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This blog post will explain how you can model your iFlow to insert and update data in your Custom Business Object. As a prerequisite you should read blog post https://blogs.sap.com/2017/05/12/usage-of-odata-service-of-custom-business-object/.

Overall iFlow

The iFlow consists of 8 steps for mass data coming in through a SOAP service and mapping to the OData service of a custom business object (CBO). Each step is explained in detail.

The HTTP session handling is set to “On Integration Flow” to ensure that the same session is used for all calls to SAP Hybris Marketing instead of creating multiple sessions. This increases performance:

In this example the payload of an incoming SOAP Service looks like this: 6 EXTERNAL Max Mustermann 7 EXTERNAL Ellen Musterfrau 8 EXTERNAL John Doe

Step 1: Iterating Splitter to package mass data into chunks of 1000

In order to not overload the CBO backend system the data is handled in chunks of 1000. An iterating splitter is used for that purpose. The incoming payload is split at the token :

After the split the payload looks like this: 6 EXTERNAL Max Mustermann 7 EXTERNAL Ellen Musterfrau 8 EXTERNAL John Doe

Step 2: Process Call to Local Integration Process “Enrich SAP_UUID”

To update or delete an entry, the SAP_UUID as technical key is needed. Therefore for each entry the SAP_UUID is enriched in a local integration process, if the entry already exists in the CBO.

Step 3: Iterating Splitter to handle each entry in a seperate call

Currently CPI does not support batch processing for OData GET calls. Therefore each entry must be handled seperatly. But they can be processed in parallel. The splitting is again done at the Token but this time without grouping:

Step 4: Content Modifier to save the semantic key in properties

The semantic keys of the OData service of the CBO are ContactId and IdOrigin. In the Content Modifier the values are saved in properties for usage in step 5:

Step 5: Content Enricher to read the technical key SAP_UUID

A Get request is made to the SAP Hybris Marketing system to get the technical key SAP_UUID. The properties ContactId and IdOrigin are given over in the filter expression. As the content enricher needs a matching field from the existing payload and from the receiving payload, also the ContactID is requested:

In the Content Enricher properties the result is then mapped to the current payload:

If a SAP_UUID is returned by SAP Hybris Marketing, the payload looks as follows after the content enrichment: 7 00163e35-616b-1ed7-b5b9-662f3d264ba0 7 EXTERNAL Ellen Musterfrau

If no SAP_UUID is returned, the payload looks like this: 8 EXTERNAL John Doe

Step 6: Mapping After Enrichment

As the payload looks different after the content enrichment for new and changed objects, a mapping is introduced that maps both cases to the same structure. As result structure already the OData structure of the CBO is used. The fields ContactID, IDOrigin, Field1 and Field 2 can directly be assigned:

For the field SAP_UUID a complex expression is build. It is checked if the tag SAP_UUID exists in the incoming payload. In this case the SAP_UUID is taken over. In case the tag does not exist, an empty constant is written to the target SAP_UUID tag:

Step 7: Gathering of SAP_UUID Enrichment Calls

In the last step of the local integration process all calls are gathered and enhanced by an overall tag . The overall tag is needed by CPI for further XML processing.

After the gathering the payload looks like this: 00163e0c-0f31-1ee7-8eae-19ed448a1944 6 EXTERNAL Max Mustermann 00163e35-616b-1ed7-b5b9-662f3d264ba0 7 EXTERNAL Ellen Musterfrau 8 EXTERNAL John Doe

Step 8: Map request chunk to OData Batch Processing

The last step of the whole integration flow maps a chunk of 1000 to batch processing of the CBO OData service. The tag is mapped to the tag . The target tag gets an empty constant assigned. The tag is mapped to the tag . The target tags and have a complex expression based if the entry needs to be created or updated. The target tag is not needed and therefore disabled. The target tags and get an empty constant. The target tag has a complex expression. The fields ContactID, IDOrigin, Field1 and Field2 are mapped directly from source to target.

The target tag can either be POST for a new entry or PUT for a changed entry. If the source tag is empty (SAP_UUID equals string ”) then the constant POST is assigned to tag . Else the constant PUT is assigned:

The target tag is only needed for changed entries. Therefore the complex expression is as follows: If the source tag is empty (SAP_UUID equals string ”), revise the result (Not). Only if the revised result is true, create the tag . The creation of the tag is created by concatenation of constant value YY1_HCI_ID_ID_ORIGIN(guid’ with source SAP_UUID and next concatenation to constant value ‘):

The complex expression for the target tag is similar to the target tag . Only if the source SAP_UUID is filled the target tag is created:

The payload now looks as follows: PUT YY1_HCI_ID_ID_ORIGIN(guid’00163e0c-0f31-1ee7-8eae-19ed448a1944’) 00163e0c-0f31-1ee7-8eae-19ed448a1944 6 EXTERNAL Max Mustermann PUT YY1_HCI_ID_ID_ORIGIN(guid’00163e35-616b-1ed7-b5b9-662f3d264ba0’) 00163e35-616b-1ed7-b5b9-662f3d264ba0 7 EXTERNAL Ellen Musterfrau POST 8 EXTERNAL John Doe

Batch requests to an OData service are always send as a POST request. Therefore the Receiver Channel needs to be setup like that:

The timeout is configured with 5 minutes as this is the normal runtime in SAP Hybris Marketing system.

  http://bit.ly/2DGvlQo #SAP #SAPCloud #AI

What made you choose digital marketing?

My first attempt at marketing anything on a large scale was when I started my first online prfessional software business. I didn’t know much about marketing, but I was committed to learn everything I could. For the most part I was self-taught and would spend hours watching videos online about marketing. Then I soon realized I had slowly developed a valuable skill set that could help other business owners get more leads and sales even with a little budget. That was when I decided to start a digital marketing agency.

What innovation are you are bringing to the industry?

I am changing the way businesses do marketing. The old ways of marketing are slowly petering out. Print ads, TV commercials, and radio ads are simply not as effective anymore. I believe social media and influencer marketing is the new wave of effective and result based marketing.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your journey as an entrepreneur?

With my first website, I had a problem with my payment processing company. I was processing so many orders a day that they had to shut down my account as they thought the volume of conversion was fraudulent. Finding a new payment processing company that would allow me handle large volumes of financial transaction took me a long time.

How did you overcome that challenge?

Sensing that I could lose a great chunk of money and business if I delayed for too long, I stayed up an entire night (after the shutdown) sending applications to payment processing companies in hopes I could get a new account the next day. It worked!

What is your advice for upcoming entrepreneurs?

Hustle! Being an entrepreneur is extremely difficult. You are the captain of your own ship. Nobody wants to hear how you failed unless you succeed at the end. Understand that nothing is going to happen overnight. But if you hustle and never cheat the grind eventually you will get there. These are some of the secrets I teach entrepreneurs looking to master e-commerce.

What advice do you have for millenials reading this?

Understand that it is not going to be easy. Anything that is worth accomplishing is going to be difficult because if it wasn’t it wouldn’t be worth accomplishing. It’s going to take guts, but if you remain consistent and determined with your purpose, there is nothing you can’t accomplish. As I always emphasize, hustle! http://bit.ly/2DHSemz #SAP #SAPCloud #AI

When Campari Group, the sixth largest premium spirits player worldwide, set out to modernize its business operations, it put its people first. It provided its diverse workforce with a modern HR solution that facilitates development and growth throughout the company.

“The primary strategic goals of HR are to attract, develop, and engage our people to support the development of the organization,” said Giorgio Pivetta, head of Group HR at Campari Group.

Campari’s high growth business model focuses on both organic internal growth and external growth through acquisition. In fact, it has acquired 24 companies in the last 22 years and since 2004 has expanded operations from five in-market companies to 20.

“The growth has been dramatic of course in terms of business size, portfolio of brands, and so on, but also in terms of diversity and complexity of our workforce,” said Pivetta.

Transforming HR for Growth

“Toasting Life Together” is Campari Group’s mantra. And being the ambassadors of that culture is embedded in the DNA of the HR organization. “It is important that we nurture our culture around the world and at the same time build a pipeline of internal leaders and managers that can lead and sustain the evolution of the culture in a growth mode,” explained Pivetta.

Accelerating and easing the onboarding of new employees and contractors is essential to the growth strategy and requires HR to have a broad set of business support skills. “HR has to change the way it used to work and expand the portfolio and scope of activities. It must act like a business partner first, then as a functional expert. It used to be the other way around,” said Pivetta.

To function as a business partner, HR needed a modern and flexible HR solution that was integrated with the rest of the company. “From a systems perspective, we need an environment that supports harmonized and synchronized global processes and practices. Because it doesn’t make any sense to reinvent the wheel each time we bring in a new company,” explained Pivetta.

It also needed a system that would bring efficiency, effectiveness, and speed to the HR organization so it could better support line management. “Rather than crunching numbers and spending 80% of our time on collecting and forwarding information, HR needs a system that provides the right support for decision making,” said Pivetta.

Building a Solution for Success

To meet its requirements, Campari Group turned to SAP Success Factors solutions. “SAP Success Factors gives us the integration, global standards, high speed, and user friendliness that we need moving forward,” said Pivetta.

Campari Group is implementing SAP Success Factors in phases. “We want to build up the global infrastructure. We started with performance management and will continue with talent development, recruitment, and compensation,” explained Pivetta.

“SAP Success Factors is a cloud-based solution, which means it’s an agile, user friendly system that is automatically updated with standard best practices. The opportunity to get new functionality and features without spending time designing and redesigning is a paradigm shift,” said Pivetta.

Integration between the different HR functions within the suite also gives Campari a common template for its global business processes. “We used to have different HR systems and processes across the business, so SAP Success Factors is a big step forward for us. It is going to become the global standard for Campari’s HR practices,” explained Pivetta.

Satisfying Diverse Needs

Standardization will bring a lot of efficiency to the company. Many processes will be faster and more simple. For example, managing recruitment and staffing will be less complex. “The integrated system will make it much easier to manage the complexity we have with internal job postings and staffing movements,” said Pivetta. And line managers who are already using the new performance management functionality said the system is quick and easy to use.

Campari Group has a diverse and complex workforce. It spans 65 nationalities, multiple generations, and everyone from manufacturing workers in the plants to the people in sales and marketing. The new solution will enable both HR and other line management to focus on value added activities and strategic decision-making, rather than managing transactions.

“When the full SAP Success Factors suite is implemented we will have a system centered around the needs of our diverse employees, not just a tool for HR,” concluded Pivetta.

Top image via Campari Group http://bit.ly/2CxPYyW #SAP #SAPCloud #AI