In a previous post some of you confirmed that SAP BC and WM are essentially the same. But some of you replied that your site had both SAP BC and WM. My question is why. Are there features in WM that are not available in BC. Is TN part of BC?

Is there some place where I can get info on the comparison of the 2 products.

Chris

I like to stress a small point.

SAP BC = webMethods IS + SAP Adapters.

SAP BC is free for SAP customers. IS has to be bought.

We need to purchase individual adapters when you buy
IS and install it with IS to make it really useful for
integration. I have not tested installing Trading
Networks adapters and other adapters like Siebel or
Oracle or EDI over SAP BC. But I dont see any reason
why it should not work as each of these extra tools
comes as a package that can be installed. However you
need to buy these extra tools from webMethods or their vendors and
it is not free with SAP.

btw, TN is a separate tool and does not come with SAP BC.

Manohar,
> SAP BC = webMethods IS + SAP Adapters.
> SAP BC is free for SAP customers. IS has to be bought.

Does that only the SAP Adapters are free for SAP customers.
Please clarify.

Thanks for the info.

Chris

Yes,

Only the SAP adapter is free for SAP customers. And that is not the only restriction. The SAP license restricts the use of SAP BC for integrating with non SAP data. And that is pushes most customers to buy WM IS for connecting to non SAP systems.

Rupinder

Finally clarity.

Thank you!

A sales rep once told me that as long as SAP is somewhere along the chain of an integration, you can integrate away. Of course the SAP license wording is the official policy but it would make sense that as long as you’re moving data to or from SAP in the integration then you’re doing what BC is intended for.

The text from the SAP License Terms document:

SAP BC License Terms

Who can get the SAP Business Connector?
Any SAP customer and partner who has purchased an SAP license is
entitled to receive the SAP Business Connector. SAP CSP partners
who do not have an SAP license can also obtain a limited license
for SAP BC for testing and crtification purposes. The following
explanations do not apply to these partners.

What is allowed under the SAP BC license?
The license terms are very simple: the SAP BC licensee has the
right to use SAP Business Connector for everything that is
technically possible as long as it serves to integrate with
SAP software. You can use BC as your open-solutions platform for
conducting B2B transactions between your SAP system and your
trading partners, regardless of what technology they are using.

What support can an SAP BC licensee expect from SAP?
With SAP BC the licensee receives a fully established SAP product
for which SAP guarantees support according to the support level
agreement with the customer. SAP also offers professional services
and training.

What else does a SAP BC licensee get?
SAP BC is based on technology from SAP’s development partner
webMethods. There is a wealth of additional add-on packages
available for the Business Connector for integration with other
internal ERP applications , EAI software, legacy systems, etc.
You can turn to your SAP GAM or to webMethods to obtain these
packages.

What do I have to do if my configuration does not cover these
restrictions?
In that case please contact webMethods to get an B2Bi Server or
Adapter for other ERP systems than SAP. But remember: webMethods
is not enabled to sell any SAP Business Connector !

Hi,

I’m new to this forum, but I find many of these discussions interesting. I’m a consultant that has worked with many message brokers over the years, and I am finally getting around to webMethods.

I just finished a 16 month contract with SAP-AG designing web development frameworks for their new J2EE initiatives. I worked with development groups in Chicago, Palo Alto and Walldorf.

Business Connector is an SAP product that is the result of a collaboration between webMethods and SAP-AG. However, I do not believe that BC will be enhanced in the future, as SAP is developing SAP Exchange, their own message broker architecture. SAP has entered into a support agreement with webMethods to support BC for n years, but I wouldn’t do anything new with it, as SAP Exchange will become the main messaging tool for SAP.

SAP Exchange is in very limited release this year, but look for major announcements next years. Also Basis 6.30 Application Server will contain major enhancements to the Web Services offering.

Hope this helps,

David Tomlinson
Enterprise Architecture Consulting Group, Inc.

hi David,

I have heard the rumblings about BC’s replacement since June. Could you tell us more about SAP Exchange and is it available to everyone with the same type of licence as BC?(i.e. free of charge with all the API’s and docs to setup and implement independently)

Also do you advise to not do anything new with BC now since SAP Exchange has replaced BC or is this a forward looking statement? If so when do you expect the transition to take place?

There is also a confusing statement/press release from SAP ([url=“http://www.sap.com/company/press/press.asp?pressID=1324”]http://www.sap.com/company/press/press.asp?pressID=1324[/url]) that mention webMethods as a “partner” in the SAP Exchange Infrastructure “… by providing adapters to select non-SAP applications, industry standards, and EDI…”. Do you have any insight to the architecture that this statement is referring to?

Realistically though, there are many what if’s to this transition and as an architect and developer with projects that need to interact with SAP today,(via HTTP and XML), the solution seems to be BC. When do we stop using BC and start to look into SAP Exchange is the million dollar Q…

Thanks for the insight though.

regards,
ajandja

Ajandja,

SAP XI (SAP Exchange Infrastructure) will cost $$$.

webMethods are creating adapter for the SAP XI product, as are other partners.

In the future some (maybe all) SAP components will commuicate with each other via SAP XI.
SAP XI is a full blown EAI product that uses XML and Message Queuing. Will connect any system to any system (does not need SAP R/3 at one end like SAP BC).

If/when you start using SAP Enterprise, would be the time to start using SAP XI.

Regards,
Simon