SAP API Management

SAP API Management: A Critical Factor for Digital Transformation

With the torrent of cloud, mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, providing business services and information rapidly and securely to internal users, partners in the supply chain, and end customers has become a critical requirement. Yet, it presents a significant challenge — integration across multiple SAP and non-SAP solutions is the most mentioned challenged in several recent SAPInsider research reports, including this SAP Integration Benchmark Report released in fall 2021.

The article The Rise of Integration as a Strategic Imperative outlines the various strategic ways to overcome the integration challenge. A critical factor in a successful integration strategy is API management — the process to develop, publish, promote, and oversee APIs in a secure and scalable environment.

SAP API Management: A Critical Factor for Digital Transformation

With the torrent of cloud, mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, providing business services and information rapidly and securely to internal users, partners in the supply chain, and end customers has become a critical requirement. Yet, it presents a significant challenge — integration across multiple SAP and non-SAP solutions is the most mentioned challenged in several recent SAPInsider research reports, including this SAP Integration Benchmark Report released in fall 2021.

The article The Rise of Integration as a Strategic Imperative outlines the various strategic ways to overcome the integration challenge. A critical factor in a successful integration strategy is API management — the process to develop, publish, promote, and oversee APIs in a secure and scalable environment.

SAP has partnered with Cloud Foundry as well as cloud hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure to run the SAP API management service. James Wood, Principal Consultant with Bowdark Consulting, explains the intricacies of the Cloud Foundry environment in this article. With Cloud Foundry, developers can build just about anything, from SAP Fiori apps with SAPUI5 to apps and APIs built on Node.js, Java, Python, and so forth.

Based on the open-source application platform managed by the Cloud Foundry Foundation, SAP API Management can be used to enhance SAP products and to integrate business applications. It can also be used to develop entirely new enterprise applications based on business APIs that are hosted on SAP Business Technology Platform and integrated with SAP HANA extended application services.

With so many users, devices, and applications accessing business transactions and information, SAP API Management provides a single provisioning platform to provide central access and governance across a hybrid landscape.

The API Management infrastructure consists of five components:

• API runtime allows users and applications to deploy and productively use available APIs.
• API portal is a one-stop-shop to create, secure, and publish API proxies. API users can search for and discover APIs, and API administrators can manage, meter, and secure APIs, as well as define and publish rate plans.
• API business hub enterprise is a self-service for application developers to discover, browse, and explore APIs, subscribe to rate plans, and build apps.
• API analytics provides powerful analytical tools to track API usage.
• API designer can define, implement, and document APIs.

On-premise and cloud platforms and databases can call the APIs through REST, OData and SOAP frameworks.

Apart from SAP, integration platforms from vendors such as Boomi, SUSE, TIBCO, and Stonebranch also provide automation and intelligence to make API management more manageable.