4 big waves for API led strategies and SAP BTP Int...

MichalKrawczyk · ‎2024 Mar 06

Why should I care about APIs at all?

API led strategies and SAP BTP Integration Suite adoption in the coming few years will be driven by a at least 4 big waves and in combination they might change the way how SAP customers look at this, often wrongly called “technical”, topic. This architect is intended mostly for SAP Enterprise and Integration Architects who might want to learn about the future trends of the SAP technology stack adoption but also to anyone who is familiar with SAP integration.

What are API led strategies and how does SAP BTP Integration Suite come into this picture?

API-led strategies refer to an approach to software development and integration where Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the central focus. APIs are designed first to create a layer of connectivity that enables different systems, applications, and data sources to communicate with each other. This way APIs become the building blocks that facilitate the exchange of data and the execution of processes across the enterprise and beyond.

“Integration is the backbone of digital transformations and APIs are the building blocks of every SAP customer who sells, buys or transports their products with its use" – Michal Krawczyk

SAP Business Technology Platform Integration Suite is a crucial element in API-led strategies for organizations that use SAP solutions. It provides a comprehensive set of integration services that help businesses connect SAP applications with other SAP and non-SAP applications, both in the cloud and on-premises. With the SAP BTP Integration Suite, companies can develop APIs that expose functionalities of their SAP systems, allowing for better agility in response to changing business needs, easier collaboration with partners, and maybe most important, ability to create innovative services.

Why do I need know/learn more about API led strategies and SAP Business Technology Platform Integration Suite?

There are at least 4 waves that will change the way you think about API led strategies and SAP Business Technology Platform Integration Suite adoption and let me know explain that in more details.

First wave – SAP PI/PO to SAP BTP Integration Suite migrations – according to SAP there are were over 10.000 SAP PI/PO customers that before 2027 need to plan to move away from SAP PI/PO due to the sunset of the onpremise platform. This means that the number of SAP BTP Integration Suite installations running the all existing integration scenarios will increase significantly
Second Wave – Clean Core Strategy concept might from the initial point of view have very little to do with the APIs and SAP BTP Integration Suite – it’s an idea to remove any kind of extensions from the core ERP (SAP S/4HANA) systems to keep the system clean. If you’re in the SAP space however you must understand that those extensions must be build somewhere… The concept of side by side extensions shows clearly that they will be build on the top of SAP BTP but where exactly? How can I access my Clean Core ERP system to build the extensions? There are two ways – you can either use directly exposed APIs from the SAP S/4HANA systems or you can orchestrate those integrations using SAP BTP Integration Suite
Third wave – Reliable Automation – discussions aboud the automation are quite often moving into the RPA only topics – how can we automate business processes using RPA technologies. Is that the only way to automate business processes? The most efficient, stable and reliable way to automate business processes has always been to integrate them using API techologies (using EDI in the past, REST, ODATA, Web Services right now). It seems we now get more and more proof that “iPaaS Emerges as the Dominant Platform for Automation and Integration”.
Forth wave AI – “There is no AI without API” How can generative AI help companies do execute different activities? It needs to understand the command/need and be able to relate that to an activity it can perform. How can SAP AI assistant (Joule) run any activity (report, create a new integration, etc.)? It needs to call an API which will do perform this activity. Does it mean I cannot use AI at my company without having the API led strategy and API enabled products? This answer I leave for the SAP Enterprise and Integrations Architect to decide.

Summary

This article is just a personal view highlighting the possible emerging trends which may cause the API and SAP BTP Integration Suite explosive growth and adoption. If you’d want to find our more I’d advise to find out how to test your API, Integration Platforms scenarios in the free openSAP course: “Avoid SAP S/4HANA Project Delays with Third-Party Systems Service Virtualization”