“Complexity is inevitable. Chaos isn’t.”
In today’s enterprise IT landscape, complexity is everywhere — hybrid architectures, ever-evolving business needs, legacy platforms, and disconnected systems. But complexity doesn’t have to mean confusion or fragility.
With over 11 years of experience across SAP CPI, PI/PO, BTP, and Ariba CIG, I’ve seen firsthand how integration complexity can slow innovation — and how the right architectural mindset can fix it.
This post is a practical guide to simplifying complex enterprise landscapes using the SAP Integration Suite.
🔹Why Complexity Happens
Most organizations face at least one (if not all) of these challenges:
A mix of cloud and on-premise systems
Legacy, point-to-point integrations built without standards
Business logic scattered across different platforms
Siloed teams and lack of visibility across integrations
The result? High maintenance, fragile interfaces, slower time-to-market.
🔹My Guiding Principles for Simplification
1️⃣API-First Architecture
Design integrations as modular, discoverable services — not tightly coupled one-offs. Use SAP API Management to expose, secure, and govern your interfaces centrally.
2️⃣Decouple Business Logic from Integration
Avoid embedding decision logic in CPI flows or PI/PO mappings. Move that logic to CAP apps, BRF+, or reusable business services — this reduces rework and improves clarity.
3️⃣Think Event-Driven
Don’t force synchronous flows where asynchronous is better. Use SAP Event Mesh to build decoupled, reactive systems that scale more naturally.
4️⃣Reuse Over Rebuild
Standardize error handling, logging, naming conventions, and message formats. Use templates, shared artifacts, and integration accelerators wherever possible.
5️⃣Integration as a Platform
Treat integration as a long-term platform, not a project. Build with future growth, maintainability, and observability in mind.
🔹Using SAP Integration Suite Holistically
Most teams focus only on SAP CPI — but the SAP Integration Suite is more powerful when used as a full toolkit:
Cloud Integration (CPI): For process orchestration across SAP and non-SAP systems
API Management: To secure, manage, and reuse interfaces
SAP Managed Gateway (Ariba CIG): For rapid, standardized B2B procurement integration
Event Mesh: To enable scalable, event-driven communication
SAP BTP Cockpit & Cloud ALM: For centralized monitoring, alerting, and operational control
Together, these tools can reduce integration effort, increase visibility, and support long-term agility.
🔹Real-World Tactics That Worked for Me
Here are some of the steps I’ve implemented in customer landscapes:
Migrated legacy PI/PO integrations to CPI on SAP BTP
Created custom adapters and reusable Groovy-based modules
Designed a central error-handling and alerting framework
Introduced integration naming standards, templates, and design guidelines
Used Cloud ALM to monitor interfaces across landscapes
Built a knowledge base of reusable integration components
🔹Final Thoughts
Complexity is natural. But without intentional design, it turns into chaos.
By adopting a product mindset, focusing on API-first, reusable, and event-driven architecture, and fully utilizing the SAP Integration Suite, we can turn fragile systems into future-ready platforms.
Let’s not just connect systems — let’s design integration that scales with the product, not against it.
🔁Let’s Discuss
How are you approaching simplification in your integration landscape?
Would love to hear your views and lessons from the field.
