Subject: SAP-PI-PO (Process Integration / Process Orchestration) | Field: SAP Technology
SAP Process Integration (PI) and Process Orchestration (PO) are pivotal middleware solutions within the SAP ecosystem, designed to facilitate seamless integration and orchestration of business processes across heterogeneous systems. SAP PI focuses on enabling communication between disparate systems, while SAP PO extends PI capabilities with advanced process orchestration features like BPM (Business Process Management), BRM (Business Rules Management), and advanced monitoring.
Understanding the key components of SAP PI/PO architecture is essential for architects, developers, and administrators working in enterprise integration projects.
SAP PI/PO architecture is modular and built on a three-tier system that supports reliable message exchange, transformation, routing, and process orchestration. The core components include:
The Integration Server acts as the heart of SAP PI/PO. It is responsible for processing messages by applying routing, transformation, and adapter protocols. The Central Adapter Engine supports communication protocols such as HTTP, SOAP, RFC, JDBC, and IDoc, ensuring interoperability between SAP and non-SAP systems.
The Integration Builder is a web-based or Eclipse-based toolset used to design integration scenarios. It consists of:
The Runtime Workbench provides monitoring, administration, and troubleshooting capabilities for PI/PO processes.
Adapters enable connectivity between different protocols and formats, bridging SAP PI/PO with external systems. They transform and transport messages according to source and target system requirements.
Common adapters include:
Adapters can be deployed as part of the Central Adapter Engine or separately in the Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE) in PO landscapes.
ESR stores all reusable design-time artifacts that define the structure and semantics of messages exchanged between systems. These artifacts include:
The ESR ensures that integration scenarios follow standard data definitions, supporting consistency and maintainability.
While ESR handles design-time modeling, the Integration Directory manages configuration for runtime. It defines:
SAP PO extends PI by adding:
Typically, the SAP PI/PO architecture looks like this:
[Sender Systems] --> [Adapters] --> [Integration Server] --> [Routing & Mapping] --> [Adapters] --> [Receiver Systems]
Design Time: ESR + Integration Directory
Runtime Monitoring: Runtime Workbench
Understanding the key components of SAP PI/PO architecture is fundamental to designing robust, scalable, and maintainable integration landscapes. The modular architecture allows SAP PI/PO to act as a powerful middleware solution bridging SAP and non-SAP systems, orchestrating processes, and ensuring data consistency across the enterprise.
By leveraging components such as the Integration Server, ESR, Integration Directory, Adapters, and Runtime Workbench, enterprises can streamline complex integration scenarios and maintain visibility and control over their business-critical processes.