Don't route HR data through a lake: a case for direct SAP integration

Introduction

I keep seeing the same pattern in conversations about HR integration infrastructure: SAP-first organizations planning or building data lakes as the hub for HR data integration. These are companies that default to SAP unless there's a strong reason not to, so the choice is worth examining.

Data lakes have real uses. But using one as the source for your integrations creates problems that HR Business IT leaders in SAP-first environments should think through before they commit.

If your job is to serve HR data to internal and external stakeholders in an SAP-centric system, here's the question worth sitting with: why not pull data directly from your SAP system of record, where you already control quality, scope, and access? This post makes the case for doing exactly that.

Why data lakes are showing up in HR

The appeal is easy to understand. A data lake promises one central place for all your data, which sounds like it makes distribution simpler. In practice, it often just moves the hard problems downstream: securing the data and keeping it consistent.

A few things are worth weighing.

1. Security and access control

When you move HR data out of your system of record (SuccessFactors or SAP HR) into a data lake, it lands somewhere with its own separate security model. Your HR system already enforces strict rules and permissions. Now you have to rebuild all of that in the lake.

That raises some questions:

• Who owns keeping the permissions in sync?
• Who controls access to the lake? Is it the same team that controls access to your HR system of record?
• How wide is that access?

2. Data ownership and governance

Modern integration tooling, like the SAP Integration Suite with API Management and middleware, ties directly into your authentication platforms. It respects the permissions set in your system of record when data is accessed, which keeps ownership of HR data with HR.

A data lake makes you answer:

• Who maintains access over time?
• What is the lake actually used for?
• Where does the data go, and how wide is the scope? Is it wider than it should be?

3. Performance and frequency of access

Two more questions:

• How often is the data accessed?
• Is retrieval from the lake fast enough for every use case?

4. Security monitoring

HR data is sensitive, so monitoring matters:

• How would you know you're under attack?
• What's in place to detect and respond to a breach?

5. Team structure and support

Running a data lake for HR integration isn't only a technical problem:

• What teams do you need to support it?
• How does it fit your existing DevOps cycles?

The case for direct integration

For consuming HR data in integrations (payroll, time, benefits, and any internal or external app that needs HR data), a platform like the SAP BTP Integration Suite gives you a few clear advantages:

1. Direct source access. You get data straight from your HR system of record, so it's current and accurate.
2. Built-in security. You reuse the security and permissions your HR system already enforces.
3. Controlled scope. It's easier to manage what data is accessed, and by whom.
4. Business-side control. SAP BTP is built to keep business IT in control, because those are the people who understand the processes and the data better than pure technologists do.
5. A simpler architecture. You can keep the design simple, reusable, and built to last inside your SAP system.

Conclusion

Data lakes earn their place in some scenarios. For consuming HR data in integrations, the SAP BTP Integration Suite is usually the better fit for an SAP-centric organization, because it keeps the data secure, accurate, and governed without rebuilding everything you already have.

So think past "can we make the data available." The real test is whether you can make it available securely, accurately, and in a way that still serves you in three years, using the SAP investment you've already made.