BT-Interface between HRIS, SAP ERP and SAP HCM

The objective of the present work is to design an interface concept that enables the data exchange between Human Resources Information System (HRIS), SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and SAP Human Capital Management (HCM).

Oerlikon Surface Solutions (OSS), as a world-leading supplier of surface technologies, uses diverse solutions to manage the organizational data of employees and to run business processes. The HRIS, an online-based solution, is the main and only human resource (HR) system in OSS that operates globally. Meanwhile, in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the HCM system runs as a second HR solution. Without data exchange, the HR needs to maintain the employees and their organizational data in both systems. The duplication of work also concerns the ERP system, which, as a leading system in OSS for business processes, it heavily depends on HR data. Therefore, the interface concept needs to provide simple communication and data synchronization between these and third-party platforms.

Besides the technical aspect, the concept needs to improve user experience and thus cover the human aspect. In order to cover the technical and human aspects, two different approaches are needed: system thinking and design thinking. Considering that both aspects heavily depend on each other, a synthesis of these approaches is necessary to get to the bottom of a problem and thus design a value-added solution for the present project.

Evaluation of the achieved results illustrates the necessity of using a middleware as the central interface component of data exchange between HRIS, SAP ERP, and SAP HCM systems. Two middleware are available on the market: SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) and SAP Process Integration (PI). However, the OSS is already building the PI landscape and has thus decided to use PI as a middleware. Accordingly, a concept was designed to make both aspects work together.

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