Multi-Enterprise Collaboration with SAP NetWeaver Process Integration

Crossgate’s use of SAP™ NetWeaver gives you new levels of connectivity without additional investment in adapters, staffing, and integration projects. Crossgate has aligned its development and product roadmap with the evolution of SAP applications. Just as the Enterprise SOA strategy is addressing flexibility in application development and the Business Process Platform is addressing the enablement of seamless Orders-To-Cash and Procure-To-Pay execution, Crossgate is applying the same fundamentals to external Business Network Enablement. 

In the past, partner participation required a large consulting project. This was primarily linked to the need to integrate point-to-point interfaces with trading partners. Over the past five years, two technologies have taken shape to finally alter this inhibitor to network enablement. The first is Web Services. In the past, it has always been difficult to map the customer specific ERP format to the myriad of standards in the outside world. To keep up with the pace of process change, SAP has reconfigured for faster and simpler adaptability. Service-enabling the SAP Business Suite exposes functionality as web services which can be used by other applications including the Crossgate Business-Ready Network. 

The Crossgate repository of partner profile information standardizes the content on the business network side of the platform. The development alignment of this unique strategy and the web services concept provides end users with faster partner deployment with less integration effort. With SAP and Crossgate deployed on a common platform working off standardized business objects (i.e. description of an inbound Order), the benefits for your company are significant, and immediate:

Maintenance Reduction:
You won’t have to make any system architecture adjustments or third-party adapter investments.

Change Management:
Unlike other B2B service engagements, which can spin out of control with continuing change requests and increasing time and material fees, Crossgate’s business model offers you fixed-price predictability.

Simplify Upgrades or New Application Deployment:
Everything you need to improve productivity and enhance efficiency is already included in the SAP Business Process Platform and Crossgate Business-Ready Network.

“Out-of-the-box” Service Extensions:
Many SAP organizations are looking to implement newer cross-enterprise solutions including Supply Network Collaboration (SNC) and Transportation Management™ from SAP. The issue with these implementations has always been the associated partner enablement project associated with the implementation. For the first time ever, SAP users will have access to a pre-integrated network of partners at a fixed cost. More importantly, if you are running your B2B on Crossgate with older versions of SAP today, you will be in a position to simply plug your entire trading community into the new applications when you switch your business process. Plug and play versus plug and pay.