Examining Solution Scope and Architecture

In this lesson, you will explore the solution scope and architecture of SAP Signavio plug and gain, taking a closer look at the individual solutions and integrations.

Let’s begin by looking at how the plug and gain content is packaged and shipped. To make the consumption of the plug and gain content as easy as possible, the content is packaged into two different value accelerators. As mentioned earlier, a value accelerator is a collection of predefined content designed to expedite the deployment of business-focused material, which you can explore and install yourself from the value accelerator library.

The two value accelerators of plug and gain are:

• Value Accelerator for SAP Landscape Analysis​
• Value Accelerator for Process Analysis

Let's look at these value accelerators in more detail.

Value Accelerator for SAP Landscape Analysis focuses on overall process execution analysis, process variant overview, and transaction code analysis.

In contrast, Value Accelerator for Process Analysis delves deeply into specific business improvement opportunities based on use cases.

The figure shows the value accelerators for ​SAP Signavio plug and gain.

Both value accelerators can be utilized independently of one another. Whilst the value accelerators differ in the in their focus content, they leverage the same software solutions, the same integrations and the same underlying data.

Next, lets look at how data flows and why integrations are so unique to plug and gain’s speed in delivery.

As you know, a major differentiator of the SAP plug and gain approach are the speed of deployment and the rich business content delivered out of the box. Let’s take a look at that from a solution perspective. ​

Watch the video to explore how data flows and why integrations are integral to the speed of delivery in plug and gain.

Let's now take a deeper look at the integration components of plug and gain.

The figure shows the integration components. Let's explore the figure.

To collect and transfer data for processing insights, the SAP Cloud Application Lifecycle Manager (SAP Cloud ALM) framework is leveraged in the SAP ERP source system. Please note that, while the integration framework is utilized, CALM licenses are not a prerequisite. Central data collection settings, such as data collection frequency and job scheduling, are governed by the solution tool plug-in ST-PI, which is deployed in the source system. The integration is achieved through a push process, specifically an RFC HTTPS outbound connection, which actively transfers collected data from the SAP source system.

As Process Insights is a SAP BTP based solution, data is stored in SAP HANA cloud tables. The SAP Process Insights application leverages the transactional and master data stored in SAP HANA cloud to visualize process performance metrics, benchmarks and process flows.​ This same set of data is also used to create the attribute and event log required by Process Intelligence to analyze process execution and events.

A standard connection has been established to link Process Intelligence with Process Insights. This connector enables the extraction, transformation, and loading of Process Insights’ transactional and master data into SAP Process Intelligence source data tables, where the data is persisted. The integration, which is a pull process that imports data from Process Insights, is freely configurable regarding frequency and the data being pulled. All Process Intelligence analysis content, such as investigations and dashboards, relies on data from these source tables.

Next, let's look at both integrations in more detail, starting with the integration between the source system and process insights.

SAP Process Insights offers two ways to connect the system of record.

• Option 1: Direct Connection Between SAP Source System and Process Insights
• Option 2: ​Intermediate Connection Between SAP Source System and Process Insights

Let's start with exploring option 1.

In this option, the ST-PI plug-in is installed in a separate ABAP system. This can be for example a SolMAn system, a BW or any other ABAP system, irrespective of whether it is a productively used system or a development system. This separate system acts as pass through for source system data. Data is not persisted in this system. For this reason any ABAP system can be leveraged as an intermediate system without the need to fulfill sizing requirements.

The main motivation for using an intermediate system is either to avoid directly connecting the source ERP system to a cloud solution or because the source system does not fulfill all requirements to install the minimum required version of the ST-PI plug in. The functional scope of process insights is the same between both approaches.

All requirements regarding versioning can be found in the Administrator Guide to Process Insights on SAP Help.

Having established how data is integrated with Process Insights, let's take a look at the second integration, which involves bringing data from Process Insights into Process Intelligence.

As shown in the figure, in this integration, the SAP Signavio Process Insight connector takes center stage by allowing a transfer of Process Insight data into Process Intelligence. The figure also shows how data from process insights, known as Process Performance Indicator (PPI) data, is translated into attribute and event lists that Process Intelligence leverages to build event logs for visualizing process events and execution flows. This data is read through a data interface from the process intelligence-based connector.

The connector ensures that the pulled data is stored in source data tables, which are utilized by process data pipelines to generate an event log. To enable communication between Process Intelligence and Process Insights, authentication logic for secure communication, as well as a clear endpoint definition, is required. This information is provided by a service instance and the related Service Key created on the SAP Business Technology Platform that hosts Process Insights.

The figure provides a first glimpse of how the connector parameters are set. Further parameterization, such as the target currency for analysis, is also completed during the connector setup.