RFC lookup to PI system or other ERP system.Which is better?

[Former Member]

Hello experts,

I have a scenario[RFC>PI(RFCLOOKUP,SOAP LOOKUP)->SOAP] where I have to fetch or update the data in the table using RFC lookup in the mapping.

To store or update the data ,I have created a table in PI system and through RFC LOOKUP I am fetching the data in the message mapping.

Some PI developers prefers not to create this elements in the PI system and suggested a way to create them in the ERP.

I wanted to crosscheck with you all whether Lookup to PI system is better or to ERP system in terms of performance, security and std maintenance.

-Conceptually, they see PI as a communication tool, not the best option for storing data, which is an ERP function.

some prefer ERP option to Simplify the upgrade / system patching processes. As No Z-Objects makes the checking process much easier and there is no need to adapt those objects to the new release environment.

I appreciate your valuable suggestions.

[rajasekhar_reddy14]

Hi,

Some people prefer ERP/ECC because user(client side) will not have easy access to PI, that was the one main reason we maintain table in ECC , they can easily manipulation if it requires.

but in your case if you dont have user restriction then better to go with PI RFC look up,it will save many RFC calls.

Regards,

Raj

[Former Member]

Hello Souvik,

Thank you so much for your reply.

But in my case the RFC lookup will be executed twice because the authorization data(token ans sign values which is stored in PI) is valid for 12 hours.

if I find that these data is expired ,I have to do a soap lookup to get these details from a webservice and also have to update the same in the PI table using RFC lookup.All these activities are done in message mapping.

so first RFC LOOKUP is used to fetch the data and if expired,I get these details from a webservice and update(executing second time RFC LOOKUP) in PI table ,so that next time when request comes ,I will fetch these details from PI table instead from webservice to send message to the receiver.

same functionality is required for 4-5 scenarios,all acessing the same PI table.

So Kindly advice considering these situation,will the performance,security,maintenance be good when doing RFC lookup to other ERP instead of doing RFC lookup to PI system .

Kind Regards,

Kubra.

[Former Member]

Hi Kubra,

In your scenario, since the data updation is not that much heavy or critical, it is OK if you use the PI RFC lookup. This will have better performance as compared to the backend lookups.

Even I had used an RFC lookup in PI for one of my scenarios. - Scenario was Web Service to File. In a day we had around 10-20 files. Each files were to be named PA-01, PA-02,... and so on. the 01,02 were fetched from the RFC.

Regards,

Souvik

[baskar_gopalakrishnan2]

Since you dont handle complex data retrieve and only simple data for repeated time for 4 to 5 scenarios , I would not see any major problem in handling RFC lookup and update in PI table. But remember PI is a middleware designed mainly for integration, monitoring etc.

[Former Member]

Hi Fatima,

PI always acts as a facilitator. If you have simple lookups, for ex: require a counter variable value, or last processed file name stored, etc. then you can go for PI RFC.

But, if you have some complex data to be fetched and which requires continuos updation or monitoring, then it is advisable to use backend systems (for ex: ECC/CRM) for lookups.

Take a simple example: If the data you are using in lookups should be modified by another interface or via running some t-codes, then how are you planning to use that if it is in PI? Best solution is to have it the RFC in backend systems since it reduces the maintenance effort.

Hope this helps.

Souvik