Integrating SuccessFactors Employee Central with an SAP ERP HCM on-premise system allows companies with existing SAP systems who are considering implementing or have already implemented SuccessFactors Employee Central to support their business processes (such as payroll) by continuing to run these processes on their existing SAP ERP HCM systems.

Dell Boomi delivers integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), a 100-percent cloud solution. It enables customers to integrate any combination of cloud and on-premise applications without any coding. The integration packages contain the required mapping between the Employee Central data fields and the corresponding fields in the SAP ERP HCM system. Once the integration packages are installed and deployed, replication of master data can be run, and SuccessFactors Employee Central becomes the system of record for master data. Any changes to master data in Employee Central are automatically replicated to the SAP ERP HCM system at scheduled intervals, and Boomi middleware performs and monitors the inbound data replication into the SAP ERP back-end system.

There are several key configurations required in different systems to replicate the master data from SuccessFactors Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM. Each system that is a catalyst for the replication needs to be configured. In Boomi middleware, you have to install the SAP-delivered standard integration packs and schedule the jobs to run at predetermined intervals to extract the data from Employee Central. In Employee Central, you have to assign the SAP ERP HCM system for replication. In the SAP ERP HCM system, you have to activate the web service calls to communicate with Boomi middleware and recover the data.

I cover the necessary steps for integrating Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM with Boomi middleware. These steps include installing the employee replication and Organization Management (OM) integration packages that have the preconfigured mapping between the Employee Central and SAP on-premise fields. I also explain how to use Boomi for configuring the environment process properties, connecting settings with SAP on premise, and scheduling the replication to trigger at recurring intervals. Next, I cover the different configuration activities needed in the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system. These activities include activating web service calls to communicate and receive data from Employee Central, scheduling background jobs to trigger the OM replication, and completing necessary configurations to support and activate the replication.

Install Employee Replication and OM Integration Packs in Boomi

SAP delivers preconfigured integration packs for the Boomi middleware. These integration packs contain the required mapping between the Employee Central data fields and the corresponding fields in the SAP ERP HCM system. Companies also can change the custom data mapping to meet their business requirements. The replication process is triggered from Boomi middleware either manually or at scheduled intervals. Note that the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system must still be configured as per the minimum requirements for the replication to work.

These integration packs are also called iFlows. There are two iFlows that trigger the replication of data from Employee Central to an SAP ERP HCM on-premise system (Figure 1):

1. EC to EC Payroll Employee Replication v2.0
2. EC – ERP Organizational Management v1.0

Figure 1

Install these two integration packs (iFlows) and their processes

If you wish to replicate both employee data and organizational data from Employee Central to the SAP ERP HCM system, you must install both integrations packs.

The employee replication message triggers the replication of employee data from Employee Central to SAP ERP (Personnel Administration [PA] data in SAP ERP). PA infotypes are created or updated when the replication runs.

The organizational data replication message triggers the replication of OM objects and the relationships between the OM objects to SAP ERP HCM.

The OM iFlow solution has four sub-replication processes, as seen in Figure 1:

• Employee Organizational Assignment Replication v1.0: Replicates the relationship between foundation objects and creates relationships (HRP1001) in the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system.
• EC to ERP Job Replication v1.0: Replicates job codes from Employee Central and creates jobs (object type C) in SAP on premise
• EC to ERP Org Structure Item Replication v1.0: Replicates departments from Employee Central and creates organizational units (object type O) in the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system.
• EC to ERP Position Replication v1.0: Replicates positions from Employee Central and creates positions (object type S) in the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system.

Set Up the Environment Extensions in Boomi

After you install the required integration packs, the next step is to set up the Connection Settings (Figure 2) and assign the Process Properties to the extension in Boomi (Figure 3). In Boomi, follow these steps: click Manage, select Atom Management, double-click the appropriate Environment, and select Environment Extensions.

Figure 2

Connect the settings for the employee replication message

Figure 3

The process properties for the employee replication message

To set up the Connection Settings, you need the URL of the web service calls for each of the processes, along with the user ID and password with specific security authorization. You can get this information from the SAP Basis resource. I discuss the various web service calls in more detail later.

You also have to set up the Process Properties for each of these processes. During this step, you assign the different selection criteria to extract the data from Employee Central for replication to the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system. Click the Process Properties option on the left of the screen in Figure 2, and the screen shown in Figure 3 opens. Here you can select the criteria for data extraction by the Legal Entity, Country, or Employee Class of the employee. You also need to assign the full transmission start date, which is usually the go-live date for the implementation. This is the date used to determine what data needs to be fed over to the SAP ERP HCM system. In Boomi, follow these steps: click Manage > select Atom Management > double-click the appropriate Environment > select Environment Extensions.

After you make the connection settings and process properties, you need to schedule the processes to run at a scheduled time or interval so that the data is extracted and sent over to the SAP on-premise system periodically. You can manually trigger the processes, but that is not feasible over the long run. In Boomi, follow these steps: click Manage > select Atom Management > select the Environment > select Deployed Processes. In the screen that opens (not shown), under the Deployed Processes section, right-click the EC to EC Payroll – Employee Replication Process option and select Edit Schedule from the context-menu options. This opens the Scheduling screen (Figure 4) where you select the days and frequency for the replication to trigger.

Figure 4

Schedule setup for the processes

You may schedule these jobs in Boomi at different intervals for different replication messages. For example, you may schedule the employee data replication to run every 30 minutes and then schedule the organizational object and organizational assignment replication message to run every two hours. In either case, all employee data is replicated to SAP ERP HCM except for infotype 0001 (Organization Data), which is incomplete until the organizational object and organizational assignment runs later. Infotype 0001 is updated with default values under the Organizational plan section (Figure 5). Once the organizational object and organizational assignment replication messages are completed, infotype 0001 is automatically updated with the actual values.

Figure 5

Organizational Assignment infotype (0001) before organizational assignment replication is complete

Assign the Target SAP ERP Replication System

Next, you have to assign the target SAP ERP HCM system in Employee Central. To get your SAP ERP HCM client logical system ID, execute transaction code SSC4. After you have the SAP ERP HCM client logical system ID, go to the Employee Central system and create a new Replication Target System under Manage Data in Administration Tools. In Employee Central, follow these steps: Select Admininistration Tools and, under Company Processes & Cycles, click Employee Files and select Manage Data. In the Manage Data page, select Replication Target System from the Create field drop-down options. Then create and save the information from your target replication system as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6

Create a new replication target system in Employee Central

Activate the Web Service Calls

You must activate the required web services in the SAP ERP HCM system to communicate and receive data from Employee Central.

The web services listed in Table 1 should be activated to complete the PA (Employee Master Data) and OM (Org Unit, Job, Position, and Relationship) replication in SAP ERP.

You can activate these web service calls in SAP ERP HCM by executing transaction code SOAMANAGER. In the screen that opens (Figure 7), click the Simplified Web Service Configuration link.

Figure 7

Activate the web service calls in SAP ERP HCM

Schedule Background Jobs in SAP ERP HCM

Every time a replication process is triggered from Boomi to SAP ERP HCM, a staging table is used in SAP ERP HCM to maintain the organizational objects and the organizational assignment replication request. This staging table is used for performance reasons and to minimize time delays or temporary errors caused by, for example, the employee or the object being locked in SAP ERP HCM or a failed replication. After the replication request is captured in the staging table, an event is triggered based on the replication scenario. Separate events are created for organizational object replication and organizational assignment replication. You have to schedule separate background reports tied to each event to trigger the replication request from the staging table. After the scheduled jobs are completed, the replication of data from Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM is done.

Table 2 highlights the events and the reports associated with the events.

To view the replication request for organizational objects or organizational assignments, execute transaction code SE80 and drill down as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8

The replication requests for organizational structure and organizational assignment

You can view the organizational objects replication request by right-clicking the Display Organizational Object Replication Requests option (Figure 8) and, in the context menu that opens, select the Execute option, and then click the Direct Processing… option. This opens the display screen shown in in Figure 9.

Figure 9

The replication request in Open status

In Figure 9, you can see the job codes from Employee Central (in the EC Obj. ID column—J00000467, J00000478, and so on) are in the process of getting replaced. Note that the organizational replication request tables are in Open status. This means that the replication request hasn’t been processed and is waiting for the report to run to trigger the replication.

There are three status definition options:

• Open: New request
• Pending: Error in processing the request
• Failed: Request has been in pending status for more than three days and is considered failed

You can manually trigger the replication by selecting the object ID number row (in the EC Obj. ID column) and then clicking the Process Selected Requests button in the ribbon. This action calls the report RH_SFIOM_PROC_ORG_STRUC_RPRQ shown in Figure 8.

Follow the same steps to trigger the creation of HRP1001 (relationship between objects) by selecting the Display Employee Org. Assignment Replication Requests option.

It is not practical to manually trigger the replication request when you are integrating Employee Central with SAP ERP HCM. You are most likely to replicate the data from Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM several times a day to keep the data in sync. Instead of doing this process manually, you should instead schedule the jobs referenced in Figure 8 to run automatically.

Key Points to Keep in Mind When Scheduling Background Jobs

Employee data replication and organizational object (position, job, or organizational unit) replication are independent of each other. This means that when a new employee or a new object is created or modified in Employee Central, there is no dependency on replication (except for infotype 0001) on the employee replication.

The employee master data replication message updates fields in infotype 0001, apart from OM fields for position, job, and organizational unit. These fields are updated by the organizational assignment message in OM and then synchronized by PA–Personnel Development (PD) integration. (PA–PD integration is the integration between OM and PA.)

The organizational assignment replication message (which updates the HRP1001 relationship in SAP on premise) depends on employee data replication and organizational data replication. If the employee replication or the organizational object replication does not take place or fails, creation of HRP1001 is not possible because the employee and the objects do not yet exist. The employee or the object ID is needed to create those relationships. For this reason, you should always schedule this job to run after employee data and organizational data replication.

Configure the SAP ERP HCM On-Premise System to Support the Replication

So far you have installed the integration packs, activated the required web service calls, and scheduled the extract job in Boomi, and the organizational object and organizational assignment replication request jobs in SAP ERP HCM. After completing these steps, you have to do some configuration to activate the replication switch for various objects or fields. Note that these are not the only activities needed for the integration between Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM to work; you also need to complete the mapping of Employee Central values to SAP ERP HCM values. For more information on these mapping activities, refer to my other HR Expert article, “Integrating SuccessFactors Employee Central with SAP ERP HCM On Premise.”

Create an Administrator Group in Table T526

If you use the administrator group in SAP ERP HCM, no further action is needed. During the replication process, the administrator group and administrator are automatically derived. If the administrator group is not used, create a default administrator group in table T526 and assign it to feature PINCH.

Turn off Additional Actions

Employee Central does not have the concept of additional actions on the same day. As a result, the connector does not support additional actions at this time. Hence, they need to be disabled in the SAP ERP HCM on-premise system. Configure table T77S0 to turn off additional actions and make these entries:

• Group: ADMIN
• Sem.abbr : EVSUP
• Value abbr: 0

Activate the Switches for Position Replication

If position management is enabled in Employee Central and you want to replicate a position to the SAP ERP HCM system, set up the following parameters in table T77S0:

• Group: SFSFI
• Sem.abbr: PMACT
• Value abbr.: X

Enable Web Services for the Employee Replication Confirmation

To send the replication statuses of the replicated employees from SAP ERP HCM to Employee Central, you need to first activate the switch for this. Set up the following parameters in table T77S0:

• Group: YSFEC
• Sem.abbr.: YRESP
• Value abbr.: X

Enable the Personnel Area, Employee Group, and Employee Sub-Group to Be Updated

During the replication of data from Employee Central to the SAP ERP HCM system, the SAP system tries to update the standard enterprise and personnel structure fields if those data elements were modified in Employee Central.

To configure these elements, execute transaction code SPRO and follow menu path Personnel Management > Personnel Administration > Customizing Procedures > Actions > Set up Personnel Actions > Personnel Action Types. In the screen that opens (Figure 10) ensure that the PA, EG, and ES check boxes are selected for all action types that update organizational data. Checking the boxes allows the system to update those fields in SAP ERP HCM.

Figure 10

Setup for actions that require changes to organizational data

Ensure That All Entries from Table T710 Are Copied into Table T510

During replication, the system validates the employee’s pay structure (pay scale type, pay scale area, pay scale group, and pay scale level) coming from Employee Central against table T510 in SAP ERP HCM. If you are using both tables, ensure that the T510 table has all the entries needed to validate the pay structures for salaried employees since table T710 is used for salary ranges.

Ensure That All Wage Types Have the Correct Time Constraint

During replication of data from Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM, only wage types with a time constraint of 1or 2 are replicated. If a wage type in SAP ERP HCM has a time constraint of 3, the replication does not take place. In that case, you need to update the time constraint to either 1 or 2 for that wage type.

Activate the Switch to Replicate Pay Scale Group and Pay Scale Level

To replicate the pay scale group and pay scale level from Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM infotype 0008, you need to configure table T77S0 and set up the following parameters:

• Group: YSFEC
• Sem.abbr: YPSGL
• Value abbr.: X

Priynk Gautam

Priynk Gautam has been working with SAP ERP HCM for five years, specializing in the SAP ERP HCM Personnel Administration and Organizational Management modules, as well as SuccessFactors Employee Central. His recent experience includes integration between Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM on-premise systems using Boomi Middleware. Prior to that, Priynk worked with SAP Talent Visualization Solution by Nakisa.

You may contact the author at Priynkg@gmail.com.

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