SAP XI/PI 7.1

SAP has renamed SAP NetWeaver Exchange Infrastructure -- SAP NetWeaver XI -- as SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NetWeaver PI). NetWeaver PI serves as the integration engine for SAP's implementation of SOA middleware. With NetWeaver PI, SAP has included pre-built integrations for connecting SAP systems to each other and to non-SAP systems. But many SAP users are still not sure what the difference is between NetWeaver PI and NetWeaver XI.

SAP calls XI an integration mediator between entities with varying requirements in terms of connectivity, format, and protocols. According to SAP, XI reduces integration costs by providing a common repository for interfaces. The central component of SAP XI is the SAP Integration Server, which facilitates interaction between diverse operating systems and applications across internal and external networked computer systems.

The components of the SAP XI system are available via a web interface for configuration, integration design, system landscape definition and integration server monitoring.

SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP PI) is SAP's enterprise application integration (EAI) software, a component of the NetWeaver product group used to facilitate the exchange of information among a company's internal software and systems and those of external parties. Before the current version, SAP PI was called SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI). Like other NetWeaver components, SAP PI is compatible with software products of other companies.

SAP calls PI an integration broker because it mediates between entities with varying requirements in terms of connectivity, format, and protocols. According to SAP, PI reduces the TCO by providing a common repository for interfaces. The central component of SAP PI is the SAP Integration Server, which facilitates interaction between diverse operating systems and applications across internal and external networked computer systems.

PI is built upon the SAP Web Application Server.
First release of SAP Exchange Infrastructure was XI 2.0. Later on, releases 3.0, 7.0, 7.1, 7.1 EHP1 and 7.3 followed. From release 7.0 onwards, SAP Exchange Infrastructure has been renamed as SAP Process Integration (SAP PI).

SAP PI / XI is SAP's middleware technology ( Formerly known as SAP XI or Exchange Infrastructure ). XI is used to connect SAP with different non-SAP SAP systems. There are built-in adapters that can directly connect SAP to other standard third party systems with minimum customization involved. It relies heavily on SAP's Netweaver Platform. For SAP Training, Remote SAP Access.

5 Reasons for using SAP NetWeaver Process Integration 7.1

• Use Process Integration as an SOA backbone
• Establish ES Repository as the central SOA repository in customer landscapes
• Leverage support of additional WS standards such as UDDI, WS-BPEL and tasks, WS-RM
• Enable high-volume and mission-critical integration scenarios
• Benefit from new functionality such as principal propagation, XML validation and BAM capabilities.

The Various Components of Process Integration PI 7.1 are :

SAP Solution Manager :

SAP Solution Manager is used to manage the entire SAP solution landscape which seems to be a challenging task. Companies can minimize risk and increase the reliability of their IT solutions. SAP Solution Manager helps reduce TCO throughout the solution life cycle.

Enterprise Service Repository

ESR is a central repository of information that contains all the services. ESR is a container, stores all the underlying Meta data of application objects like service interfaces and descriptions. The global data types, interfaces and business processes maintained in Enterprise service repository which can be reuse where needed

Service Registry(SR)

Service Registry is a common pool available in SOA platform where the services of an enterprise are shared. Providers publish the services in the registry and Consumers discovers the services that need to be consumed. Service Registry is the UDDI part of the Enterprise Service Repository (ESR) which enables service consumers to find services.

Integration Directory(ID)

The Integration Directory is the central tool for configuring the processing of messages, such as the systems and external communication partners that are involved in the process, the routing rules that govern the message flow between these entities, as well as the settings for communication incl. security. 

Integration Server

The Integration Server is the runtime environment to provide secure, standards-based, reliable, and scalable communication between provider and consumer applications

Advanced Adapter Engine (AAE)

The Advanced Adapter Engine AAE provides built-in mediation capabilities to reconcile incompatible protocols, structural maps, schema, and data formats between provider and consumer applications which eliminate the need for ABAP Stack during the process.

SAP NetWeaver Administrator (SAP NWA)

The SAP NWA safeguard the deployment and operations of the processes in order to ensure runtime governance, security with access control, authentication, auditing, enforcement of compliance to policies, and monitoring of the service execution.

It handles End to End Monitoring, Performance Monitoring, Message Monitoring, Component Monitoring, Alert Monitoring, Adapter Monitoring, Cache Monitoring, Sequence monitoring and Logging and tracing.

System Landscape Directory(SLD)

The System Landscape Directory of SAP NetWeaver (SLD) serves as a central information repository for your system landscape. A system landscape consists of a number of hardware and software components that depend on each other with regard to installation, software updates, and demands on interfaces.

While, here are a few additional features of PI 7.1:

• Integration Repository(IR)
• Message Interface (MI)
• Service Registry (SR).
• Service Interfaces (SI)
• Interface patterns
• Operation Patterns
• SAP Global Data type (GDT)
• Interface Mapping