Why This Article is a Must-Read?

In the realm of SAP Greenfield S/4HANA programs, the simulation of non-existing, hard-to-reach 3rd party systems, and EDI/B2B partners through service virtualization becomes pivotal. Service Virtualization solutions like Int4 Suite, designed specifically to support SAP transformations, emerge as crucial solutions, enabling developers and functional consultants to swiftly simulate interfaces of any 3rd party, non-SAP systems, and B2B partners – EDI, thereby streamlining the development (DEV) and integration (SIT) phases of the project.

Figure 1 – Simulation of 3rd party systems and EDI/B2B partners for SAP Greenfield Transformation

Key Insights

Effortless Simulation:

SAP Developers and Functional Consultants can utilize Service Virtualization to effortlessly simulate any 3rd party system and EDI partner, eliminating delays caused by dependencies on non-SAP applications and ensuring timely delivery of Greenfield SAP S/4HANA projects.

Cost and Resource Efficiency:

Simulating over 20 or even 100s of 3rd party systems on multiple SAP tiers/Project lines with Int4 Suite not only saves costs and effort but also accelerates the SAP S/4HANA project, avoiding the need to install, configure, and maintain them for the transformation program.

Challenges in Greenfield SAP S/4HANA Transformation:

Inaccessibility and Non-Existence of 3rd Party Systems:

Often, test 3rd party systems and EDI partners are either non-existent or challenging to access or not yet ready, causing delays in Greenfield SAP S/4HANA projects.

Manual Mockup Creation:

The manual creation of mockups can be time-consuming and, in some instances, non-reusable or non-functional, especially for outbound IDOC messages and ABAP proxy messages.

Advantages of Implementing Service Virtualization Solution

Reduced Testing Time:

A notable reduction in testing time during the DEV and SIT testing phases of the project.

Cost Mitigation:

By simulating most of the test landscapes for 3rd party systems, SAP S/4HANA projects can minimize overall project costs and enhance sustainability.

Early Defect Identification:

The ability to run a larger number of tests leads to early defect detection, resulting in substantial annual savings related to fewer issues on the production landscape.

Int4 Suite’s Role in SAP S/4HANA Transformation Programs

Int4 Suite, a native SAP Service Virtualization and Testing solution, simulates 3rd party non-SAP applications and EDI partners to test their functional and non-functional behavior. It also enables the capturing and reusing of electronic messages running on any supported Enterprise Service Bus, such as SAP Process Orchestration, SAP BTP Integration Suite, Boomi, Webmethods, and Azure Integration Services or Mulesoft.

Who Benefits from Service Virtualization in SAP S/4HANA Transformation Programs?

SAP Functional Consultants:

They can retest SAP business processes quickly without leaving the SAP environment, accelerating the testing of any SAP customizing and allowing the project to proceed even when non-SAP system resources are not yet ready.

ABAP and SAP Interface Developers:

Simulation allows the capturing of messages from any landscape (production or test) and rerunning them easily on development landscapes.

Project and Release/Cutover Management:

Simulation enables the coordination of test or release cycles involving numerous 3rd party non-SAP applications in a few days by simulating all non-SAP applications and focusing solely on SAP S/4HANA testing.

Testing Teams:

The teams can focus more on core SAP S/4HANA system testing and simulate 3rd party components instead of testing 3rd party non-SAP applications for SAP S/4HANA transformation projects.

Optimal Usage of Simulation in Greenfield SAP S/4HANA Transformation Programs

While Simulation can be utilized for regression testing during the UAT phase of the project, its most significant benefits are realized when used earlier in the SAP S/4HANA transformation programs – during the DEV and SIT testing phases. During these initial phases, the unavailability of 3rd party systems and EDI partners makes it exceedingly difficult to test any real end-to-end scenarios. Simulation mode reverses this, enabling any developer or SAP functional consultant to easily simulate any 3rd party system and EDI partner within minutes, ensuring quality testing of SAP S/4HANA is conducted earlier and more frequently.

Figure 2 – Simulate using iPaaS service virtualization concept

Where I can learn more about this topic of Simulations/Service Virtualization for SAP transformation programs?

There’s a 3h course on openSAP just on this topic called “Avoid SAP S/4HANA Project Delays with Third-Party Systems Service Virtualization” – In this course we help you understand why SAP-tailored service virtualization is a hidden gem of SAP S/4HANA projects, who can use it and when to use it, and most importantly, how to benefit from it. In addition, you’ll learn how service virtualization can make your projects more sustainable by significantly minimizing their carbon footprint.

Further reading

State of Worldwide Business Assurance for SAP solutions 2023 – Report that highlights the use of Service Virtualization for SAP S/4HANA programs

SAP Intercompany Sales – simulate to transform to S/4HANA

Learn to avoid eating ice cream during your S/4HANA project – a Quality Assurance story

Why is End to End (E2E) testing blocking your SAP test automation adoption journey?

Composable SAP ERP – Decentralized Warehouse and 3PL scenarios