SAP NetWeaver

Many IBM® Sterling B2B Integrator customers need to communicate with systems using SAP® NetWeaver™. SAP NetWeaver offers a set of standard integration methods like HTTP, SOAP and Web Services, which can provide simple connectivity to and from SAP NetWeaver.

However, typical Sterling B2B Integrator MESA implementations require tighter integration that provides high-level features like logging, monitoring and configuration. Additionally, all benefits from Sterling B2B Integrator have to be visible in the standard SAP NetWeaver Administration and Monitoring Tools. The SAP XI adapter provides these features.

Sterling B2B Integrator communicates with SAP NetWeaver using the SAP XI adapter and the Sterling B2B Integrator Resource Adapter (Sterling B2B Integrator RA). The SAP XI adapter is set up in Sterling B2B Integrator. The Sterling B2B Integrator RA is supplied with Sterling B2B Integrator and set up in the SAP XI™ (eXchange Infrastructure). SAP XI is the cross-application integration platform of SAP NetWeaver and is the central component where business applications like Sterling B2B Integrator plug in integration services. This is shown in the following figure:

Using the SAP XI adapter to communicate between SAP NetWeaver and Sterling B2B Integrator provides the following benefits:
  • Full visibility of all business transactions between Sterling B2B Integrator and SAP NetWeaver.
  • Metadata support for exchanged documents.
  • Sterling B2B Integrator SAP XI adapter configuration possible in SAP NetWeaver Administration.
  • Access to all Sterling B2B Integrator competitive advantages from within SAP NetWeaver.
  • Leverages new connection methods and protocols recommended by SAP.
  • High reliability and stability.
  • Tight and flexible integration into Adapter Framework - Module Processors allow content-based preprocessing of documents before the documents are passed to the SAP XI Workflow Engine.
  • Consistency with SAP strategy and future architecture.