In the modern enterprise IT landscape, integration plays a critical role in ensuring seamless data exchange between various on-premise and cloud applications. SAP’s middleware solutions, SAP Process Integration/Process Orchestration (PI/PO) and SAP Cloud Integration (SCI) — part of the SAP Integration Suite — are both powerful tools that address different integration needs.
This article explores how SAP PI/PO and SAP Cloud Integration complement each other, best practices for their coexistence, and strategies to leverage both platforms effectively in hybrid integration scenarios.
Many enterprises run hybrid landscapes — with a mix of cloud applications (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SuccessFactors) and on-premise solutions (e.g., ECC, custom apps). While SAP PI/PO excels in on-premise integration, SCI provides seamless cloud connectivity and supports modern protocols and APIs.
Using both platforms together allows organizations to:
A common pattern is to use SCI as the front door for cloud applications, and PI/PO for backend processing. For example, SAP SuccessFactors may connect via SCI, which then routes messages to SAP ECC through PI/PO.
SCI supports REST, OData, SOAP, and modern protocols, while PI/PO offers adapters for IDoc, RFC, File, JDBC, etc. Together, they bridge protocol gaps for heterogeneous systems.
Business processes requiring complex orchestration or human workflows may remain in PI/PO BPM, while simple message transformations and routing for cloud services run in SCI.
SCI enables easy extensions for SAP Cloud applications using pre-built integration content, while PI/PO handles legacy system integrations.
SAP Cloud Connector is essential for secure and reliable communication between SCI and on-premise PI/PO landscapes.
Both platforms support strong security features like OAuth, SAML, SSL, and message-level encryption to safeguard data flows.
Use SAP Cloud Integration’s monitoring dashboards alongside SAP Solution Manager or SAP Process Integration monitoring for consolidated visibility.
Evaluate message volumes and latency requirements to decide which platform should handle specific integration steps.
The combination of SAP PI/PO and SAP Cloud Integration provides enterprises with a comprehensive, flexible integration framework that supports both on-premise robustness and cloud agility. By understanding their strengths and using them in tandem, organizations can future-proof their integration strategy while managing complex hybrid landscapes.