traditional middleware to CPI. Functional consultants are frequently used by businesses to test migrating interfaces. However, corporations frequently find it laborious and error-prone to coordinate with numerous technical experts for migration testing.
How Iteanz Technologies simplifies SAP CPI Migration
Using a specialized migration acceleration tool, the majority of difficulties related to the migration to SAP CPI can be overcome. In order to facilitate quick, secure, and smooth conversions from SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI, Iteanz Technologies produced a product called C3Pi.
This comprehensive application, which was created using SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (iRPA), assists businesses in automating and streamlining every step of the SAP PI/PO to SAP CPI migration process, from evaluation and planning through implementation and testing. It enables businesses to achieve considerable productivity benefits and cost savings during the migration project, as well as a reduction of up to 80% in migration time and effort.
Because it provides the following, our migration accelerator product aids businesses in achieving faster time to value.
- Migration expenses can be cut by up to 50%.
- less mistakes thanks to an automated migration technique
- a precise cost estimate based on current migration scenarios
- Process of migration that is simple and manageable
In summary, moving from traditional SAP middleware to SAP CPI can assist businesses in modernizing their integration environment and improving their agility, ingenuity, and readiness for the future. The trip to migrate SAP CPI will be difficult and time-consuming without the usage of an automated tool. At Iteanz Technologies, we assist businesses in smoothly converting to CPI by providing strategic direction, support, and tools at every stage of the migration process.
Isaias Duncan
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