Migration of SAP interfaces 

Support for the interface landscape SAP PI ends in 2020. Bad news for anyone using this system. Counting on an obsolete system landscape over the long term leads to a rude awakening. Business-critical system updates become impossible, system security is impaired, and the entire ERP system can potentially become paralyzed. But there is good news too.

First off, the most important point is that all system landscapes using SAP PI are not going to fail on 1 January 2021. In fact not a single interface is likely to cause an issue at the turn of the year. Problems are going to make themselves known gradually. So enough time remains to tackle this problem and make your interface landscape fit for the future. You should launch a project immediately to make sure everything gets done in time. Complete the following points in the next few months:

Review your processes

Now is the perfect time to review your business processes. Are they still current? Are they being followed in the company? Are there new processes that should be mapped in IT? Prepare an overview of all old and new processes, along with the interfaces involved. Such a specification gives you an overview of which interfaces need to be adapted or newly created, and which ones will be eliminated anyway going forward.

Go for coffee with your colleague in Compliance

Compliance is a constantly shifting landscape as new laws come into force while others are revoked. Often these changes affect internal processes, SAP ERP, and its interfaces directly. The list of changes relevant for compliance can be long, especially if your company operates internationally. Your colleague will tell you which laws are coming into force when, and what business processes are affected. This helps you complete your specification and schedule the adaptation of interfaces relevant for compliance. You thereby ensure that urgent compliance changes will not thwart your migration plans.

Convince the person with cost center responsibility

Certainly an interface migration is not cheap. But it secures the future of the company and harbors additional cost reduction potential. The timely migration of your interfaces also avoids a great deal of trouble and high costs due to system failures. In the worst case such failures even impact your production. Generally these costs are several times higher than the migration costs. It is best to discuss these points in a face-to-face meeting with the person responsible for the cost center.

Talk to company management about the cloud

Even if the cloud is not an issue for you yet, this technology should not be disregarded in the interface migration. After all, who knows what the company policy regarding the cloud will be in ten years? Choose an interface landscape that is fit for the future and cloud-compatible. Then a later move to the cloud can build on the effort you invest in your interfaces now.

Contact the IT service provider of your choice

Once you have reviewed your processes, gone over your specification with the compliance department, convinced the person with cost center responsibility to make the investment, and raised the topic of the cloud internally, you are ready for the migration of your interface landscape. Now you need an appropriate IT service provider to assist you in this project. Make sure that the service provider has references in the field of integration and employs experts for your migration project. Physical proximity and a similar company philosophy often simplify coordination.