Azure Blob Storage and SAP PaPM Cloud Integration

leonora_nesic · ‎2023 Sep 15

If you've come across the earlier blog posts discussing the integration of SAP Profitability and Performance Management Cloud (SAP PaPM Cloud) such as Setup SAP PaPM Cloud to use RFA FI-GL and FI-GLI to post to your ECC , SAP PaPM Cloud Integration with SAP BW or Google Big Query and SAP PaPM Cloud Integration, and if those caught your attention, then this article might also pique your interest.

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based object storage service provided by Microsoft Azure. It allows users to store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data, such as text, images, audio, video and binary files.

Scenario:

The objective of this article is to demonstrate the process of uploading data records into Microsoft Azure Blob Storage and subsequently accessing and utilizing this data within the SAP PaPM Cloud.

To provide an overview of what I'm expressing, please refer to the diagram depicted below:

Prerequisites:

In order to access the Microsoft Azure Portal you'll need to have an account.

Procedures:

As part of the procedure, you will be required to navigate to three different applications.

APPLICATION 1: Microsoft Azure Blob Storage

Step 1 - Create the Storage Account, Container and Blob

Blob Storage offers three types of resources:
- The storage account
- A container in the storage account
- A blob in a container

Creation of Storage Account

Under Storage Accounts in Azure, press the Create button to create a new account. You'll need to give a name for your storage account and assign it to the resource group you just created.

For more information go to this link Create a storage account.

Creation of Container

Under Storage accounts, choose "Containers" section and then click on plus button to create a container. You'll need to give a name for your container.

In Azure Blob Storage, a container is a logical unit for organizing and storing blobs. It is similar to a file system directory, where you can store a set of blobs. Each blob must be stored inside a container. Containers provide a way to group related blobs together and manage access control for them.

Uploading Blob

Open container created in previous step and click on upload button to upload desired file - blob.

Blob (Binary Large Object) in Azure Blob refers to a type of storage object that allows users to store unstructured data such as text, images, videos and documents in Microsoft Azure cloud.

In this example we use csv file which contains following data:

Step 2 - Generate an API key

Navigate to the "Shared Access Tokens" section and define permissions by activating all seven chosen options, then select the desired expiration timeframe.

After specifying the permissions and the expiry time, generate SAS token and URL and copy BLOB SAS token. The SAS token, which we've copied, will find an use in Step 5.

A Shared Access Signature (SAS) token in Azure Blob storage is a secure way to grant limited access to specific resources within a storage account. It's a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that contains a token granting specific permissions for a specific resource, with an expiration time. SAS tokens are often used to provide temporary, fine-grained access to storage resources without exposing the storage account's keys.

SAS tokens can be used to control access to containers, blobs and tables in Azure Storage. The permissions specified in a SAS token can include read, add, write, delete, list and more, and they can be limited to a specific time window.

Next task is to configure the integration between Microsoft Azure Blob storage and SAP PaPM Cloud.

APPLICATION 2: HANA Cloud Runtime DB of SAP PaPM Cloud

Step 3 - Add the Microsoft's certificate into the HANA Cloud

Open your SQL console in the SAP HANA database explorer, and execute the subsequent commands to create PSE and certificate.

SELECT * FROM PSES;

CREATE PSE AZURE_BLOB; -- creating of PSE AZURE_BLOB

SELECT SUBJECT_COMMON_NAME, CERTIFICATE_ID, COMMENT, CERTIFICATE FROM CERTIFICATES;

CREATE CERTIFICATE FROM '-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----MIIDdzCCAl+gAwIBAgIEAgAAuTANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADBaMQswCQYDVQQGEwJJ

RTESMBAGA1UEChMJQmFsdGltb3JlMRMwEQYDVQQLEwpDeWJlclRydXN0MSIwIAYD

VQQDExlCYWx0aW1vcmUgQ3liZXJUcnVzdCBSb290MB4XDTAwMDUxMjE4NDYwMFoX

DTI1MDUxMjIzNTkwMFowWjELMAkGA1UEBhMCSUUxEjAQBgNVBAoTCUJhbHRpbW9y

ZTETMBEGA1UECxMKQ3liZXJUcnVzdDEiMCAGA1UEAxMZQmFsdGltb3JlIEN5YmVy

VHJ1c3QgUm9vdDCCASIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggEPADCCAQoCggEBAKMEuyKr

mD1X6CZymrV51Cni4eiVgLGw41uOKymaZN+hXe2wCQVt2yguzmKiYv60iNoS6zjr

IZ3AQSsBUnuId9Mcj8e6uYi1agnnc+gRQKfRzMpijS3ljwumUNKoUMMo6vWrJYeK

mpYcqWe4PwzV9/lSEy/CG9VwcPCPwBLKBsua4dnKM3p31vjsufFoREJIE9LAwqSu

XmD+tqYF/LTdB1kC1FkYmGP1pWPgkAx9XbIGevOF6uvUA65ehD5f/xXtabz5OTZy

dc93Uk3zyZAsuT3lySNTPx8kmCFcB5kpvcY67Oduhjprl3RjM71oGDHweI12v/ye

jl0qhqdNkNwnGjkCAwEAAaNFMEMwHQYDVR0OBBYEFOWdWTCCR1jMrPoIVDaGezq1

BE3wMBIGA1UdEwEB/wQIMAYBAf8CAQMwDgYDVR0PAQH/BAQDAgEGMA0GCSqGSIb3

DQEBBQUAA4IBAQCFDF2O5G9RaEIFoN27TyclhAO992T9Ldcw46QQF+vaKSm2eT92

9hkTI7gQCvlYpNRhcL0EYWoSihfVCr3FvDB81ukMJY2GQE/szKN+OMY3EU/t3Wgx

jkzSswF07r51XgdIGn9w/xZchMB5hbgF/X++ZRGjD8ACtPhSNzkE1akxehi/oCr0

Epn3o0WC4zxe9Z2etciefC7IpJ5OCBRLbf1wbWsaY71k5h+3zvDyny67G7fyUIhz

ksLi4xaNmjICq44Y3ekQEe5+NauQrz4wlHrQMz2nZQ/1/I6eYs9HRCwBXbsdtTLS

R9I4LtD+gdwyah617jzV/OeBHRnDJELqYzmp-----END CERTIFICATE-----' 

COMMENT 'Azure';

After creating PSE and certificate, next step is to add the certificate to the PSE.

Run the following code to obtain the certificate ID.

SELECT CERTIFICATE_ID FROM CERTIFICATES WHERE COMMENT = 'Azure'; -- checking the certificate ID

Add the certificate to PSE.

The certificate ID should be number with 6 digits, for example: 167422.

ALTER PSE AZURE_BLOB ADD CERTIFICATE <CERTIFICATE_ID>; -- adding the certificate to PSE

Set the AZURE_BLOB as remote source

SET PSE AZURE_BLOB PURPOSE REMOTE SOURCE; -- setting the AZURE_BLOB as remote source

SELECT * FROM PSE_CERTIFICATES;

For more information go to this link Certificate Management.

STEP 4 - Create Credentials into the HANA Cloud

Run the provided SQL code to save the storage account and shared access signature (SAS) as a credentials in the database.

CREATE CREDENTIAL FOR COMPONENT 'SAPHANAIMPORTEXPORT' PURPOSE 'Azure' TYPE 'PASSWORD' USING 'user=<storage_account_name>;password=<Blob_SAS_token>';

SELECT * FROM CREDENTIALS;

--DROP CREDENTIAL FOR COMPONENT 'SAPHANAIMPORTEXPORT' PURPOSE 'Azure' TYPE 'PASSWORD';

STEP 5 - Import Data

In SAP HANA Database Explorer, go to "Tables" section and by right clicking on it choose "Import Data" option.

New window will be opened and you will need to set up the following details:

In step 4, when you press "Compose" within the "Import Source" section, a new window will pop up and shows the parsed Azure path.

Account Name → put your Storage account name

SAS Token → put SAS token generated in Step 2

Container → put your Container name

Object Key → put name of your blob and press OK

If you already have Table in Hana DB which you want to use for storing your data from Azure just select "Add to existing table" option, provide name of desired Table and Schema and skip nest steps.

In "Table Mapping step" you will need to map the source data to the destination table in your HANA database. This involves defining how the columns or fields in the source correspond to those in your database.

After completion, you should receive a "Import successful" message.

Table is now consumed successfully. You can open and check the data records:

Data records in SAP HANA Cloud:

The last task is to use data which we consume from Azure.

APPLICATION 3: SAP PaPM Cloud

Step 6 - Create a connection and use the HANA Table created from the previous step

Connection is established using the schema and HANA Table created in the preceding step.

For more information how to create a connection please go to the following link.

Step 7 - Utilizing the established connection to interact with the Model Table HANA

User need to create the Model Table HANA.

User need to select the connection name that was generated in the prior step.

User need to maintain data by mapping the source fields to the environment fields.

For more information how to create a function please go to the following link.
More information about Model Table HANA can be found here.

User can verify the successful consumption of data records in the SAP PaPM Cloud modeling perspective by reviewing the Show screen.

In SAP PaPM Cloud, your choice of Calculation and Processing functions can vary according to your specific needs. You have the flexibility to utilize data from Azure Blob Storage by accessing it through a Model Table HANA, Model View Hana Table or Model View HANA View, serving as your input source.

That concludes our discussion! I understand that integration is a multifaceted subject, but I trust that this concise blog post has shed light on how data from Azure Blob Storage can serve as inputs or data sources for intricate calculations, rules, and simulations within SAP PaPM Cloud.

Wishing you a wonderful day and looking forward to meet you in our upcoming blog posts.