As more businesses move to cloud-first strategies, their integration landscape has to keep pace. For many organisations, moving from SAP Process Integration/Process Orchestration (PI/PO) to SAP Integration Suite is a key step in modernising processes, improving performance and preparing for what comes next.

It’s also a complex move. It raises questions about planning, execution and how to get real value from SAP’s cloud-native capabilities. Whether your priority is protecting business-critical integrations, keeping downtime to a minimum or making the most of new features, this guide is here to help.

We’ll cover why Integration Suite is the logical next step, the challenges to plan for, and practical tips for a smooth transition.

What is SAP PI?

SAP Process Integration (PI) is a middleware platform that handles communication and data exchange between the systems in your IT landscape. It acts as a central hub, with tools for building, managing and monitoring integration scenarios, typically using protocols like SOAP, REST and IDoc. PI is often used as a standalone solution focused purely on the technical side of connecting systems.

What is SAP PO?

SAP Process Orchestration (PO) extends PI with Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Rules Management (BRM). Where PI focuses on system integration, PO lets organisations design, run and monitor end-to-end business processes. That makes PO a full orchestration platform, supporting process automation, decision management and workflow. Some organisations use only the PI component of PO, depending on their integration needs.

SAP PI/PO vs Integration Suite

PI/PO and Integration Suite are both integration platforms, built for different technology eras. PI/PO is on-premise and designed for integrating SAP and non-SAP systems within a controlled IT environment, with PI handling system integration and PO adding BPM and BRM.

Integration Suite is a cloud-based platform built on SAP BTP. It offers greater scalability and flexibility, and supports modern integration patterns such as APIs, event-driven architecture and hybrid integration. It also brings industry-standard security, AI-assisted automation and pre-built content that speeds up implementation.

As businesses move to the cloud and adopt more agile ways of working, Integration Suite has become the natural successor to PI/PO, which is approaching the end of its support lifecycle.

The case for migrating to SAP Integration Suite

The starting point is simple: mainstream support for SAP PI/PO ends in 2027. After that, organisations still running it gradually lose access to security updates, compliance features and new capabilities.

That doesn’t mean the migration can wait until 2027. Starting early gives you access to skilled people while they’re still available, because demand and prices will rise sharply as the deadline gets closer. It also gives you more time to put Integration Suite’s capabilities to work ahead of your competitors.

Beyond continued support, the move unlocks modern integration capabilities. Integration Suite’s cloud-native architecture scales more easily and supports hybrid landscapes, so you can connect on-premise systems, cloud solutions and APIs through one platform.

Moving now also avoids the pressure of a last-minute migration, when finding a partner with the availability to help will be much harder.

The benefits of migrating to Integration Suite

Integration Suite gives businesses modern tools to improve integration, run more efficiently and prepare for future change.

Enhanced functionality and simpler integration

Integration Suite is built for today’s varied and complex integration needs. It connects on-premise systems, cloud solutions and third-party applications, with pre-built integration templates and tools that simplify workflows and cut implementation time.

Real-time connectivity and smarter data

Real-time integration means your systems exchange data instantly, so decisions are based on up-to-date information. With event-driven processes and data intelligence, businesses can spot trends sooner, respond faster to change and operate with greater precision.

Event-driven architecture at scale

Integration Suite’s event-driven capabilities have matured significantly through Advanced Event Mesh (AEM). AEM extends the platform’s original Event Mesh with enterprise-grade event broker technology built on Solace’s PubSub+ platform.

For organisations moving away from PI/PO’s largely synchronous, point-to-point patterns, AEM shows how far the architecture has moved on. Events are published once and routed reliably to every system that needs them, across on-premise, cloud and hybrid landscapes, so systems no longer poll or wait on each other. If some of your PI/PO interfaces would benefit from a genuine publish-subscribe model, scope that into the migration plan from the start and treat those interfaces as redesigns.

Scalability and flexibility

As your business grows, Integration Suite grows with it. Its cloud-native design lets you scale up or down as needed and supports hybrid environments. Whether your focus is API integration, on-premise connections or expanding into new markets, the platform adapts with minimal disruption.

API management and monetisation

Integration Suite helps you control and monitor your APIs, and it can also turn them into new revenue streams. Monetising APIs opens up new business models and adds to the bottom line.

Future-ready integration

With regular updates and industry-standard security, Integration Suite keeps your integration landscape current and ready for whatever your digital transformation plans bring next.

The risks of staying on PI/PO

Choosing to stay on SAP PI/PO has consequences in both the short and long term.

End of support

Mainstream support for SAP PI/PO ends in 2027, with extended maintenance available until 2030. Organisations that delay are left on technology with shrinking support, no new features and, eventually, no security updates.

Rising costs

The longer you wait, the more it costs to catch up. Demand for migration expertise will rise sharply as the deadline approaches, and prices will follow. Older systems can also carry higher maintenance costs and inefficiencies that eat into IT budgets.

Operational inefficiency

Staying on PI/PO limits your ability to adopt real-time data processing, hybrid integration and API management. That can mean slower processes, disconnected systems and missed chances to improve how the business runs.

Losing ground to competitors

Businesses already using Integration Suite can adapt faster, integrate new technology more easily and support digital transformation with less friction. Over time, that gap shows up in market position.

A harder migration later

Integration Suite keeps evolving, so the distance between PI/PO and modern integration standards grows every year. Waiting turns a manageable project into a bigger, more disruptive one.

Challenges of migrating from SAP PI/PO to Integration Suite

Migrating is a big step, and it comes with challenges. Knowing them early makes them much easier to plan for.

Legacy interface complexity

Older PI/PO systems often include interfaces built with legacy methods, such as classical scenarios with configuration and mappings. These need manual reconfiguration or redevelopment in Integration Suite, which adds to the migration effort.

Adapting to a cloud platform

Moving from on-premise to the cloud comes with a learning curve. Teams who know PI/PO well will need time with Integration Suite’s tools, architecture and best practices, so it’s worth building training into the plan early.

Dependency on customisations

Many PI/PO systems rely on custom adapters, mappings or extensions with no direct equivalent in Integration Suite. Each one needs identifying and then rebuilding or replacing with a supported alternative.

Limited automation for migration

The SAP Migration Assessment tool and the Migration Factory Program both help, but some integrations can’t be converted automatically. Non-standard or highly customised scenarios in particular need manual adjustment and testing.

Keeping downtime to a minimum

Keeping integrations running during migration is challenging, especially for critical interfaces. Careful planning, thorough testing and phased rollouts all help avoid service disruption.

Data volume and performance

High data volumes and transaction loads may need performance tuning once they move to Integration Suite. That includes adapting to a cloud-native architecture and hybrid connectivity.

Security and compliance

Migration usually means reconfiguring security protocols to modern standards like OAuth and meeting any industry-specific requirements. This takes extra care for organisations handling sensitive or regulated data.

Resource availability and cost

As the 2027 deadline approaches, competition for skilled migration resources will grow, pushing costs up and availability down. Starting early is the best way to secure the right expertise at the right price.

Each of these challenges is manageable with careful planning, the right migration tools and an experienced partner.

Considerations for a successful migration to SAP Integration Suite

With the right tools, partner and approach, migration can be well managed and efficient. Here’s what we’d suggest thinking about before you start.

Explore Integration Suite with the free trial

Before you begin, take advantage of the SAP Integration Suite free trial. It gives your team a risk-free way to get familiar with the platform, explore its features and assess how well it fits your integration needs.

Analyse your landscape with the SAP Migration Assessment application

The SAP Migration Assessment application is an essential starting point. It analyses your existing PI/PO landscape and gives you a clear inventory of integration objects, systems and processes. That inventory is the foundation of your migration strategy, helping you identify key scenarios, spot optimisation opportunities and anticipate risks.

Partner with the right SAP expert

Migration work often lands on top of day-to-day running, so the right SAP partner can make a real difference. Look for deep Integration Suite expertise, a track record of successful migrations and a genuine interest in getting the most from your integrations. A good partner supports you from planning and execution through to post-migration optimisation, keeping disruption to a minimum.

Use SAP Migration Tooling

SAP Migration Tooling simplifies and speeds up migration. It automates tasks like analysing interfaces, converting mappings and mapping scenarios to Integration Suite components. That cuts manual effort, improves accuracy, lowers cost and reduces the risk of errors. It also builds in SAP’s best practices and gives you real-time progress reports and dashboards, so decisions can be made centrally and quickly.

Prioritise testing and risk mitigation

Thorough testing makes sure every migrated scenario performs as expected. Address the risks identified in your assessment by testing high-priority interfaces first and validating them under real-world conditions. A phased rollout also helps minimise disruption.

Bringing together SAP’s tools, the right expertise, a detailed plan and a proactive approach to risk turns migration into an opportunity to improve your whole integration landscape.

Final thoughts on migrating to Integration Suite

Migrating from SAP PI/PO to SAP Integration Suite is a technical upgrade and a strategic decision at the same time. It shapes how your systems connect, how data flows and how well your integration landscape supports your long-term goals. With mainstream support ending in 2027, the real question is how much time you want to leave yourself.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re already weighing up the options. The simplest next step is to map what you have. Our Integration Suite discovery workshop works through your landscape with your team and identifies what to migrate as it is, what to redesign and what to retire.

For a quick first read, try the PI/PO readiness check on this page, or see our Integration Suite services for the full picture.