Problem

Business Challenge

A manufacturing client needed to provide real-time inventory and order data to 20+ external logistics partners. However, partners were accessing SAP Gateway OData services directly via Basic Authentication, creating significant security and operational risks.

Technical Pain Points

Security Vulnerabilities: Basic Auth credentials stored in partner systems, high risk of compromise
No Access Control: All partners had same access level regardless of business relationship
Zero Visibility: No monitoring of API consumption or partner behavior
Performance Risk: Direct backend access risked system overload during peak times
Compliance Issues: GDPR and SOC 2 audit findings due to inadequate access logging

Business Impact

Potential for data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive business data
Inability to scale partner ecosystem due to security concerns
Manual effort required for partner onboarding (3-5 days per partner)
No ability to monetize API access or enforce SLAs

Solution

Strategic Approach

We implemented SAP API Management on BTP as a central gateway, establishing a secure, scalable, and governed API ecosystem.

Architecture

Security Flow

OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials Flow: Partners exchange client_id/client_secret for JWT tokens
API Gateway Layer: SAP API Management validates tokens, enforces policies, and routes requests
Policy Enforcement: Rate limiting (1000 requests/hour per partner), quota management, and IP whitelisting
Backend Protection: Cloud Connector with technical user mapping and principal propagation
SAP IAS Integration: Centralized identity management for partner organizations

Key Technical Components

External Partners
      ↓
OAuth 2.0 (SAP IAS)
      ↓
API Management (BTP)
  - Rate Limiting
  - Monitoring
  - Transformation
      ↓
Cloud Connector
      ↓
SAP S/4HANA (Gateway OData)

Implementation Highlights

Tiered Access Model: Bronze/Silver/Gold partner tiers with different rate limits
API Analytics: Real-time dashboards for API consumption, error rates, and SLA compliance
Self-Service Portal: Partners can manage their API keys and view usage statistics
Automated Onboarding: Reduced partner onboarding from 5 days to 2 hours

Result

Business Outcomes

Zero Security Incidents since go-live (18 months)
60% Reduction in security-related incidents and audit findings
99.9% API Uptime with automated failover and load balancing
Partner Ecosystem Growth: Scaled from 20 to 45 partners in 12 months
Revenue Enablement: Foundation for future API monetization strategy

Technical Achievements

Full API Visibility: Comprehensive logging and analytics for all API calls
Performance Protection: Successfully handled 3x traffic spike during Black Friday without backend impact
Compliance: Passed SOC 2 Type II and GDPR audits with zero findings
Operational Efficiency: Automated monitoring reduced API support tickets by 70%

Quantifiable Impact

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
Partner Onboarding Time	5 days	2 hours	95% faster
Security Incidents	8/year	0	100% reduction
API Monitoring	Manual	Real-time	Automated
Backend Load	Uncontrolled	Throttled	Protected

Key Takeaways

Security & Scalability: OAuth 2.0 and API Gateway enabled secure partner growth
Business Agility: Self-service portal reduced IT dependency for partner management
Future-Ready: Platform enables API monetization and premium SLA offerings
Cost Savings: Prevented potential data breach (estimated cost: €2M+)

Secure Integration: API Management & OAuth

Key Outcomes