In OpenText™ Business Network CE 21.2, we introduced our initial suite of API connectors for integrating to SAP S/4HANA. These API connectors allow our OpenText™ Trading Grid™ platform to seamlessly integrate between the outside business environment and an internal S/4HANA environment. CE 21.3 builds on this foundation while further expanding support for ERP integration.
Companies have been attempting to seamlessly connect their external supply chain to internal ERP environments for many years and the reason for this is straightforward. Companies need to ensure that clean and accurate data enters the ERP. Otherwise, downstream business environments can become impacted, and, in the case of a production environment, they can be halted altogether.
In a recent ERP integration study that we conducted with IDG, we found that 44% of data entering ERP systems was coming from outside the business. This is a significantly high number given the survey also found that ERP modernization and growing data challenges drive 91% of enterprises to modernize their integration solutions. For further insights into the findings of the IDG ERP Integration report, please download a copy here.
For SAP customers, a major driver behind this development is the company’s decision to retire its ECC ERP platform in 2027, thus requiring all backend integrations to be reworked as ECC users move to a new platform – primarily S/4HANA. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity to explore more modern ways of integrating S/4HANA with the rest of the business ecosystem.
With CE 21.3, OpenText is expanding its suite of S/4HANA related API connectors from 60 to 135. This expansion will continue to increase in future releases, which will also see OpenText expanding support for other major ERP environments such as Oracle NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365, to name but a few. This helps to extend our mandate of allowing customers to connect once to our network and reach anything, whether looking to achieve integration across a large enterprise or a smaller company. In fact, we have some exciting announcements relating to the mid-market sector coming up in future releases!
In addition to the expansion of our SAP S/4HANA API Connectors, Business Network is pleased to announce a number of enhancements as part of CE 21.3.
Expanded customer support for OpenText™ Lens™ on Trading Grid
- Many more Managed Services customers can now obtain near real-time visibility for B2B transactions with clear processing, delivery and acknowledgement status
- Metadata extraction allows customers to create a more tailored visibility experience relating to information flowing across the extended business ecosystem
- Comprehensive reporting features help to increase productivity and communication by enabling organizations to be more proactive when issues develop and hence resolve issues more quickly
Improved customer experience across our IoT platform to unlock greater operational experience
- Simplified and improved user experience to provide greater usability of all capabilities across our IoT platform
- IoT platform now helps to enrich APIs with operational features, buck device onboarding and device provisioning which leverages new pre-defined templates
Expanded support for regional invoice compliance in OpenText™ Active Invoices with Compliance (AIC)
- This release supports the new B2G invoicing requirements in Spain
- Integration between AIC and OpenText Lens now allows users to quickly and efficiently generate PDF based audit trails
Our quarterly release schedule for Business Network ensures that our customers continue to leverage a best-in-class suite of connectivity and integration solutions which help them build even further resilience to challenging market conditions and future business disruptions. For more information on our solutions, please visit our website.
Accelerate your upgrade and reduce risk by working with OpenText Professional Services. Let our experts work with you to assess the current environment and prepare recommendations for a successful upgrade, whether on-premises, in the OpenText Cloud, in other company’s clouds or in a hybrid environment.
