SAP integration trends and planning: What you need to know

The SAP integration landscape is ever-changing along with business demands, but it might look different today than in the past. The events of the past couple of years have accelerated rapid changes in enterprise integration scenarios. In 2021, not only are more solutions being integrated, but integration from non-SAP to SAP cloud and on-premises environments has jumped to the forefront of organizational needs. That’s according to the latest SAP integration landscape report from SAPinsider.

Who doesn’t want a better view? With data as with real estate, it’s a top priority. But for current integration drivers, it’s not the top priority. In 2021, 57% of SAP integration landscape survey respondents chose “business transformation and cloud deployments requiring a new approach to data” as their chief integration need. Improving experiences across disparate solutions came in second, followed by the ability to provide leadership with end-to-end views of the business.

According to SAPinsider, increasing reliance on cloud-based enterprise systems for things like customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing is forcing organizations to rethink how data is managed and integrated with on-premises solutions. And organizations need to figure out what to do about proliferating data repositories. With business transformation processes heating up again after pandemic-related slowdowns, integration teams are under pressure. Only 9% of the survey respondents were happy with their current integration strategy. 

Most SAPinsider survey respondents are in the middle of integrating more than 11 enterprise solutions. And user experience is top of mind. For most, the holy grail of a common user experience for accessing reports and data is finally within reach. But reaching that simpler user experience takes a clear understanding of what users want and need. Because an end-to-end user experience is closely tied to an end-to-end view of your business, getting it right is critical.

To help you get it right, the SAPinsider report highlighted four recommendations:

• Implement tools now that support integration of cloud and on premises. 
• Explore and understand the requirements of business users to provide for their integration needs. 
• Plan for non-SAP systems in your integration strategy—even if they aren’t part of your plan today. 
• Designate an individual or team responsible for understanding and managing the integration requirements of your organization.

The SAP integration landscape report is based on a survey of 152 SAPinsider community members and goes deep on everything. The report includes current enterprise priorities, the SAPinsider approach to integration, and steps to integration success. In other words, the report is chock full of useful insights—it’s worth a read.  

Read the SAP integration landscape report now.