- SAP Managed Tags:
To Begin , this article is for people who are planning to implement S/4HANA Public cloud along with Employee Central as the frontend for HR data.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is a ready-to-run enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that delivers the latest industry best practices and business application solutions on a public cloud network. It offers an efficient, agile, and affordable solution for connecting your workforce, suppliers, customers, markets, and assets without adding complexity.
HR in S/4 HANA Public cloud
For HR processes, SAP recommends using SAP SuccessFactors solutions, which are seamlessly integrated with SAP S/4HANA Cloud. In S/4 HANA cloud employees are termed as workforce persons and process of managing their data is referred as workforce management.
HR information is processed and stored in HR system. However, basic employee information is required to execute various processes in S/4 system such as project planning, billing, project time recording etc. This information is made available through workforce integration
SAP SuccessFactors system can be integrated with S/4 system through Master Data Integration covered in scope ID JB1 Core HR with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central (JB1) . This scope supports transfer of employee data (including contingent workers). It includes basic data, such as employee name and ID, and contact details, such as workplace address, e-mail, and telephone information.
Below are relevant scope ids where integrated HR data is used
J12- Time Recording - Project-Based Services (J12)
6JO- Resource Management for Projects (6JO)
Integration (MDI)
SAP Master Data Integration service is a central master data hub. Applications integrate with SAP Master Data Integration to synchronize their local master data databases with the master data database of the central hub.
Data flow and field mapping
SAP Master Data Integration enables you to share consistent master data across multiple products easily and efficiently. Once the relevant products, applications, or landscapes are connected to SAP Master Data Integration, master data is synchronized between them.
Following order for data flow is recommended for successful data replication between S/4 HANA Public cloud and SAP SuccessFactors.
Step | Entity | Source | Destination |
1 | Company Code | S/4 HANA Public Cloud | SAP SuccessFactors |
2 | Cost Center | S/4 HANA Public Cloud | SAP SuccessFactors |
3 | Bank Data | S/4 HANA Public Cloud | SAP SuccessFactors |
4 | Workforce person | SAP SuccessFactors | S/4 HANA Public Cloud |
5 | Availability information | SAP SuccessFactors | S/4 HANA Public Cloud |
Replication of master data such as Company code, cost center and bank data to SuccessFactors determines base to process employee information and maintain data which will be uniform once it is replicated back to S/4 HANA Public cloud.
Field Mapping between S/4 HANA Public Cloud and SuccessFactors
SAP has provided pre-defined field mappings for most of the entities when Employee master data is replicated from SuccessFactors to S/4 HANA. SAP note 3078790 provides a list of mapping and configuration activities required in case of custom data handling.
Integration Process
We will cover end to end integration process from both S/4 and SF systems. The process of configuring integration should follow below sequence. These steps are described in detail.
S.No. | Step | In which system to perform the step |
1. | Creating a service instance and a service key | SAP Business Technology Platform |
2. | Configure a business system ID | SAP Business Technology Platform |
3. | Configure write permissions | SAP Business Technology Platform |
4. | Create user in SF for communication | SAP SuccessFactors |
5. | Creating communication systems and communication arrangements | SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition |
6. | Configuring Destinations | SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition |
7. | Configure distribution models in Business Data Orchestration | SAP Business Technology Platform |
8. | Configure OAuth connection | SAP SuccessFactors |
9. | Configuration for Master Data Integration for all object types | SAP SuccessFactors |
10. | Enable Address Mapping | SAP SuccessFactors |
11. | Configure Business Scenario | SAP SuccessFactors |
12. | Configure Availability Iflow | SAP Integration Suite |
- Creating a service instance and a service key
For each application you connect, you will have to create a dedicated service instance of SAP Master Data Integration from the SAP BTP marketplace. After creating the service instance, you create a service binding to obtain the credentials to establish the technical connectivity to the application.
- Navigate to Services > Service Marketplace and select Master Data Integration. Choose Create and enter information required.
- Service - select Master Data Integration
- Service plan- select sap-integration. This service plan must be chosen for connecting SAP-branded cloud applications (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud).
- Provide instance name
- In the next screen configure service instance parameters. Provide a value for the mandatory application attribute based on the application that you intend to connect. We have maintained “sfsf” as provided by SAP for SAP SuccessFactors Application (ref. Connecting Applications via Service Instances | SAP Help Portal )
2.Configure a business system ID and write permissions
The businessSystemId acts as a display name for the client represented by the service instance in the Business Data Orchestration UI. Also, the businessSystemId configuration attribute is mandatory to connect a client using the SOAP API for Business Partner.
You should only configure businessSystemId if the documentation of the connected application demands it.
- Navigate to the service instance.
- Select ... -> View Parameters to view the current attribute configuration of the service instance.
- Copy the JSON object with the current state of attributes.
- Select ... -> Update. Paste the existing JSON object and add, update, or remove the relevant attributes. Note that the update operation does not patch the existing configuration, it replaces the full state of configuration. Therefore, it is important to provide all relevant attributes in the update operation.
- Add the following attribute to configure the businessSystemId.
"businessSystemId": "<businessSystemId>"
- The businessSystemId attribute should have a length of up to 60 characters and it must be unique within a tenant.
- Add the following attribute to configure the writePermissions
"writePermissions": [
{ "entityType": "<entityTypeOdmName1>" },
{ "entityType": "<entityTypeOdmName2>" },
...
]
Example-
"writePermissions": [
{ "entityType": "sap.odm.finance.costobject.CostCenter" },
]
3.Creating communication systems
- Navigate to Communication Systems app. Create New system
- Define ID and name
- Enter General and contact details
- Host Name- Enter the host name of the remote system for outgoing API service calls. Please note that the usage of localhost is not allowed as host name.
- Enter users for inbound and outbound communication.
4.Create communication arrangements
Create below communication arrangements to allow data replication of our required objects:
- SAP_COM_0001 Employee Integration
- SAP_COM_0644 Photo Replication
- SAP_COM_0056 Employee Central Cost Center Integration
- SAP_COM_0379 Bank - Bank Integration
- SAP_COM_0441 Employee Central Financial Master Data Integration
- SAP_COM_0914 Workforce Availability Integration
- SAP_COM_0301External HR Workforce Integration
- SAP_COM_0594Business Data Orchestration Integration
- SAP_COM_0659SAP Master Data Integration
- SAP_COM_0943Business Object Cost Center Integration
5.Configuring Destinations
These steps are required to set up a destination for the connection to Business Data Orchestration
- Go to your SAP BTP Cockpit under Subaccount Connectivity Destinations.
- Provide below details to create new destination:
- Name
- Type- HTTP
- URL- Provide the service URL from the MDO Distribution Administration OData V4 service. Look for MDO: Distribution Administration among the inbound services with application protocol OData V4 that was generated while creating the communication arrangement SAP_COM_0594, and copy the entire URL into this field.
- Create different distribution model for each object type to be replicated with URL specified for each object type.
- User and Password: As defined for the user assigned to the communication system
Workforce data
Bank Data
URL- https://my<number>-api.s4hana.cloud.sap/sap/opu/odata4/sap/api_bank/srvd_a2x/sap/bank/0003/Bank
Cost center
6.Configure distribution models in Business Data Orchestration
Create separate distribution models for each object type with details as below:
- Model name- Customer specific name for each model
- Business Object Type- Respective business object type for each object type
- Workforce Person- sap.odm.workforce.WorkforcePerson
- Bank Data- sap.odm.finance.bank.Bank
- Cost center- sap.odm.finance.costobject.CostCenter
- Mode- Mode of data flow
- Workforce Person- Pull
- Bank Data- Push
- Cost Center- Create 2 distribution models one with Push mode and one with Pull mode
- Provider interface- choose respective API with latest version
- Workforce Person- MDI_LOG_WORKFORCE_PERSON
- Bank Data- MDI_LOG_BANK
- Cost Center- MDI_LOG_COST_CENTER(Pull)/ MDI_CHANGE_COST_CENTER(Push)
- Consumer- Choose a consumer destination for the distribution model created in previous section.
7.Configure OAuth connection
- Go to Admin Center > Security Center > OAuth Configurations
- Add new configuration
- Grant Type: Client_Credentials
- Client ID: Value from clientid in the service key credentials
- Client Secret: Value from clientsecret in the service key credentials
- Token URL: Value from url in the service key credentials + /oauth/token
8.Configuration for Master Data Integration for all object types
- Go to Manage Data> Create new > SAP Master Data Integration Configuration
- Select Integration object as Bank
- Select Parameter as “Is Migration object”
- Provide response value as No. Save the configuration.
- Repeat new configuration for integration object as Workforce Person.
- Select and add parameter for photo replication if photo replication is required.
- Provide cutoff dates by selecting relevant parameters.
9.Enable Address Mapping
- Go to SAP SuccessFactors Upgrade Center and search for Best Practices Address Mapping for SAP Master Data Integration.
- Select the option and choose Upgrade Now. Address mapping is configured automatically.
10.Configure Business Scenarios
- You would need to run/schedule certain business scenarios from EC in order to trigger master data replication. These can be found under Admin Center> Business Scenarios
- Bank/ Cost Center Replication from SAP Master Data Integration to EC – You need to provide Oauth config , API URL in source settings
- Provide operation URI specific for object type-
- Bank- /v0/odm/3.0.0/log/sap.odm.finance.bank.Bank
- Cost center- /v0/odm/3.1.0/log/sap.odm.finance.costobject.CostCenter
- For Workforce Replication- Provide details in destination settings. Set HTTP Method as POST
11.Configure Availability Iflow
- Select integration package and artifact
Select integration package as “SAP SuccessFactors - Employee Availability Integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud” and artifact as “SFSF_EC_to_S4HANA_Availability”
- Configuration
Go to Security material under Manage security section and maintain the user and passwords for S/4 HANA and SuccessFactors systems.
In the artifact below screen appears. Click on configuration and set configuration values for the integration.
- Set schedule of replication as required
Business Partner and Vendor creation
A work assignment defines the relationship between a worker and a specific company or legal entity, also known as a work agreement. Each work assignment is uniquely identified by a Work Assignment ID.
A workforce person can have multiple work assignments, either at different times or simultaneously. When there are multiple assignments, the system automatically determines the main employment, which indicates the current active employment.
Each workforce person and their work assignments are represented by various business partners, each with a specific role.
Points to note-
- To represent an internal workforce person or employee, one BP with the Employee role is created.
- For each work assignment for an employee, a separate BP with the Employment role is created.
- Bank data is stored on the employment BP. If bank data is maintained in employment BP, the Supplier (FLVN00) role is added to employment BP automatically.
Conclusion :- This Article gives you Indepth insight of the workfoce managment and integration between successfactors to S4/Hana Public cloud.
In the next Blog , the aspects of integration with Resource management will be covered including talent intelligence hub and availability control from EC to Resource management.
Thanks to Divya Gopal , Amruta Chitale , Arghya Sengupta , Mahesh Joshi , Nitin Patil , Sourabh Panigrahi , Mayank Barui from My current Organization to help and contribute to this Blog.
