Describing the SAP Integration Strategy

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Repeat essential terms and solution names
  • Describe SAP's integration strategy
  • Explain the integrated process flow across the SAP CX solutions

Terms and Solution Names

Before we deep dive into integrating SAP Sales and Service Cloud with SAP S/4HANA, let's clarify some terms and have a look at the bigger picture (SAP's integration strategy) in this lesson.

Solutions used in this course:

  • SAP Sales and Service Cloud is the nowadays commonly used name for SAP's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution with the former name SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C) which was split into SAP Sales Cloud and SAP Service Cloud solutions. It is part of the Customer Experience (CX) portfolio.
  • SAP Cloud Integration is the commonly used name for SAP's cloud-based integration platform that enables businesses to connect and integrate various applications and systems. The official name is Cloud Integration, capability of SAP Integration Suite or in short Cloud Integration.
  • SAP S/4HANA is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and the successor of SAP ERP/ECC. There are different offerings of SAP S/4HANA, as follows:
    • SAP S/4HANA without any additional suffix refers to the on-premise suite with SAP GUI access that offers the full flexibility known from SAP ERP/ECC.
    • SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is similar to the on-premise suite, but hosted by SAP or certified partners on dedicated infrastructure. SAP GUI access is still available.
    • SAP S/4HANA Cloud or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition is a fully cloud-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution that is hosted by SAP and can be entirely operated from the web browser. SAP GUI is not available anymore and configuration works differently in comparison to the on-premise suite and cloud private edition.

Note

This course focuses on SAP S/4HANA on-premise, meaning either the full on-premise or the private cloud offering and most of the tasks are carried out using SAP GUI. If you are running SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, then only parts of this course apply. In this case, you should look for other resources like this SAP Microlearning playlist on Integrating SAP Sales and Service Cloud with SAP S/4HANA Cloud using SAP Cloud Integration.

SAP Integration Strategy

As we can see from the namings of the solutions mentioned previously, the focus lies on the cloud. This is also reflected in the SAP Integration Strategy, which is visualized in the following graphic:

Visual representation of SAP's integration strategy and architecture with the Cloud ERP in the center and related ecosystem solutions surrounding it.

SAP S/4HANA, as the Cloud ERP, serves as the core, forming the foundation for a range of ecosystem solutions. Among these solutions is the CX suite for customer relationship management, where SAP Sales Cloud and SAP Service Cloud are located. The integration between these solutions is powered by the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Together, these solutions seamlessly collaborate to support the lead-to-cash process, which will be explored further in the upcoming lesson.

Integrated Process Flow – Lead to Cash

The lead-to-cash process refers to the end-to-end journey of converting a potential customer into a paying customer and managing the subsequent sales and revenue generation activities.

The following graphic shows the process in more detail with explanations:

During the various stages of the lead-to-cash process, multiple SAP Customer Experience solutions are involved to streamline this process.

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