XI Process Integration (XI) Implementing Collaborative Processes

Every type of business software is based on a real integration process, which is automated to accelerate integration processes and reduce costs. SAP XI concentrates on processes involving the exchange of messages between different systems. Examples of such processes and tasks are:

Order processing involving different systems

Providing products on internet marketplaces

Implementing B2B processes with a business partner by using the internet

Setting up a new software system that needs to exchange data with existing systems

Processes of this kind that have not yet been automated are referred to in this documentation as collaborative or cross-system processes. SAP XI enables both top-down and bottom-up implementation of such processes.

Integration Scenarios

A total solution generally implements several cross-system processes, which you can handle separately. SAP XI allows you to document a cross-system process graphically, in the form of an integration scenario.

The elements of an integration scenario reference the design objects (integration processes (see below), interfaces, and mappings) required for the collaborative process directly. However, this graphical description does not merely serve as a point of entry for the cross-system process. The associations described in the integration scenario are also used to generate and check configuration objects automatically in the Integration Directory.

See also: Designing Integration Scenarios

Integration Processes

You can define integration processes graphically in the Integration Builder, in the same way as integration scenarios. They can be executed on the Integration Server and can handle the following tasks, among others:

Executing a central process involving multiple systems on the Integration Server

Forwarding a message to a receiver following receipt or confirmation of other messages

Collecting several messages to send to a receiver as one message

An integration process can receive asynchronous messages and send them (a)synchronously, in the same way as an application system. You can control this process by using logical conditions. The most important difference from normal message exchange is that the integration process status stays the same until the integration process is complete (in other words, integration processes are stateful).

See also: Cross-Component Business Process Management.