Content Comparison

Enable the integration between Power Platform and SAP to announce changes in SAP to Power Platform asynchronously and so not in realtime, without coupling the both systems. A good design will take in consideration the existing design related to SAP (see image below).

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Context and Problem

1. Current architecture implying a front door (micro-service) is mandatory. Direct access to SAP is not allowed.

2. No current integration between Power Platform and SAP. Power Platform is a SAAS in the public Internet even if it’s in the backbone of Microsoft.

3. For now, there is only a one-way communication, from SAP to Power Platform. Data transfered from SAP is not considered as confidential.

4. Data volume is not substantial : about 2 thousand records could be affected in Power Platform. Not a case of intensive computing and long-running functions.

5. Hybrid scenario is highly recommended regarding the current architecture related to SAP and the willing to upgrade the latter to Hana.

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Solutions

Technology choices

Information below is established according the context (data volume, etc.). We know that Azure provides a multitude of services (as IAAS & ad PAAS).

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public override IEnumerable<Account> FindAll(QueryExpression qe)
{
     List<Account> accounts = new List<Account>();

     while (true)
     {
         EntityCollection enColl = ServiceClientDataverse.RetrieveMultiple(qe);
         if (enColl != null && enColl.Entities.Count > 0)
         {
              for (var i = 0; i <= enColl.Entities.Count - 1; i++)
              {
                   var ent = enColl.Entities[i].ToEntity<Account>();
                   accounts.Add(ent);
              }
          }
          // Check for more records, if it returns true.
          if (enColl.MoreRecords)
          {
              qe.PageInfo.PageNumber++;  // Increment the page number to retrieve the next page.                  
              qe.PageInfo.PagingCookie = enColl.PagingCookie; // Set the paging cookie to the paging cookie returned from current results.
          }
          else
          {
              break; //If no more records are in the result nodes, exit the loop.
          }
      }
        return accounts;
}

Issues and Considerations

1. Complexity : it could lead to a more complex application design regarding the business rules related to SAP and especially if the API Manager push the SAP raw data.

2. Orchestration : in a 2-way communication, an orchestration will be necessary to manage eventual consistency related to the data.

3. Resilience : logging the transaction is not enough. If the server crashes, alert is the only way to deal with it.

4. Design : without decoupling with Azure (PAAS), design is not ready for a 2-way communication.