Our product maiConnect for SAP S/4HANA is a server-based groupware integration between SAP S/4HANA and Microsoft Exchange.
With maiConnect for S/4HANA you can synchronize tasks, (recurring/private) appointments, contacts and relevant notes, as well as attachments, between your own mailbox and SAP S/4HANA in real time. Whatever device is used, maiConnect for S/4HANA ensures smooth synchronization on laptops, cell phones, tablets and even smartwatches.
The application is installed on the servers of the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) in Germany and runs entirely in the background for the user. All data from SAP S/4HANA (Customer Management module) is synchronized with the exchange data at all times and each user can decide for themselves which system they prefer to work with.
System landscape
The application maiConnect S/4HANA runs on the SAP BTP and from there communicates through the Cloud Connector with the onPremise server from SAP or the Microsoft Exchange Server or the cloud version Microsoft 365. It is also possible to connect more than one groupware system with maiConnect. This is critical in particular for large companies with different branches all over the world. Changes to objects being synchronized both on pages of S/4HANA and in Exchange are sent to the SAP BTP through notifications, are evaluated there and replicated in the relevant other system via secured REST Calls.
This means that after a change (e.g. to an appointment in S/4HANA) a notification is sent immediately to the maiConnect application on the SAP BTP. The notification is processed and then tested for whether a synchronization should be performed. If this is the case, the appointment is created, changed or deleted in the relevant mailbox using the standard interface of Microsoft (EWS/Graph API). If a user changes an appointment, contact or a task on their laptop, tablet or other end device, a notification is sent in real time to the SAP BTP from the Microsoft Server. There the object is processed for the synchronization and then is sent through the secured interface of SAP, the Cloud Connector, to the SAP S/4HANA Server. Complete information on maiConnect is also available on our website.
Setup
A SAP onPremise system is variably configurable for each customer so that all processes can be individually tailored to the needs of the customer. Thus maiConnect also has something to offer for different scenarios in a wide range of industries in the CRM field. Not every customer wants to manage all appointments in both systems or distribute sensitive data from the S/4HANA system to all coworker mailboxes. This is precisely what can be configured in our Administration Tool, which is also hosted on the SAP BTP. The users that need maiConnect are stored there. In most cases these are workers from sales, marketing or support. Once maiConnect has been configured, any user can edit appointments, tasks and contacts in the system of their choice and can be sure that these will be replicated in the relevant other system. Here transmission errors are avoided and you can save valuable time, which can go into providing an even better customer experience. However, all important data in both systems is available for analyses and follow-up actions and redundant data is avoided.
Synchronization of activities
The synchronization of appointments and tasks is a high priority for many users in the field service. Many people work exclusively on a laptop, cellphone or tablet to check their appointments and tasks while on the go. Often, for example, service workers get their appointments assigned by coworkers in the office. These coworkers work directly with the S/4HANA system. In these cases it is important for all of the service technician’s appointments to be maintained in S/4HANA although the technician only uses their Outlook calendar on the laptop or cellphone. This avoids double bookings and the service technician is directly informed of any new appointment and each new task. Even private appointments or repeat appointments can be synchronized from the calendar to S/4HANA for this purpose – even if, from a SAP standpoint, these are not relevant for the S/4HANA system.
If not all of an employee’s appointments need to be synchronized, this can be controlled from Outlook using categories or prefixes, for example The synchronization from S/4HANA can be managed using activity categories which can be set in the maiConnect Administration Tool. The transfer of notes, attachments and participants can also be set up individually by event type. If an appointment with a customer needs to be synchronized with the mailbox without the relevant contact receiving an invitation, the appointment can be created in the calendar without a contact. But this does not exclude internal participants; i.e., all of the employee’s coworkers. In this way, all the important information the employees need to prepare for the customer meeting are available with a click on the mobile phone or the laptop.
Likewise, the synchronization of appointments that are set by a customer is no problem. If a customer contact person invites a maiConnect user, the user can also be replicated in the S/4HANA system automatically. The process of finding the customer and the associated contact runs in the background using the email address of the appointment organizer. In this way, follow-up actions, leads or opportunities can be easily created in S/4HANA after the meeting. Notes made during the meeting can be attached to the meeting and thus are also immediately available in the S/4HANA.
All of this applies equally for tasks. Regardless of which system the tasks are planned in – they are available in both systems and can be maintained there. If, for example, a task of an employee is set to “Completed” in Outlook, this change is automatically carried out on the relevant task by maiConnect in the S/4HANA. Office-based sales employees immediately see that a task has been successfully completed and can proceed with other steps.
Synchronization of contacts
For many CRM professionals, having access to contact data at all times is very important. This data should be available on the end device without being outdated or duplicated. Here, too, maiConnect has a suitable solution that can be individually configured.
When a new company account is created in S/4HANA, an appropriate employee can be saved using a relationship that can be freely selected. For this, all contacts in the company account are automatically synchronized in the employee’s contact list in Outlook or their mobile phone. The employee thus has access to the email address, phone number, notes and address data of the company on their end device. If an employee is not in contact with all of the contacts in a company account, it is also possible to create the relationship directly in the contact and just replicate individual contacts in Outlook. It is also possible to save not just one relationship but multiple relationships on the contact or account so that a contact is available to multiple employees in a particular mailbox. If there is a change in a contact’s phone number or email address, all an employee has to do is change that information in their Outlook contact. With synchronization in S/4HANA, the synchronization of the change is automatically initiated in all other mailboxes. This means the information is on all the end devices in just seconds and anyone can reach the contact with the current data.
maiConnect is the “One Click Solution” for the synchronization of data between SAP and Microsoft Outlook. Three versions are tailored to the special requirements of your SAP solution – whether it’s SAP Sales Cloud (C4C), SAP CRM or SAP S/4HANA.
We’ve also provided a visual demonstration of how maiConnect synchronizes your data bidirectionally and in real time in the following video.