SAP CPI, short for SAP Cloud Platform Integration, is a cloud-based integration tool that connects SAP systems with other SAP and non-SAP applications. It’s now officially called SAP Cloud Integration and sits inside a larger product called SAP Integration Suite. Despite the name change, most people in the SAP ecosystem still refer to it as CPI, and job postings and community forums use the term interchangeably.
If your company runs SAP for finance, HR, procurement, or logistics, CPI is the tool that moves data between those systems and everything else: Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, custom databases, trading partners, and dozens of other platforms. Think of it as the glue layer that keeps information flowing without manual exports, file transfers, or custom code on your own servers.
How CPI Fits Into SAP Integration Suite
SAP Integration Suite is a bundle of cloud services for connecting systems, managing APIs, and exchanging data with business partners. Cloud Integration (CPI) is one service within that bundle. The other services include API Management, Integration Advisor, Open Connectors, and Trading Partner Management. You can use CPI on its own for building integrations, but the broader suite adds capabilities like governing who can call your APIs or connecting to hundreds of non-SAP apps through a single adapter.
When someone says “SAP CPI,” they almost always mean the Cloud Integration capability specifically, which is where you design, deploy, and monitor integration flows (called iFlows). When they say “Integration Suite,” they’re talking about the full package.
What CPI Actually Does
At its core, CPI takes data from one system, transforms it into the format another system expects, and delivers it. That process involves three main functions: connectivity, transformation, and routing.
Connectivity
SAP Integration Suite offers more than 220 pre-built connectivity solutions. CPI includes adapters for SAP applications like Ariba, SuccessFactors, and SAP Master Data Integration, as well as non-SAP applications like Salesforce, SharePoint, ServiceNow, and Splunk. For standard protocols, it supports AMQP, AS2, AS4, HTTP, SOAP, and OData, among others. If a pre-built adapter doesn’t exist for your target system, you can typically connect through generic HTTP or REST-based adapters.
Message Transformation
Different systems speak different data languages. CPI handles the translation. It can convert CSV files to XML, XML to JSON, JSON to XML, and EDI documents to XML (and back). It includes content modifiers for reshaping message payloads, filters for extracting specific data, and encoders/decoders for handling binary or encrypted content. If your ERP sends an invoice in one XML schema and your trading partner expects a flat file in a completely different layout, CPI handles that conversion automatically once you configure it.
Routing
Not every message goes to the same place. CPI’s routing capabilities let you split a single message into multiple messages (useful for batch processing), send copies of one message to several receivers simultaneously using multicast, or route messages conditionally based on their content. For example, purchase orders above a certain dollar amount could be routed to an approval system, while smaller ones go straight to fulfillment.
Security and Authentication
CPI supports both transport-level security (encrypting the connection itself) and message-level security (encrypting the data inside the message). For message-level encryption and signing, it handles PKCS#7/CMS, XML Signature, WS-Security, and OpenPGP.
On the authentication side, inbound connections (systems calling into CPI) can authenticate using client certificates, OAuth with client credentials, or basic authentication with username and password. Outbound connections (CPI calling external systems) support the same options, including OAuth 2.0. Certificate management is built in, with support for X.509 certificates, keystores, and certificate chains.
How It Differs From SAP PI/PO
Before CPI existed, companies used SAP Process Integration (PI) or its successor SAP Process Orchestration (PO) to connect systems. Both PI and PO are on-premise products, meaning you install and maintain them on your own hardware. You handle upgrades, patches, server capacity, and disaster recovery.
CPI flips that model. SAP hosts and manages the infrastructure in the cloud. You don’t provision servers or schedule maintenance windows. Scaling happens automatically in a multi-tenant environment, so you’re not constrained by your hardware budget. The licensing also shifts from a traditional product license with annual fees to a subscription model.
PI/PO was built primarily for connecting on-premise systems and legacy platforms. CPI is designed for cloud-to-cloud and hybrid integrations, which reflects how most companies now operate: some systems on-premise, some in the cloud, and trading partners scattered across both. SAP’s strategic direction is firmly toward cloud integration, making CPI the long-term replacement for PI/PO. Organizations still running PI/PO can continue to do so, but new investment and feature development are focused on the cloud platform.
Pricing Structure
SAP Integration Suite uses a subscription-based pricing model with starter, standard, and premium tiers. Pricing is based on message volume. A “message” in SAP’s definition is a single electronic communication exchanged through the service. If a message exceeds 250 kilobytes, every additional 250 KB (or portion of it) counts as one extra message. So a 600 KB payload would count as three messages. Additional messages beyond your subscription tier are available for purchase separately.
The tiered approach means smaller organizations or teams running a limited number of integrations can start at a lower cost, while enterprises with high message volumes move to standard or premium plans that include higher limits and additional capabilities.
Who Uses CPI and Why
CPI is most common in organizations already invested in the SAP ecosystem, particularly those running S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, or Ariba. Typical use cases include syncing employee data between SuccessFactors and an on-premise HR system, sending purchase orders from S/4HANA to a supplier’s EDI platform, replicating customer records between SAP and Salesforce, or pushing financial data into reporting tools.
Companies migrating to S/4HANA Cloud often adopt CPI as part of that transition, since cloud-based ERP naturally pairs with cloud-based integration. Teams that previously relied on point-to-point interfaces, middleware like PI/PO, or manual file transfers find that CPI centralizes their integration landscape into one managed platform with built-in monitoring and error handling.
For professionals, CPI skills are increasingly in demand. SAP consultants, integration developers, and IT architects working in SAP environments are expected to understand iFlow design, adapter configuration, and the broader Integration Suite. SAP offers certification paths specifically for Cloud Integration, and hands-on experience with the platform’s web-based design tools is the most practical way to build competency.