SAP MDI is available for customers since 2020. It’s a service available in SAP Business Technology platform (BTP). SAP Master Data Integration (MDI) enables applications to perform initial loads of master data in the MDI Database, and then perform automatic delta loads to stay in sync with the master data database of SAP MDI. No manual update is required. With MDI you can have a unified view of all the data, it eliminates the need of complex integrations between various systems in the landscape.

SAP MDI is available by default on every SAP Business Technology Platform global account. You don’t have to purchase an additional subscription.

Before SAP MDI, SAP provided standard Integrations in SAP cloud middleware i.e., CPI to connect systems like SAP SuccessFactors, S/4 HANA Cloud with other SAP systems. Some of those standard Integrations have been deprecated now. Example shown below for cost center integration from S4 HANA Cloud to SF EC and employee data integration from SF EC to S4 HANA cloud.

Please note that as of SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2308 release, the standard way of integrating S4 HANA Cloud and SF EC is via SAP Master Data Integration. If you are on a lower release you may leverage below standard integration available in SAP CPI to connect S/4 HANA cloud and SF EC (without SAP MDI)

SAP recommended data flow for future state is shown below. You can see that both S4 HANA Cloud and SF EC connect to MDI from where data is synced instead of directly connecting with each other.

S4 HANA on-premise, SAP ECC on-premise and other non-SAP systems can connect with SAP MDI through SAP CPI i.e., SAP’s cloud middleware (shown above).

Connect SF EC and S4 HANA Cloud with SAP MDI (no middleware in between) 

1. Cost center and Bank master replication from SAP MDI to SF EC

The point-to-point integrations between SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP SF EC for cost center became obsolete.

When you create, change, or delete cost centers, the Data Replication Framework (DRF) is started and the changed cost center data is automatically replicated from SAP S/4HANA Cloud to SAP MDI. This data can then be consumed by SF EC by following below steps.

a. Go to ‘Business scenarios’ transaction in SF EC and enable the below scenario.

b. It will take you to Integration Center as shown below.

REST API URL is the host url for MDI

Delta token will be automatically returned after initial run. After first run this delta token will be considered to read only delta. You have to schedule this Integration for delta run.

1. Org and workforce data replication from SF EC to SAP MDI

a. Similar to above, enable the Org data and workforce data scenarios from ‘Business scenarios’ transaction in SF EC

b. In Integration center, update the connection attributes and schedule the integration.

After the initial run, you can schedule the integration to run for changes only i.e., delta. The Integration stores execution date and time i.e., last run datetime stamp, which will be used for the next scheduled run to replicate only the changed data since the last run.

There are certain parameters that you can configure in SF EC in MDF ‘SAP Master Data Integration configuration’ using ‘Manage Data’ as shown below. Two parameters shown for ex.

Cut off date – It is used to filter out effective dated entities (Ex. Personal info, job info, comp info) that is not required to replicate.

Cut off date exception person ids – You can add person id external for employees for one time replication. Ex. if an employee is terminated retrospectively to an end date that is before the cut off date then you can add such employees in this parameter and they will replicate once.