- Applies to
- SAP PI/PO 7.x to SAP Integration Suite
- Tools
- Migration Assessment, Migration Tooling
- Audience
- Integration leads and architects
The problem
Most PI/PO landscapes have grown for ten years or more. When a migration starts, the interface list is long, ownership is unclear, and estimates swing wildly because every interface is treated as equally complex.
Step 1: Build a real inventory
Start from what actually runs, not from documentation. Pull message volumes for the last 6 to 12 months and match them to every integrated configuration. Interfaces with zero traffic are your first quick win.
- Sender and receiver systems, adapters and protocols
- Mapping type: graphical, XSLT, Java or ABAP
- Monthly message volume and peak load
- Business owner and criticality
Step 2: Sort every interface into one of three groups
- Retire: no traffic, duplicates, or flows replaced by standard SAP cloud integrations. Confirm with the business owner, then switch off.
- Migrate: standard adapters and graphical or XSLT mappings. SAP’s migration assessment and migration tooling handle much of this work, followed by testing.
- Redesign: ccBPM or BPM processes, Java mappings, custom adapter modules and heavily customized flows. These need a new design, not a copy.
Step 3: Map the hard parts early
- ccBPM and BPM: rebuild as iFlows, or move long-running human steps to SAP Build Process Automation.
- Java mappings: rewrite as message mappings or Groovy scripts. Keep the test messages from PI/PO to compare results.
- ABAP proxies: connect through the XI adapter in Cloud Integration, usually with minimal backend change.
- On-premise systems: plan SAP Cloud Connector or Edge Integration Cell before the first wave, not during it.
Step 4: Plan waves
Wave 1 takes low-risk, high-volume “migrate” interfaces to build confidence and templates. Wave 2 covers the remaining standard flows. Wave 3 handles critical and redesigned flows with parallel runs and message comparison before cutover.
Result
Teams that triage first typically find a meaningful share of interfaces can be retired, the effort estimate becomes defensible, and the business sees early progress instead of a long silent build phase.