Five years running the integration layer for a national rail operator
An ESB layer connecting external partners to SAP backends — kept live and evolving for five years while new interfaces, channels and reporting requirements kept arriving.
- Client
- A national rail operator
- Role
- SAP Integration Architect
- Period
- 2019 – 2023
- Stack
- SAP PI/PO · APIM · BPM · Java mappings
Context
Ypto runs the technical systems behind Belgian Rail. Its integration layer is the boundary between external partners and SAP backends — a boundary that changes constantly as new services and obligations arrive.
The platform cannot be taken offline to be redesigned. Every improvement has to ship alongside live operational traffic.
The challenge
Support a live integration platform while delivering a steady stream of new interfaces — without disturbing the operational systems that depend on it.
What we did
-
01
Requirements to interface design
Feasibility studies with business and functional owners, then interface designs and architecture diagrams for the project management team.
-
02
Configuration across protocols
BPM, PI interfaces and APIM configured over SOAP, REST, JDBC, OData and SFTP channels.
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03
Complex interface engineering
iFlows, proxy and IDoc interfaces, Java mappings, adapter modules, sequencing flows and JMS.
-
04
Reporting feeds
Business-critical data provided to SAP BW for downstream reporting.
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05
Release sequencing
Go-live plans built around dependencies, agreed with stakeholders and leadership before each release.
The outcome
- — Five years of continuous delivery on a platform that could not stop.
- — A documented interface architecture that new partners could be onboarded against.
- — Release sequencing that kept operational change predictable.
Facing a similar integration problem?
Tell us what the landscape looks like today and we will tell you, honestly, what it would take.