SAP SuccessFactors Integration with SAP ERP

SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based human resource management software designed to streamline all HR-related activities. It is also regarded as the best talent management software aiming to boost employee productivity. It syndicates the client’s in-house data from the Human Capital Management system (HCM) to the cloud. However, this union takes place in a secure and reliable environment with the help of various add-ons. Important add-ons include-

• In-built content that you can import into SAP HCM and SAP PI (Process Integration).
• You can import the content from SAP HCM through SPAM or SAINT transaction code. This add-on usually helps in data extraction and import from SAP HCM.
• SAP PI imports content in the.TPZ file format in Enterprise Services Repository (EPR). You get access to pre-built configuration objects such as data types, message interfaces, mapping programs, communication channel templates and much more.

You can download these Add-ons from the SAP Marketplace.HCM

The Pre-Requirements for Installing the Add-on

• First, it’s important to have an SAP ERP version 6.0 SPS 15 for SAP SuccessFactors Integration successfully.
• Next, you need to have SAP PI version 7.0 as well as SAP PI axis adapter. It helps in integrating recruitment and compensation process.
• Similarly, if you want to integrate employee performance and evaluation software in SAP PI, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) modules will serve as good options.

How Does SAP SuccessFactors Integrate With HCM

The add-on provides SAP SuccessFactors integration involving various steps in the process. Let’s discuss them in some brief.

• Integration of Employee Data

The employee data is integrated with an aim to support and streamline the HR functionality. The data gets transmitted from Human Capital Management to SuccessFactors systems. Also, the integration takes place in a uni-directional way, using file-based communication. While integrating the employee data, you can also make use of Webservices as well.

• Integrating the Evaluation Data

It simplifies the transfer of evaluation-based data from Human Capital Management to SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics (WFA). The communication flows in an asynchronous manner and similar to employee data integration, the data transfer takes place through file-based communication.

• Integrating the Compensation Data

Compensation data is crucial when you are planning to compensate your employees. Here the data gets transferred from SAP SuccessFactors to HCM and vice versa. Unlike the other two integrations above, compensation data integration is synchronous in nature and uses WebServices. You need to make sure that the employee data is present ni SuccessFactors. Also, it cannot make use of file-based communication.

• Integrating Recruitment Data

The process of recruitment data integration is similar to compensation data integration. If we talk about common similarities, the data transfer takes place from HCM to SuccessFactors and vice versa. It also does not depend on file-based communication and you have to ensure the existence of employee data in SAP SuccessFactors.

Two Types of SAP SuccessFactors Integration

The integration of SAP SuccessFactors can be achieved through a couple of communication options. They are-

1. File-Based Communication
2. WebService-Based Communication

Let’s first talk about the important features of file-based communication.

File-Based Communication

In a file-based communication process, the data exchange between HCM and SuccessFactors takes place through flat files. We have already discussed above that the nature of communication is uni-directional and established via minimal technical configuration. The communication-based files are configured to run near real-time mode or in batch.

You will not get any real-time response if there is a data import and so you cannot check the end-to-end data transfer. However, you will receive an email notification, which you can configure for importing data. The files are encrypted with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) modules and sent to the Security File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

WebService-Based Communication

As the name suggests, data transfer takes place through web services used for integrating employee recruitment and compensation.

We have mentioned in the earlier paragraph that the nature of communication is basically synchronous. It means you have to use SAP Process Integration (PI). You have to install the add-on on SAP PI and HCM. The pre-delivered content gets imported in ESR (Enterprise Service Repository) of PI. It contains SuccessFactors and SAP HCM along with message mapping programs and communication channel templates.

Features of WebService-Based Communication

All the transaction process takes place via the Human Capital Management System. The communication is carried out from SAP HCM to the SAP PI system. SAP PI sends requests to SuccessFactors and gets a response to send them back to HCM again. Since the add-on is installed in both SAP HCM and PI, the data can be transmitted through proxy Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP). Thus, it becomes essential for you to establish a connection between the HCM and PI server base.

In order to establish this connection between PI and HCM, you can make use of an integration engine in the case of Dual Stack and SOAP communication for a Single Stack. Apart from that, the communication channel template is used for configuring the connections in the Integration Directory. It usually makes use of Secured Socket Layer (SSL) and Axis Adapter (HTTPS). However, you need to ensure that these components are installed in SAP HCM and PI.

The communication between SAP SuccessFactors and SAP HCM employes token id’s used dynamically by SAP SuccessFactors webserver when executing the interface. You need to use the token ids for transferring all data communication between SuccessFactors and HCM webserver.

The successfully processed synchronous messages are not persisted by default. Therefore, you have to enable the logging on of the Integration Engine or Adapter Engine for monitoring the troubleshooting issues.

Note the Important Points for Successful Integration

• Since SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based solution, you need to syndicate your data externally.
• Make use of the SAP delivered content as much as possible.
• Workforce Analytics and Employee data integration is done through communication-based files.
• Recruitment and compensation is done through web services-based communication.

A Few Final Words

The integration between SAP SuccessFactors and SAP HCM can speed up with the help of on-premise SAP Process Integration (PI). In addition, you will also need a professional SAP Business Consulting Services Firm to carry out the integration on a successful note. You can choose File or WebService-based communication depending on your SAP SuccessFactors module.