In today’s digital enterprise landscape, integrating diverse systems — both SAP and non-SAP — is a key challenge. While tools like SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) help build flexible integration flows, one of the most time-consuming aspects of integration remains mapping and transforming messages between different formats and standards.
To address this challenge, SAP offers the Integration Advisor — a smart, AI-powered tool designed to simplify and accelerate the development of interface mappings and integration content.
This article explores how to use the Integration Advisor in the context of SAP Cloud Platform Integration, its benefits, and best practices.
The Integration Advisor is a cloud-based service within SAP Integration Suite that helps you automatically generate message mappings and guidelines for integration content. It leverages SAP’s industry knowledge, crowd-sourced data, and machine learning to propose the best possible mappings between different message types.
Rather than building mappings from scratch, developers and integration architects can use the Integration Advisor to:
- Select standard or custom message definitions (like IDoc, OData, or cXML)
- Automatically generate mapping proposals between source and target messages
- Generate runtime artifacts that can be deployed directly in SAP CPI
- Reduce time and effort in interface development
- Crowd-Sourced Knowledge Base: Access to a large repository of standard business messages and community best practices.
- AI-Assisted Mapping: Uses machine learning to suggest intelligent field-level mappings based on semantics and usage patterns.
- Domain-Specific Recommendations: Tailored suggestions based on industry context (e.g., automotive, retail, pharmaceuticals).
- Pre-Built Message Definitions: Includes libraries of EDI, XML, SAP IDoc, and other standard message formats.
- Export to CPI: Directly export mapping artifacts to SAP CPI as part of integration flows.
- Log in to your SAP BTP Cockpit.
- Navigate to SAP Integration Suite, and launch the Integration Advisor.
- Choose a B2B or A2A scenario depending on the use case.
- Select the relevant source and target message types (e.g., EDIFACT to SAP IDoc).
- Specify the industry and context to receive more relevant mapping suggestions.
- Browse or import message structures (XSD, JSON, or EDI formats).
- Use the graphical interface to view and customize the structure of both source and target messages.
- The Integration Advisor will analyze the message types and propose field-level mappings.
- Review and adjust the proposed mappings as needed.
- You can add mapping rules, conditions, or functions manually if needed.
¶ Step 5: Generate and Export Artifacts
- Once satisfied, generate the runtime mapping artifacts.
- Export the generated content to SAP CPI, where you can use it in your integration flow (iFlow).
- In CPI, import the generated mapping artifact.
- Connect it within your iFlow to handle message transformation between sender and receiver systems.
- Faster Development: Reduces mapping time by up to 60–70%.
- Improved Quality: Mapping suggestions are based on industry standards and community best practices.
- Consistency: Promotes standardized integration practices across teams and projects.
- Ease of Maintenance: Clearly documented mappings and rules help with long-term maintenance.
- Accelerated Onboarding: New team members can quickly get up to speed using visual tools and recommendations.
A manufacturing company needs to integrate orders from a trading partner sending EDIFACT messages into their SAP S/4HANA system, which processes IDocs. Using Integration Advisor:
- The team selects EDIFACT ORDERS as the source and SAP ORDERS05 IDoc as the target.
- The tool proposes a complete mapping based on industry practices.
- After review, the team generates and exports the mapping to SAP CPI.
- The result: A fully functioning integration flow with accurate data transformation — in a fraction of the usual time.
- Start with Standard Content: Use SAP-provided or industry-standard message types when possible.
- Validate Suggestions: AI-based suggestions are helpful, but always validate them against your business rules.
- Use Versioning: Maintain versions of your mapping guidelines and artifacts for traceability.
- Engage Business Users: The intuitive UI allows functional experts to contribute to the mapping design process.
- Integrate with API Hub: Combine Integration Advisor with SAP API Business Hub to find APIs and message types.
The Integration Advisor is a game-changer for organizations using SAP Cloud Platform Integration. It brings automation, intelligence, and standardization to one of the most complex areas of system integration — message mapping. By leveraging this tool, integration teams can accelerate project timelines, reduce errors, and build scalable integration solutions aligned with industry best practices.
Whether you're working on B2B scenarios with EDI standards or internal SAP-to-SAP interfaces, Integration Advisor can significantly enhance your productivity and the quality of your integration solutions.