SAP Process Orchestration (PO) and Process Integration (PI) have been the backbone of enterprise integration for many enterprises over the last decade. These platforms have made connectivity seamless between SAP and non-SAP systems, supporting critical business processes across industries. However, SAP has announced that it will stop the frequent maintenance of SAP PI/PO in 2027, with extended maintenance available only until 2030. This announcement made it clear that enterprises must prepare now to migrate to a modern, cloud-native integration platform or risk operational disruption.
What does SAP PO Retirement Mean?
The end of mainstream maintenance means there will be no regular enhancements, such as patches, updates, or support for SAP PO/PI after 2027. Extended maintenance until 2030 is a costly option, which, to a certain extent, is not the best way to head because, in the end, one needs to migrate over to SAP Integration Suite anyway. By continuing to run critical integrations on unsupported software, organisations will thereby be exposed to security vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and increasing maintenance costs. Also, the longer they take to migrate, legacy SAP PO/PI systems may struggle to integrate with modern cloud applications and APIs, which will have a negative impact on the agility of the organisation.
The Complexity of Migration
Unfortunately, migrating from SAP PO/PI is not simply a matter of “lifting and shifting” existing interfaces; it is about finding the best route for your business needs. Enterprises must carefully assess their current integration landscape, which often includes hundreds or thousands of interfaces, involving diverse protocols, adapters, and business processes. Some interfaces may be straightforward and suitable for direct migration, while others—especially those with complex custom logic, user-defined functions (UDFs), or external partner dependencies—require redesign.
Key Steps Enterprises Must Take
As mentioned above, migrating from SAP PO/PI is not a one-size-fits-all migration. We have seven key steps that enterprises should look into as they embark on their migration.
- Inventory and Assessment: Creating a comprehensive inventory of all integration interfaces, connected systems, and protocols is the best place to start. There is SAP’s Migration Assessment tool that can be used to analyse which interfaces can be migrated automatically and which require manual intervention.
- Prioritisation: After the initial assessment, you would have noticed that not all interfaces are equally critical. Therefore, it would be important to focus migration efforts based on business impact, technical complexity, and dependencies. This helps allocate resources effectively and reduce risk.
- Choose a Migration Approach: Whether you decide to take a Lift and Shift approach for quick migration or a Selective Migration approach that involves redesigning and optimising key interfaces, you will have to choose which migration approach is best suited for your environment. Many organisations adopt a hybrid approach to balance speed and quality. We have created a playbook that takes you through how each migration works.
- Plan Connectivity: Ensure that connectivity components like SAP Cloud Connector are configured properly to enable secure communication between on-premises systems and SAP BTP Integration Suite.
- Engage Stakeholders: Change management plays an important role in such migrations. Therefore, it is crucial to involve business users, IT teams, and external partners early to align expectations, define testing scenarios, and ensure that there is alignment across the board.
- Testing and Validation: Rigorous testing—including unit, system integration, and user acceptance testing—is essential to identify issues before going live.
- Decommissioning: Plan for the phased retirement of SAP PO/PI systems post-migration to reduce operational costs and complexity.
Why Start Now?
Many enterprises underestimate the time and effort required for migration. Large-scale integration landscapes can take 12 to 18 months or more to migrate successfully. Starting early mitigates risks of last-minute disruptions and allows for thorough testing and optimisation.
How Integrove Can Help
At Integrove, we aim to guide enterprises through SAP PO/PI migrations to the SAP BTP Integration Suite . Our comprehensive “SAP PO to BTP Playbook” provides a detailed roadmap, tools, and best practices to help you confidently navigate this complex journey.
Don’t wait until 2027 forces your hand. Download our playbook today and take the first step toward a future-ready integration landscape.
