SAP Concur

Concur is an SAP SaaS solution that provides travel and expense management services to our customers. Concur integrates seamlessly with SAP on premise solutions via an ABAP add-on installed in the on premise SAP ERP system. Exceptions in this add-on can be monitored using SAP Solution Manager.

Integration Scenario

For SAP Concur the following integration scenarios are possible:  

 

 

The different scenarios contain the following exceptions and point-to-point connections:

  1. Integrating ABAP backend with the Concur in a direct connectivity scenario: 1, 3
  2. Integrating ABAP backend with the Concur mediated via SAP Integration Suite - Cloud Integration: 1, 2
 

 
Scenario ComponentMonitored ContentInterface Channel TypeSince SP
1 Systems: ABAP on-premise systemExceptions in Concur Integration Add-onCloud: Cloud (Concur)7.2 SP08
2 Cloud Services: SAP Integration Suite - Cloud Integration Exceptions in integration flows (IFlow) in SAP Integration Suite - Cloud IntegrationCloud: Cloud (SAP Cloud Integration)7.1 SP12* 
3 Systems: ABAP on-premise systemHTTP RFC destination availability and performanceHTTP: HTTP Client (from ABAP)7.1 SP14

*) Monitoring content was extended with later support packages (see monitoring template page for details)

To know which iFlows to monitor for Concur please refer to the documentation provided at:

The HTTP RFC destination to Concur, used for the direct connect scenario, is maintained during the Concur setup in transaction CTE_SETUP. You can use this transaction to find out which RFC destinations were created, or you can check in transaction SM59 under type G. 

 

Technical Prerequisites

The following technical prerequisites have to be met in order to monitor this scenario:

  • To collect single exceptions in the Concur Integration add-in you need at least SAP Solution Manager 7.2 SP03
  • To monitor single exceptions related to the Concur Integration in Interface and Connection Monitoring you need at least SAP Solution Manager 7.2 SP08
  • To create alerts via HTTP Monitoring for HTTP RFC destinations you need at least SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP12 
 

Available Monitoring Content

The following Concur exceptions are currently covered in public cloud operations with SAP Solution Manager:

  • Business critical errors reported by the ABAP backend integration add-on

All exceptions that happen in the Concur cloud service itself and are relevant to the customer are also recorded in the Concur Integration Add-in. That's why it is not planned currently to monitor exceptions directly in the Concur cloud service.

The exceptions for SAP Concur are collected using Exception Management in SAP Solution Manager. After they are collected in Exception Management they can be reused for monitoring in Interface and Connection Monitoring.  

Monitoring Template: Cloud (Concur) 

 
 

Metric Name Description MAI Category Since SP
Single exceptions in Concur Add-OnSingle exceptions detected for the Concur Integration add-onExceptions 7.2 SP08 

Number of Exceptions in Concur Add-On

Number of exceptions detected in the SAP Concur Integration Add-on since the last data collectionExceptions 7.2 SP13

Number of Exceptions in Concur Add-On (Last 24h)

Number of exceptions detected in the SAP Concur Integration Add-on in the last 24 hoursExceptions 7.2 SP13

Connect Cloud Service

Preparations in SAP Concur

For SAP Concur you don't have to connect the actual cloud service to SAP Solution Manager, as all exceptions are collected from the Concur integration add-on. The log store for the exception collection is set up on the ABAP backend system.  

Monitoring Configuration

Step 1: Configure Exception Management

The Concur Integration add-on writes single exceptions into error messages in the ABAP Application Log. These application log entries can be collected with the log store for the Concur Network Integration. The exceptions collected via Exception Management and stored in the central exception store are the basis for the Integration Monitoring data collection.

Configuration for Exceptions from SAP Concur 

The log store is set up on the SAP ABAP on premise system on which the add-on is installed.

To access the Exception Management setup please go to transaction SOLMAN_SETUP → Application Operations → Exception Management 

  1. In the step 'Define Scope' select the tab 'Technical Systems' and your SAP ABAP system. If you didn't configure the system before make sure to select 'All Systems' in the view drop-down. Click on 'Configure' or click 'Next' two times. You will enter the step 'Exception Configuration'.
  2. Click 'Add / Configure Log Store' → Standard. Select 'Concur Travel & Expense'.
  3. Select the fields for filtering for your log store. The field SUBOBJECT is always selected by default. While there are many filter fields available, as this log store is based on the Application Log log store, it doesn't necessarily make sense to use them all. Usually you would be good to go with just the SUBOBJECT. If you want to filter on the rest, please check the actual log record you are looking to catch in SLG1 and maintain the filter fields accordingly. The following filter fields are available:
    • SUBOBJECT: Choose one of the values from the drop-down box (e.g. EMPLOYEE)
    • EXTNUMBER: External ID of the Application Log entry
    • MSGID: Message Class (e.g. E (Error))
    • MSGNO: Message Number
    • MSGTXT: Message Text
    • PROGRAM: Program triggering the log entry
    • TCODE: Transaction code triggering the log entry
    • USER: The user who triggered the log entry
  4. Maintain the filter values for the fields in the Filter Definition panel under the log stores table. You can also add, remove or change filter fields and values later on in the area. You can use different operators for your filter value. You can add more than one filter field combination per log store. To add an additional filter field combination click on the button 'Add Filter' in the 'Configured Log Stores' panel.
  5. Once you are done with the Log Store setup click 'Next' to go to the alert configuration. The alert configuration is done in the 'Interface and Connection Monitoring' described in the next section.
  6. You should not set up the monitoring for the exceptions in the Exception Management. If you activate the monitoring here, you will receive an alert (and if set up this way an email) for every single exception in the application log. Instead we will use Interface and Connection Monitoring to monitor the central exceptions store for exceptions.
 
 

Step 2: Configure Interface and Connection Monitoring

The last step is the configuration of Interface and Connection Monitoring.

To access the Integration Monitoring setup please go to SAP Solution Manager Configuration (SOLMAN_SETUP) → Application Operations → Integration Monitoring → Interface and Connections.

Monitoring Template: Cloud (Concur) 

Navigate to the step 'Define Scope'. You can create a new scenario for the SAP Concur monitoring or use an existing one. Make sure the on premise system for the SAP Concur scenario is part of the Interface and Connection Monitoring scenario. 

Create the Interface Channel:

  1. Select the scenario and click 'Next'
  2. In step 'Preparation' perform all relevant manual activities and run all automatic activities.
  3. In step 'Configuration' click the 'Add' button.
    • Channel Name: Enter a meaning full name (max. 30 characters)
    • Type: Select 'Cloud'
    • Monitoring Template: Select 'Cloud (Concur)'
    • Description: Enter a description for the channel
  4. Click Next.
  5. Source type:
    • If the source system is the on premise system, please select 'Technical System'
    • If the source system is SAP Concur please select 'Unspecified Managed Object'
  6. Source: Select the on premise system resp. enter "SAP Concur" in the text box
  7. Target Type:
    • If the target system is the on premise system, please select 'Technical System'
    • If the target system is SAP Concur please select 'Unspecified Managed Object'
  8. Target: Select the on premise system resp. enter "SAP Concur" in the text box
  9. The measuring point is selected automatically
  10. If more than one client are connected for the on premise system please select the correct client for the monitoring
  11. Click Next.
  12. Click Finish.

Maintain the Interface:

  1. Select the interface channel you created
  2. The interface channel type does not have any configurable parameters on the 'Interfaces' tab

Select Metrics:

  1. On the tab 'Metrics' select the metrics you want to monitor
  2. Provide the following information:
    • Parameter Set Name: You can enter a name for the parameter set to distinguish it if you have more than one
    • Sub-object name: Enter the sub-object of the log
    • User name: The user that triggered the exception
    • Client (expert field): The source client for the exception
    • External ID (expert field): The external ID of the exception
    • Message ID (expert field): Message Class (e.g. E (Error))
    • Message no. (expert field): Message Number
    • Message text (expert field): Message Text
    • Transaction Code (expert field): Transaction code triggering the exceptions
  3. Save your interface channel by clicking on the 'Save' button. 
 
 
 

Filter Values in Interface and Connection Monitoring

Since the data collection is based on the content of the global exceptions store, you can always check the collected exceptions in Exception Management. All filter parameters are part of the collection context of the exceptions. The filters applied in Interface and Connection Monitoring allow you to filter the exceptions collected by the Exception Management further. However if the filters in Exception Management do not collect an exception, it is not available in the central exception store and you will not be able to find it in Interface and Connection Monitoring!  

 

Thresholds and the collection schedule are maintained in the next step of the guided procedure. Once you have maintained all your channels, click 'Next' in the main guided procedure to move to the step 'Activation'.

Maintain Thresholds and Schedule:

  1. Select the Alert for the interface channel (the alert is the line with the red flash icon next to it)
    • On alert level you can maintain notification and incident message creation
    • Do not remove the flag for 'Do not Group Individual Occurrences' as this flag ensures that an alert each time new exceptions are found during a data collection interval
  2. Select the Metrics
    • Do not change the data collector type or data collector name on the tab 'Data Collection' as the monitor will not work anymore if this is changed.
    • Do not change the threshold if it is set to 'Already Rated'.
  3. Click 'Apply and Activate' → <Choose one option> to activate the monitoring 

If not active you can also activate the reporting for the channels by checking the box in the column 'Reporting'. This way you can see a history of the number of exceptions that happened and also place the metric on the OCC Dashboard in Focused Insights.