8.3 Integration with SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud (until Release 1611, called SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud; see Chapter 3, Section 3.2.2) is the cloud-based variant of SAP Hybris Marketing. As a marketing platform, SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud is not a primary system but a satellite system without its own primary data for customer analysis. As a result, SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud requires efficient integration with upstream systems or other data sources, which constantly provide the system with up-to-date master data and transaction data for analysis purposes.
The system is connected to other systems via released Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). These APIs are based on web service technologies, such as SOAP and OData. SAP HANA database tables cannot be accessed directly. At the time of this writing, direct access via RFC (Remote Function Call) function modules was also not possible. However, SAP plans to make this possible in the future.
You can implement the following SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud integration scenarios in your system landscape by using predefined interfaces (SAP Best Practices content and standard apps):
- Integrating with an SAP ERP system
- Loading defined data objects of other systems as files via the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
- Loading defined data objects from other systems as CSV files using an app (see Section 8.3.3)
- Loading data from social networks like Twitter and Facebook
- Integrating with SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer
Table 8.9 lists the available inbound integrations for S/4HANA Marketing Cloud 1611.
Table 8.9 Available Inbound Integration with SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
Table 8.10 lists the available outbound integrations for SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud 1611.
Table 8.10 Available Outbound Integration with SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
[»] Information on Integration with Other Systems
For more information on the integration of SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud (until releases 1702) with other systems, go to the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/s4hana.
- First, choose your cloud edition, e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1611.
- Navigate to Product Assistance and select your preferred language for SAP User Assistance.
- In SAP User Assistance, choose Cloud Editions • SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud to display the SAP Documentation.
-
If you now navigate to the bottom on the left side of the menu tree, you’ll find additional entries, for example:
- Integration with SAP ERP
- Integration with SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer
- Integration with search engine advertising and SAP HANA Cloud Integration
Starting release 1705 the navigation path changed, as seen below:
- Go to the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/mkt.
- Navigate to Application Help and select SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud.
- In the Documentation you can select your Language and the Version via the selection boxes in the upper right area.
- Navigate to System Setup and Integration for additional Information on Integration and Import and Export of Data.
For more information on SAP Best Practices for integrating SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud, go to https://rapid.sap.com/bp/BP_CLD_MKT. Navigate to Solution Scope and view the scope item groups for Integration and Data Load. You’ll also find further information on the integrations that we did not mention.
SAP Cloud Platform Integration and SAP Hybris Commerce, data hub (see Figure 8.34) are the preferred integration platforms (middleware) for accessing SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud.
Figure 8.34 Middleware for Integration with SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
8.3.1 SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud Data Model
The SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud data model is reduced to marketing-relevant business objects, which we’ll describe briefly in the following list. The integration packages and some of the additional information are available in English only:
- Corporate accounts: data that refers to legal entities or enterprises.
- Contacts: individuals in contact with the enterprise.
- Interactions: communications between enterprises and contacts. Texts (content) of interactions are automatically evaluated by integrated SAP HANA text analyses when they are saved, enabling you to analyze sentiment, for example.
- Account team members: users that are assigned to a team that is responsible for a marketing campaign of a customer.
- Products and product categories: categorization of a product, for example, candy bars, sports cars, pens, etc.
- Interests: categorization of interactions, for example, by product names, enabling you to consolidate and analyze various interactions (such as support requests or messages on a Facebook fan page).
- Brands: words used separately or in combination to uniquely identify a product. They are assigned to a product.
- Tags: these are assigned to interests to analyze interactions. They can be a part of social posts or other kind of interactions and are normally created by the SAP HANA Text Analysis engine.
Figure 8.35 shows a simplified overview of the data model.
Figure 8.35 SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud Data Model
Contacts and corporate accounts are stored in a table and distinguished by their interaction contact type (IC_TYPE). For the sake of simplicity, we refer to both individual contacts and corporate accounts as contacts. Contacts can have relationships with each other and can be assigned to interactions.
Interactions have a specific type (e.g., Email, Order, Social_Posting, etc.) and can be assigned to products. You can also assign interests and tags to interactions. You can also link interests and tags.
You can assign products to a product category and a brand to simplify later analysis of interactions for future marketing campaigns. In turn, product categories can be assigned to interests. Again, you can also link interests and tags. These links allow you to create versatile interest networks upon which to build your marketing campaigns.
[eg] Analyzing a Sales Order
For example, a sales order is mapped as an interaction with product items. To focus on possible customers for certain products with a targeted marketing campaign, you can now analyze interactions in a targeted manner. For example, you can identify the customers that your company has had an interaction with during a specific period and that are assigned to certain tags and/or interests. If customers bought specific products within the last six months and provided product feedback in social networks or via emails, you can reach these customers with a targeted marketing activity.
8.3.2 Integration with SAP ERP Systems
SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud constantly needs up-to-date customer and product master data as well as sales orders. Ideally, in existing SAP system landscapes, this data comes from an SAP ERP 6.0 system.
For SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud 1611, the following SAP ERP integration scenarios are provided by SAP Cloud Platform Integration:
- SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration
- SAP ERP Actual and Committed Spend Integration
Both scenarios use IDocs on the SAP ERP side and OData services on the SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud side for the data integration.
[»] Additional Information on OData Services
For more information on the OData services used, see the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/mkt. Choose your Version, e.g., 1702. Navigate to Integration and download “Data Management Upload Interfaces.”
These so-called out of the box integrations provide entire integration workflows, including extraction, mapping, transformation, import, and monitoring.
[»] Information on SAP ERP Integration Packages
You can find the SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – SAP ERP Actual and Committed Spend Integration and SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration integration packages as well as the corresponding configuration guide in the SAP API Business Hub at https://cloudintegration.hana.ondemand.com. Choose Integration and then narrow the search with the search string “Marketing Cloud.”
To access the SAP API Business Hub, you’ll need an SAP Community user account as described in Section 8.2.2.
Figure 8.36 shows all integration packages available for SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud 1611 in the SAP API Business Hub.
Figure 8.36 Available Integration Packages in the SAP API Business Hub
In the following sections, we’ll discuss the two SAP ERP integration scenarios in more detail.
SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration
This scenario includes the usage of quotations, orders, and returns as well as the related business partner data from SAP ERP in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud.
The master data and sales documents are transferred from the SAP ERP system to the marketing cloud using IDocs. The IDoc types and OData services listed in Table 8.11 are used to transfer the data.
| Data Class | IDoc Type (Source) | OData Service (Target) |
|---|---|---|
| Customer master data |
Master data: DEBMAS06 Address data: ADRMAS03 and ADR3MAS03 |
CUAN_BUSINESS_PARTNER_IMPORT_SRV |
| Sales orders | COD_REPLICATE_SALES_ORDER01 total | CUAN_BUSINESS_DOCUMENT_IMP_SRV |
| Actual spend and committed spend data | CUAN_ERP_MARKETING_SPEND | CUAN_ACTUAL_IMPORT_SRV |
Table 8.11 Interfaces Used for SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration
[»] IDoc COD_REPLICATE_SALES_ORDER01
To use IDoc COD_REPLICATE_SALES_ORDER01 for sales orders, you must use SAP ERP 6.0 EHP4 or higher as the source system. In addition, the SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer 2.0 integration with SAP ERP add-on, which is also referred to as the C4C add-on, must be installed on this SAP ERP system. The minimum version is SAPK-60024INCODERINT. For more information, see the integration guide for the relevant integration package.
The IDoc structures and fields of the SAP ERP customer data are mapped to the OData service CUAN_BUSINESS_PARTNER_IMPORT_SRV, and the sales orders are mapped to the OData service CUAN_BUSINESS_DOCUMENT_IMP_SRV and imported to the Marketing Cloud using SAP Cloud Platform Integration.
Figure 8.37 shows a schematic diagram of this integration scenario.
Figure 8.37 SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration
SAP ERP Actual and Committed Spend Integration
This scenario includes exporting spend data from SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud to SAP ERP and importing actual spend and committed spend data from SAP ERP to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud. Campaigns and spend items that were created and released in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud are exported and created as projects and WBS elements in SAP ERP. The reverse proxy technology is used here.
In contrast, actual spend and committed spend data is exported from the SAP ERP system and imported to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud. The data can be imported to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud using SAP Cloud Platform Integration or SAP Process Integration (PI) (see Figure 8.38).
Figure 8.38 SAP ERP Actual and Committed Spend Integration
The integration solution allows you to enter and manage marketing campaigns, marketing plans, and relevant budgets centrally in one system. The central calendar in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud enables you to better reconcile marketing activities, thus facilitating and accelerating planning processes. You’ll be able to monitor your marketing spend data nearly in real time and thus accelerate your strategic decision-making processes.
To integrate the spend data from the SAP ERP system to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud, the IDoc type and OData service listed in Table 8.12 are used.
| Data Class | IDoc Type (Source) | OData Service (Target) |
|---|---|---|
| Actual spend and committed spend | CUAN_ERP_MARKETING_SPEND | CUAN_ACTUAL_IMPORT_SRV |
Table 8.12 Interfaces Used for SAP ERP Actual and Committed Spend Integration
The spend data is extracted in IDoc CUAN_ERP_MARKETING_SPEND and the structures and fields of the IDoc are mapped in OData service CUAN_ACTUAL_IMPORT_SRV in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud.
[»] IDoc CUAN_ERP_MARKETING_SPEND
To use the IDoc CUAN_ERP_MARKETING_SPEND, you must work with the C4C add-on as described in the previous section, “SAP ERP Order and Business Partner Integration.”
8.3.3 Importing Data from External Systems
SAP ERP does not have to be the source of your master data and transaction data; you can also import data using files from other systems. SAP provides two predefined methods to import data as data management objects into SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud:
- Using the Import Data app
- Using the SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – file based data load integration package from SAP Cloud Platform Integration
Like the integration package described in Section 8.3.2, the two options also use OData service CUAN_IMPORT_SRV. In both cases, you’ll extract your data from external systems to predefined CSV files with a specified structure. You can download sample files using the Import Data tile (in the first case) or via the info page for the integration package in the SAP API Business Hub (in the second case). While the Import Data app is suited for importing data to the system ad hoc, the solution using SAP Cloud Platform Integration is designed for permanent interfaces.
[»] CSV Files
CSV (comma-separated values or character-separated values) files store table-type data in the text format. CSV files are widespread in the IT world and are used as the import and export format for numerous systems and applications.
The “Import Data” App
In SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud 1611, you can import the following data management object data using the Import Data app (see Figure 8.39):
- Corporate accounts
- Contacts
- Account team members
- Product categories
- Products
- Interests
- Interactions
- Marketing locations
- Marketing beacons
- Subscriptions
The following data can also be imported:
- Custom business objects
- Brands
- Custom dimensions
- Actual and committed spend
- Survey responses
- Campaign success
For other data, different OData services are used than CUAN_IMPORT_SRV.
[»] Additional Information on OData Services
You can find more information on the OData service used in the app at https://help.sap.com/mkt. Choose your Version, for example, 1702. Navigate to Integration and download the following document:
- Data Management Upload Interfaces Guide
Or, navigate to System Setup and Integration and choose Import and Export of Data. There you will find the section Import of Data Using an OData Service.
Figure 8.39 Calling the App “Import Data”
Perform the following steps to import the data management objects to your system:
- Choose the Import Data tile.
- Then, select your desired data management object, for example, Contacts 1 (see Figure 8.40).
- Download the sample file to your local computer using Download CSV Template 2.
- Edit the file or format your source data.
- Select your CSV file for the target system from your local computer using Browse 3.
-
Import your file 4.
Figure 8.40 Selecting the Data Management Object for the Import
Importing Data with the SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud Integration Package
The SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – File Based Data Load integration package in Version 3.0 enables you to import data management objects with SAP Cloud Platform Integration via SFTP.
[»] Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
SFTP is an alternative to the Secure Shell (SSH) for the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which enables encryption.
Version 3.0 lets you import the following objects to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud:
- Accounts
- Contacts
- Interactions
- Interactions with multiple products
Figure 8.41 illustrates the different processes of the integration package in the SAP Content Hub.
Figure 8.41 Integration Processes for Importing Data via Files
As when you use the app, the data must be in the specified CSV format. Within SAP Cloud Platform Integration, these files are mapped to the data structures and fields of OData service CUAN_IMPORT_SRV. The files are then read by an SFTP server, and the OData service sends the files to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud. Figure 8.42 illustrates this process.
Figure 8.42 Integration of External Systems via Files
[»] Additional Information on the Integration Package
You can find the integration package in the SAP API Business Hub at https://cloudintegration.hana.ondemand.com. Limit the number of the displayed packages in the search screen by entering “Marketing Cloud.”
Figure 8.43 shows the various documents that are available for the package:
- The Best practice configuration guide listing the necessary configuration steps
- Sample files for the individual data objects (CSV examples)
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Description of the individual data objects Mapping details
Figure 8.43 SAP API Business Hub Documents for File-Based Data Import
8.3.4 Importing Data from Social Media
Twitter and Facebook provide public HTTPS Application Programming Interfaces (public APIs) that allow you to search the platforms for messages (tweets/posts) that are marked as public and download them to evaluate them in detail.
However, these public interfaces are rather restricted in terms of data volume and timeframe of the data that can be evaluated. Both enterprises provide this data directly via subsidiaries or indirectly via big data platforms, such as Gigya or DataSift. These platforms enable you to find and evaluate data from numerous social media (not only those mentioned above) for a fee.
[»] Information on Rate Limits
All social networks limit the data volumes that you can evaluate with their public APIs. You can find more information on the individual platforms on the following websites:
- Twitter: https://dev.twitter.com/rest/public/rate-limiting
- Facebook: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/advanced/rate-limiting
Because the platform websites often change, the links might not navigate to the desired page. If necessary, enter the name of the network and “rate limit” in a search engine.
The data of users of these social networks and the content they publish are subject to the data protection laws of the country in which the data is downloaded and analyzed. However, these laws differ from country to country. Therefore, you should always obtain approval from users to store and evaluate the data. This approval can be imported as a marketing permission to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud using one of the methods described in Section 8.3.3.
The posts and tweets from social networks are imported via HTTPS interfaces. SAP Cloud Platform Integration offers integration packages that convert this data into contacts and interactions, which are then imported to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud using the OData service CUAN_IMPORT_SRV. Figure 8.44 illustrates this integration.
Integration with Twitter
The social platform Twitter enables you to publish and share short messages, so-called tweets. You can use the public Twitter APIs to browse tweets for tags and select them for download for evaluation purposes.
SAP Cloud Platform provides two integration packages:
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SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud—Twitter Integration Admin
With this package, you can manage and technically configure the main package, SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – Twitter Integration. -
SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud—Twitter Integration
The main package for the Twitter integration serves to download messages from Twitter. The messages are stored as interactions (type: SOCIAL_POSTING), and user information is stored as contacts.
Figure 8.44 Integration of Social Media
You can then evaluate the imported tweets as interactions in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud using the Sentiment Engagement tile. Figure 8.45 shows an example of such an analysis.
Figure 8.45 Sentiment Engagement of Tweets
Integration with Facebook
Facebook, instead, allows you to evaluate only comments (posts) that users of the platform enter on so-called fan pages. You cannot use tags to find public messages in the entire social network. You also can not browse normal user pages for messages.
[»] Facebook Fan Pages
Fan pages are specific Facebook pages that represent products, enterprises, or any other venture. Many organizations—large enterprises as well as the local ice cream parlor around the corner—maintain these fan pages to market their products or enterprises.
You can find more information on Facebook fan pages at the following URL:
This link describes how to create a fan page:
There are two integration packages provived via SAP Cloud Platform:
-
SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – Facebook Integration Admin
With this package, you can manage and technically configure the main package, SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – Facebook Integration. -
SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud – Facebook Integration
The Facebook integration main package lets you download messages that Facebook users have written on fan pages. The messages are stored as interactions, and the available user information is stored as contacts. The user information is very secure.
Figure 8.46 shows Facebook fan page messages that you can evaluate as interactions using the Sentiment Engagement tile.
Figure 8.46 Sentiment Engagement of Posts on Facebook Fan Pages
8.3.5 Integration of SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer Systems
An additional integration package for integrating the business processes between SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud and SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer (C4C) is available. The integration package covers the following aspects:
- Automatic creation of marketing leads, tasks, appointments, or telephone calls in SAP Hybris Cloud for Customers by activating a campaign in SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
- Replication of accounts, contacts, or individual customers and their relationships from SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
- Replication of business documents from SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud (leads, opportunities, activities, visits, appointments, calls)
- Replication of product items from lead and opportunity documents from SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer to SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud
Figure 8.47 illustrates the different integration processes available in the integration package in the SAP API Business Hub.
Figure 8.47 Integration Processes for SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer in the SAP API Business Hub
To integrate the business partner data and documents, you’ll use the following OData services:
- CUAN_BUSINESS_PARTNER_IMPORT_SRV (business partners)
- CUAN_BUSINESS_DOCUMENT_IMP_SRV (documents)
[»] SAP Best Practices for Integration with SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer
For more information on SAP Best Practices for this integration, go to https://rapid.sap.com/bp/BP_CLD_MKT. In Solution Scope, navigate to Scope Item Group for Integration. The SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud Integration with SAP Hybris Cloud for Customer scope item contains further information.