Guide in a needed middleware integration with SAP

[Josias]

Hello community. 

I've been hired as consultant to generate an integration solution middleware for the following need. I'll try to be the most descripitive below: 

My hiring customer has a fintech platform for financial intermediation. One side of their business are the banks and other financial institutions. In the other side, business owners which run SAP (and other ERP systems) in different environments and flavours. My job is to manage a project to produce and deliver in name of my customer, a module, connector, add-on or whatever name implies, for SAP, with the following characteristics: 

• Confirm online a vendor invoice in business owners SAP ERPs from my customer platform. 
• Flag the invoice with specific business case data (in case confirmed).
• Send to my customer platform specific data in some state changed (invoice canceled, deleted, values updated, payment applied, and others). 
• Show in SAP, in some specific screen or tab the flagging information received from my customer platform

As a new guy to SAP world, I've been researching and got to the point of determining that this can be done technically  either with NetWeaver PI or the C# RFC Connector, and using some trial versions of ABAP Servers. However, I'm lost to the specifics. So, can you please help me out with this inquiries: 

1. What is the best combination of SAP tools to produce a secure (however private) Internet Facing API that acts a middleware between my customer platform and business owners app. 
2. Recommended code tool to generate the additional screen or information of flagged invoices for business owners' SAP Users. 
3. Recommended trial or development SAP servers/platform available for developing and testing purposes. In this case, I'd like to know specifically if there is any version, or in default some way of loading demo data in the environments. Cloud could work, but we prefer local on premises if its available.

Thanks in advance, any other needed info I'm open to answer.

[Ryan-Crosby]

Seems like a paas/saas solution that you have been hired to build. Sounds kind of backwards to me that a customer would look for someone to build it vs. a startup builiding a solution in hopes of finding customers.

[Ulrich_Schmidt]

The best tool for integrating SAP data formats (like Invoices, Orders, etc.) with external third-party systems is in my opinion SAP Business Connector. Especially if you prefer an on-premises solution.

It already comes out-of-the-box for many tools for IDoc&RFC processing, XML processing, data mapping and internet communication protocols (HTTPS, Email, FTP, JDBC). Can be installed in 5min on a standard desktop/notebook, so you can easily experiment and try out some first prototypes. Take at look at the "SAP Adapter Guide" and the "Developer Tutorial" on the documentation page:
​https://support.sap.com/en/product/connectors/bc/details.html?anchorId=section_295234589

There is also an Installation Guide, but on Windows, you pretty much just start the installer (as Administrator), and it does everything for you. Make sure to install the latest updates right after initial installation, to have the latest bugfixes and features, see notes
3448291 (CoreFix 3)
3346188 (Service Release 4)
(There are two separate patch lines, one for the general internet tools, and one for SAP-specific tools.)

[Josias]

Thank you very much @Ulrich_Schmidt, sure I'll be checking the links contents following your indications. Once I can confirm it suits our needs, I'll be back checking the answer as Solution.

[Ulrich_Schmidt]

In case you have a specific question about this or that feature, you can of course ask here as well. (Sometimes as a beginner it is easy to get lost/overwhelmed in the thousands of pages of documentation of the SAP BC... 🙂 )

[Josias]

Thank you very much, we are in the process of trial server installation and trying to build a proof of concept with the components you told us. I guess in a week or so I might be back with more questions, or better yet, just to confirm it worked as explained.

[Josias]

@Ulrich_Schmidt we've tried to obtain the SAP Business Connector, with no positive results. All links in previous posts and documentacion take me to "Sap For Me" where as a developer have no permissions or right to access. Do you or anyother person knows where can I get the SAP BC for developing? Or a way to ask for a permission and download it? Thanks in advance.

[Ulrich_Schmidt]

You need an S-User with software download permission. (Your company or the client you are working for, should have such a user. Basically every SAP customer & partner gets such a user ID.) When you log on to the BC download page with that user for the first time, you will be taken to a short application form you need to fill in. (SAP BC contains cryptographic software, so we need to check the ECN export restrictions. 😞 ) Processing usually takes a work-day, and after that you will be able to access the download page.

So the decisive question is: can you get hold of such an "S-User" or have someone in your company, who can perform this step for you?

[Josias]

Thanks for the fast answer.

[Josias]

Thanks for answering right away. We appreciate it. Given my project/developing company nor my client are related to SAP directly, we don't have the S-User type. However, I'll be knocking some doors we believe can point us in th right track. However, this confirmation you gave us is key for the ongoing project. I'll keep in touch.