How to gather requirement for a SAP PI project. Also check out http://www.piarchitecture.com/2012/02/how-to-gather-requirements-for-a-sap-pi-project-or-task/

1. How to Gather Requirements
for SAP PI Project or Task
http://www.piarchitecture.com

2. Useful Checklist
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3. Supported Processes
What is the process supported by this integration?
It helps to be able to understand what kind of process the
system is using. It makes it easier to explain to other
developers why this is an important method to work with.
I have found that using the process for the naming
convention is a good idea, so it makes sense to use the
supported process.
It will also help identify other areas of the process, which can
be integrated in the same way. It may make sense to get all
the areas implemented at the same time when you are using
this process.
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4. Involved Systems
Which system is used in the integration? It is crucial to know
this before any integration starts.
Know the available protocols for the systems. For SAP
systems, there can be multiple options, and it may be the
SAP PI Developer’s job to find the correct solution for it. For
other systems there may be multiple options, and it helps to
ask if any protocols that are SAP PI that supports native. If
you can stick with the native protocols, you will save time
developing or purchasing your own protocol.
Should the PI developers have access to the systems or get
contact information on people how can help solve the
problem?
Are there any test systems that can be used for the testing?
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5. Message Formats
It could be the WSDL/XSD descriptions of the involved
messages.
It can also be a SQL table specification or a CSV.
Remember, there can be multiple messages.
Is there a need to make an internal format to handle the
request?
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6. Mapping
How should the data be mapped between the data formats?
This is often lagging and cannot always be provided by the
business if they can make a mapping it does not cover.
When this is missing, it is a job for the SAP PI developer to
find a solution to start the mapping.
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7. Process
Is there any process or orchestration required to make the
process run smooth?
Can it be avoided? Sometimes it is a good idea to ask if the
process involved can be changed to make it even better than
the way it is working.
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8. Security Concerns
Are there any security concerns? If you are dealing with
payment files, there may be a requirement to make some
kind of encryption that may not be supported.
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9. Monitoring Option or Criticality
for the Integration
How critical is the interface? There may be a solution that is
more difficult to monitor and; therefore, it can make sense to
find another solution that is easier.
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10. Improvement Opportunity
When you have gathered a great impression on how the
process should be, can you (from the technical point) see a
way to make the process even better than the way it is
running?
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11. Is Custom Development
is required
Is there any reason to develop adapters, modules or any
java code to handle the mapping? If this is the case, then
there is also a requirement to get the specification on how
this should be working.
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12. This list is not complete. Please help me gather more information,
which can be used to make a better list for us to follow.
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13. To make this easier to implement for you I have created a Word
template to make it easier to ask all the correct questions. Check out
the templates at http://www.piarchitecture.com/sap-pi-
documentation-template/
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