Introduction
In today's data-driven era, organizations are seeking innovative solutions to gain deeper insights into their business processes. SAP Signavio Process Insights provides a robust framework that connects seamlessly with ERP source systems, enabling the extraction, analysis, and visualization of critical performance indicator data. In this blog, we will delve into the intricacies of establishing a data connection between SAP Signavio Process Insights and ERP systems, uncovering the steps involved, the significance of background jobs, and how this connection unlocks a wealth of actionable insights for process optimization. Whether you're an SAP Signavio user or considering its implementation, this blog will serve as your comprehensive guide to harnessing the power of data connectivity for enhanced process visibility and performance.
Let’s start with the basics!
What is SAP Signavio?
SAP Signavio is a comprehensive BPM platform that supports the entire lifecycle of business processes. It offers tools for analysis, modeling, simulation, and optimization. Users can collaborate, document, and monitor processes. The platform provides process intelligence with data analysis, visualization, and reporting for performance tracking and continuous improvement.
In a nutshell, this is allowing you to manage complexity within transformations while:
What is SAP Signavio Process Insights?
SAP Signavio Process Insights is a cloud-based solution hosted on the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) that provides valuable data-driven insights into business processes and their utilization. It enables the identification of process improvement opportunities by pinpointing areas that can be enhanced by allowing users to delve deep into the root causes of process inefficiencies, facilitating a thorough understanding. Moreover, the solution offers recommendations on how to improve these processes effectively.
Overall, With SAP Signavio Process Insights, users can navigate their business process transformation journey seamlessly. It provides a clear path from gaining insights to taking action, facilitating the maximization of process excellence.
Understanding the mechanics of connecting SAP Signavio Process Insights, Cloud ALM, and S/4HANA on-prem system
This is the outline of the system landscape and what SAP systems, applications, and components are involved when you connect ERP systems.
SAP Signavio Process Insights uses the framework provided by SAP Cloud ALM to connect your ERP source system to your cloud tenant. The data from your ERP system is sent directly to your SAP Signavio Process Insights tenant, it's not stored in SAP Cloud ALM. The SAP Cloud ALM framework is only leveraged for data transfer, other functionalities of the solution aren't used.
How to connect the on-prem ERP data to Signavio?
Let’s deep dive into how you can achieve a successful connection to the on-premises system to Process Insight application to see the insights for the system data and improve the business processes. When we think about data transfer and connection to cloud systems, the first thing that comes to mind is “Ahh, that’s going to take a lot of time”. Well, let me surprise you with the power of this tool –
All you need to do is follow these 5 steps, quick and easy:
To facilitate a seamless onboarding experience, it is crucial for you to familiarize yourself with the requirements of the source system and the necessary configuration steps that need to be taken beforehand. This knowledge will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the essential information based on the specific type of source system you intend to connect.
This step is an initial configuration in SAP BTP, once you have set up a global BTP account, you can follow the procedure to create a subaccount and subscribe to the application. Once you've successfully prepared your subaccount, understand how to get the service key details you need from it to connect your ERP system
Add the required user to the chosen identity provider. In the case of a custom identity provider, you should establish user groups and assign the users to the relevant user groups.
Set up users and assign them the necessary roles according to role collections. The specific user management process varies depending on the identity provider you are utilizing. If you are using the default identity provider, you will create users within the SAP BTP cockpit and subsequently assign them the appropriate role collections.
However, if you are utilizing a custom identity provider, you will ensure that your user groups are assigned to the relevant role collections.
This step is the last one and most important too! In this, you will configure the data connection within your ERP system to enable the scheduling, retrieval, and transmission of performance indicator data to your SAP Signavio Process Insights cloud tenant.
You should receive LMS_ID once the connection is set up and completed successfully.
Important Note: In case you get the error “LMS_ID not retrieved" error and you are using the SAP Internal ERP system. Then the fix is – You need to manually change the numeric installation number in the debugger to a 10-digit number and register the destination like "0123456789", this is a one-time setup change. If details are needed, please contact me and I can provide more information on the fix!
Reason - Each SAP-System has a unique installation number which is assigned during its own installation and configuration, if you don't have a numeric value of that for your system, for eg "SAP-INTERN" then it would give an error! This is a situation that cannot occur with customers, only with internal systems.
How does the data flow from on-prem to Cloud tenant?
The SAP Cloud ALM framework requires an HTTP connection to an external service to be set up. Using this framework and the HTTP connection allows you to trigger the data transfer yourself from your ERP system. This means that the Cloud Connector is not needed and can't be used to connect your ERP system to your SAP Signavio Process Insights application running on SAP BTP.
Understanding the ERP Background jobs –
After configuring data collection through SAP Cloud ALM, the activation of a data connection in your ERP system triggers multiple background jobs. Specifically, there are two significant jobs that pertain to SAP Signavio Process Insights:
The default hourly job retrieves the latest data collection settings from the SAP Signavio Process Insights system. These settings determine which performance indicators to collect data for and the frequency of data collection.
This job operates on a minute-by-minute basis. It verifies the availability of work processes, initiates data collection, and transmits the collected data to SAP Signavio Process Insights.
You can check the job details and logs using transaction SM37. This is how it looks for me, as you see both the above-explained jobs are executed –
Congratulation! The data transfer is started and your Signavio PI Cloud Application should be getting the data very soon after the job is triggered, you are all set to analyze the system data and Improve Business Processes.
Here is the whole flow documented in video format for better understanding!
This video showcases the end-to-end process by focusing on the data transfer steps in SAP S/4HANA on-premise system to SAP Signavio Process Insights Application and Analyzing the data, understanding different types of recommendations given by the tool.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the data connection between SAP Signavio Process Insights and ERP source systems bridges the gap between data and process optimization. We have explored the crucial steps involved in setting up the data connection, understanding the significance of background jobs, and leveraging data connectivity to drive actionable outcomes. Embracing this integration empowers businesses to maximize the potential of their ERP systems and leverage the full capabilities of SAP Signavio Process Insights. As you embark on your journey to enhance process visibility and efficiency, remember that a strong data connection is the foundation for continuous improvement and achieving business process excellence.
Find out how to use SAP Signavio within your daily business, set up your workspace, and learn some best practices by exploring SAP’s free learning content on SAP Signavio solutions. SAP Signavio is designed to empower you to actively engage in improving processes to drive efficiency and customer excellence. Check out even more role-based learning resources and opportunities to get certified in one place on SAP Learning site.
I would love to read your comments and feedback on this topic! Let's explore the world of SAP Signavio together 🙂
Special thanks to gunteralbrecht for all the guidance and help!
In today's data-driven era, organizations are seeking innovative solutions to gain deeper insights into their business processes. SAP Signavio Process Insights provides a robust framework that connects seamlessly with ERP source systems, enabling the extraction, analysis, and visualization of critical performance indicator data. In this blog, we will delve into the intricacies of establishing a data connection between SAP Signavio Process Insights and ERP systems, uncovering the steps involved, the significance of background jobs, and how this connection unlocks a wealth of actionable insights for process optimization. Whether you're an SAP Signavio user or considering its implementation, this blog will serve as your comprehensive guide to harnessing the power of data connectivity for enhanced process visibility and performance.
Let’s start with the basics!
What is SAP Signavio?
SAP Signavio is a comprehensive BPM platform that supports the entire lifecycle of business processes. It offers tools for analysis, modeling, simulation, and optimization. Users can collaborate, document, and monitor processes. The platform provides process intelligence with data analysis, visualization, and reporting for performance tracking and continuous improvement.
In a nutshell, this is allowing you to manage complexity within transformations while:
- Achieving a faster time to insights
- Achieving a faster time to adapt.
- Achieving better processes through best practices and collaboration.
- Achieve happier customers and employees by prioritizing their experience throughout your process change.
What is SAP Signavio Process Insights?
SAP Signavio Process Insights is a cloud-based solution hosted on the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) that provides valuable data-driven insights into business processes and their utilization. It enables the identification of process improvement opportunities by pinpointing areas that can be enhanced by allowing users to delve deep into the root causes of process inefficiencies, facilitating a thorough understanding. Moreover, the solution offers recommendations on how to improve these processes effectively.
Overall, With SAP Signavio Process Insights, users can navigate their business process transformation journey seamlessly. It provides a clear path from gaining insights to taking action, facilitating the maximization of process excellence.
Understanding the mechanics of connecting SAP Signavio Process Insights, Cloud ALM, and S/4HANA on-prem system
This is the outline of the system landscape and what SAP systems, applications, and components are involved when you connect ERP systems.
SAP Signavio Process Insights uses the framework provided by SAP Cloud ALM to connect your ERP source system to your cloud tenant. The data from your ERP system is sent directly to your SAP Signavio Process Insights tenant, it's not stored in SAP Cloud ALM. The SAP Cloud ALM framework is only leveraged for data transfer, other functionalities of the solution aren't used.
How to connect the on-prem ERP data to Signavio?
Let’s deep dive into how you can achieve a successful connection to the on-premises system to Process Insight application to see the insights for the system data and improve the business processes. When we think about data transfer and connection to cloud systems, the first thing that comes to mind is “Ahh, that’s going to take a lot of time”. Well, let me surprise you with the power of this tool –
All you need to do is follow these 5 steps, quick and easy:
To facilitate a seamless onboarding experience, it is crucial for you to familiarize yourself with the requirements of the source system and the necessary configuration steps that need to be taken beforehand. This knowledge will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the essential information based on the specific type of source system you intend to connect.
This step is an initial configuration in SAP BTP, once you have set up a global BTP account, you can follow the procedure to create a subaccount and subscribe to the application. Once you've successfully prepared your subaccount, understand how to get the service key details you need from it to connect your ERP system
Add the required user to the chosen identity provider. In the case of a custom identity provider, you should establish user groups and assign the users to the relevant user groups.
Set up users and assign them the necessary roles according to role collections. The specific user management process varies depending on the identity provider you are utilizing. If you are using the default identity provider, you will create users within the SAP BTP cockpit and subsequently assign them the appropriate role collections.
However, if you are utilizing a custom identity provider, you will ensure that your user groups are assigned to the relevant role collections.
This step is the last one and most important too! In this, you will configure the data connection within your ERP system to enable the scheduling, retrieval, and transmission of performance indicator data to your SAP Signavio Process Insights cloud tenant.
You should receive LMS_ID once the connection is set up and completed successfully.
Important Note: In case you get the error “LMS_ID not retrieved" error and you are using the SAP Internal ERP system. Then the fix is – You need to manually change the numeric installation number in the debugger to a 10-digit number and register the destination like "0123456789", this is a one-time setup change. If details are needed, please contact me and I can provide more information on the fix!
Reason - Each SAP-System has a unique installation number which is assigned during its own installation and configuration, if you don't have a numeric value of that for your system, for eg "SAP-INTERN" then it would give an error! This is a situation that cannot occur with customers, only with internal systems.
How does the data flow from on-prem to Cloud tenant?
The SAP Cloud ALM framework requires an HTTP connection to an external service to be set up. Using this framework and the HTTP connection allows you to trigger the data transfer yourself from your ERP system. This means that the Cloud Connector is not needed and can't be used to connect your ERP system to your SAP Signavio Process Insights application running on SAP BTP.
Understanding the ERP Background jobs –
After configuring data collection through SAP Cloud ALM, the activation of a data connection in your ERP system triggers multiple background jobs. Specifically, there are two significant jobs that pertain to SAP Signavio Process Insights:
- CRBPA:AUTODISCOVERY
The default hourly job retrieves the latest data collection settings from the SAP Signavio Process Insights system. These settings determine which performance indicators to collect data for and the frequency of data collection.
- CRBPA:DC_CONTROLLER
This job operates on a minute-by-minute basis. It verifies the availability of work processes, initiates data collection, and transmits the collected data to SAP Signavio Process Insights.
You can check the job details and logs using transaction SM37. This is how it looks for me, as you see both the above-explained jobs are executed –
Congratulation! The data transfer is started and your Signavio PI Cloud Application should be getting the data very soon after the job is triggered, you are all set to analyze the system data and Improve Business Processes.
Here is the whole flow documented in video format for better understanding!
This video showcases the end-to-end process by focusing on the data transfer steps in SAP S/4HANA on-premise system to SAP Signavio Process Insights Application and Analyzing the data, understanding different types of recommendations given by the tool.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the data connection between SAP Signavio Process Insights and ERP source systems bridges the gap between data and process optimization. We have explored the crucial steps involved in setting up the data connection, understanding the significance of background jobs, and leveraging data connectivity to drive actionable outcomes. Embracing this integration empowers businesses to maximize the potential of their ERP systems and leverage the full capabilities of SAP Signavio Process Insights. As you embark on your journey to enhance process visibility and efficiency, remember that a strong data connection is the foundation for continuous improvement and achieving business process excellence.
Find out how to use SAP Signavio within your daily business, set up your workspace, and learn some best practices by exploring SAP’s free learning content on SAP Signavio solutions. SAP Signavio is designed to empower you to actively engage in improving processes to drive efficiency and customer excellence. Check out even more role-based learning resources and opportunities to get certified in one place on SAP Learning site.
I would love to read your comments and feedback on this topic! Let's explore the world of SAP Signavio together 🙂
Special thanks to gunteralbrecht for all the guidance and help!
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