SAP PaPM Cloud: Let us talk about Integration

JustineAngeles · ‎2022 Mar 11

Hi Everyone,

Before last year ended, I released a blogpost with a title

SAP PaPM Cloud: Let us talk about Integration

where I provided a bonus integration example in a very summarized manner before wrapping up the blogpost. Now as customers and consultants are becoming more and more engaged with SAP Profitability and Performance Management Cloud (SAP PaPM Cloud), I wish to extend that summarized example to be able to guide you further with your integration activities.

Since SAP PaPM Cloud maximizes the integration capabilities of SAP HANA Cloud in communicating to SAP and Non-SAP systems, we will focus on this article with examples focusing on the databases. I will split this article into few major sections such as

SAP PaPM Cloud >> source: SAP PaPM On-Premise

SAP PaPM Cloud >> source: SAP PaPM Cloud

SAP PaPM On-Premise >> source: SAP PaPM Cloud

So let us start in 3....2....1....

SAP PaPM Cloud >> source: SAP PaPM On-Premise

Scenario:

You have SAP PaPM Cloud system and is wanting to consume data from SAP PaPM On-Premise. In a technical sense this means SAP HANA Cloud with SAP HANA On-Premise.

Friendly Note:

It is possible that after reading through several posts, that you will bump into a terminology called Cloud Connector. In some blogposts and official SAP Help documentation, Cloud Connector should be used in connecting SAP HANA Cloud database with SAP HANA database. This is infact true, but only if your HANA Cloud is sitting and running on your subaccount, one good example is if you subscribed to SAP HANA Cloud as a standalone service.

Since SAP PaPM Cloud's underlying SAP HANA Cloud database is running in the "provider-tenant" due to some BTP and SAP HANA Cloud restrictions, this Cloud Connector approach is off the table as of this moment. Even so this sounds like a dead-end, it is not! Let me introduce to you Data Provisioning (DP) Agent

Instead of using Cloud Connector to serve as a tunnel from public Cloud to your private network, we will make use of Data Provisiong Agent in order to connect to a private network (underlying SAP HANA DB of SAP PaPM OP)

Procedures:

As a prerequisite to get data from On-Premise database, DP Agent is mandatory to be fully stabilized. I found a very nice step by step procedure on how to do this. As this is to be done in the On-Premise Database, an assistance from a SAP Basis Consultant or administrator is necessary.

-- Friendly Reminder, during the DPAgent Installation 

-- there will be series of steps where the 

-- administrator is to be requested and must feed different PAPM Cloud DB users. 

-- Prepare these users upfront: 



-- (a) DPAgent Admin HANA User: SAP_PAPM_ADMIN 

-- automatically created upon subscription to PaPM Cloud. 

-- Password can be seen in PaPM Menu > Administration > Settings > DB Settings 





-- (b) Agent Messaging User: SAP_PAPM_DPMSG

-- create this normal PaPM HANA Cloud DB user with minimal 

-- privilege via below sample command:



CREATE USER <USER> PASSWORD <PASSWORD> NO FORCE_FIRST_PASSWORD_CHANGE

After setting up DP Agent, access your underlying SAP PaPM Cloud Database using SAP_PAPM_ADMIN, to access your database and to get SAP_PAPM_ADMIN password, follow the steps mentioned here

Check under Adapters if HanaAdapter is available, and check if in the Agents you see the DPAgent installed like below

Once fully set you may now proceed with establishing a remote source as SAP_PAPM_ADMIN via below steps

A pop-up window will appear, and must be filled with information, as a minimum, you should successfully establish a connection to SAP PAPM On-Premise by filling below property fields --- then save.

Starting this point, remember the steps, these will be reused in the next chapters. Once completely established, as SAP_PAPM_ADMIN you can now proceed in using the Tables and views from the source in SAP PaPM Cloud via creating a Virtual Table being stored in one of SAP PaPM Cloud Schema, either by performing below command or by using SAP HANA Database Explorer User Interface
```
CREATE VIRTUAL TABLE "<WHERETOSTORESCHEMA>"."<VIRTUALTABLENAME>" AT "<REMOTESOURCENAME>"."<NULL>"."<SOURCESCHEMA>"."SOURCETABLE";
```

Take note that the schema should have granted SAP_PAPM_ADMIN authorization to write on it (so the Virtual Table can be created). In case it is not the case you may use below command
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON SCHEMA "<SCHEMA>" TO SAP_PAPM_ADMIN
```

Once successfully created, this virtual table then is possible to be used for reading/writing by establishing a HANA Table Source in Connections which will then be consumed afterwards in SAP PaPM Cloud modeling through Model Table HANA or Model View HANA. In the modeling screen, shall you get activation issue due to authorization, please ensure to provide read and write privileges to SAP_PAPM (SAP PaPM DB user responsible to create procedure after activation or run papm procedure during calculation) on the schema you used in step 6.
```
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON SCHEMA "<SCHEMA>" TO SAP_PAPM
```

Now that you already know how to access On-Premise Data from SAP PaPM Cloud, we can now proceed with the next topic, SAP PaPM Cloud wanting to Access another SAP PaPM Cloud data.