SAP S/4HANA, often informally referred to as SAP S/HANA, continues to rise in popularity among ERP systems in 2025.

First launched in 2015 — SAP S/4HANA has steadily gained traction in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) market. According to recent studies, it now holds an estimated 8.85% share of the global ERP software market as of 2025, with over 16,721 tracked customers worldwide.

As more businesses adopt SAP S/4HANA, the need to integrate it with existing systems becomes increasingly common. One such system is Product Information Management (PIM). What many don’t realize is that SAP S/4HANA can not only integrate directly with PIM but also leverage PIM as a middleware, enabling integration with other platforms such as e-commerce sites, online marketplaces, multichannel platforms, and more.

All of these integration options and use cases will be explored in detail in this article.

PIM and Its Role in Enterprise Architecture

Before we dive any further, let's make sure we are fully aware of what PIM is and what it is responsible for.

Product Information Management (PIM) is a software system designed to centralize, manage, enrich, and distribute product data efficiently across various sales and marketing channels. It serves as a single source of truth for all product-related information — including descriptions, specifications, media assets, pricing, and more — ensuring consistency and accuracy across platforms.

Apart from that, some PIM platforms, like AtroPIM, can used for data integration as middleware systems connecting ERP systems like SAP S/4HANA with downstream applications such as e-commerce platforms, digital marketplaces, content management systems, and CRM tools. This is especially valuable in complex IT environments, where businesses rely on dozens of interconnected data-storing systems and sales channels.

Traditional point-to-point integrations are prone to errors, high maintenance costs, and data inconsistencies. Unlike those, PIM systems introduce a hub-and-spoke architecture, where all product data is managed centrally. This brings more data consistency, applies business rules, and maintains data quality before distributing information to target systems.

Technical Architecture and Data Flow Patterns

The technical setup for PIM-ERP integration uses advanced data syncing methods that allow data to flow both ways while keeping each system independent and efficient. Usually, SAP S/4HANA manages master product data like part numbers, prices, and inventory, while the PIM system handles detailed product information such as marketing descriptions, images, technical details, and variations for different sales channels.

This setup takes advantage of each system’s strengths: SAP S/4HANA handles transactions and real-time data, and PIM focuses on enriching content and managing workflows. They connect through APIs or messaging tools, with instant or scheduled data syncing. The choice between the two comes down to your business needs.

Top PIM Solutions to Integrate with SAP S/HANA

AtroPIM / AtroCore

Core Platform Capabilities

AtroPIM is an open-source PIM solution that seamlessly integrates with SAP S/4HANA in two main ways, depending on specific business needs and technical setups:

The first option, PIM Integration, uses AtroCore (the bigger data integration platform, the part of which is AtroPIM) or AtroPIM itself as a dedicated layer for managing product information. It ensures smooth data exchange with SAP S/4HANA while keeping each system’s responsibilities clear and separate.

The second option, Full Integration, expands AtroCore’s role beyond product data to manage other types of enterprise data and complex business processes across departments. This approach allows companies to start with basic product data synchronization and gradually extend their integration as their business grows.

Technical Implementation Architecture

AtroCore’s SAP S/4HANA PIM E-Commerce Integration connector solves one of the biggest challenges in enterprise integration: keeping data consistent while allowing flexible and customizable data flows.

This integration is implemented via Data/REST services and supports fully transparent and adaptable feed configurations, handling custom data structures, specialized processes, and complex workflows for any level of organizational complexity. Data synchronization can be triggered manually for on-demand updates or automated with flexible scheduling for each data feed or group of feeds. This detailed control helps businesses optimize integration speed and reliability, and be sure that critical processes get the right priority and resources.

Other Solutions and Market Landscape

Inriver PIM Integration Capabilities

Inriver is a well-established competitor in the PIM market with strong integration capabilities for SAP S/4HANA environments. Inriver PIM does not offer direct integration with SAP S/4HANA. Instead, the integration between Inriver PIM and SAP S/4HANA is typically done via the SAP Cloud Integration Suite (CPI), which acts as middleware to handle communication, data transformation, and synchronization between the two systems. This integration uses pre-built iFlows to translate and map product data back and forth, ensuring data consistency and enabling bi-directional synchronization

Akeneo and Alternative Platform Options

Akeneo PIM also does not offer direct integrations with SAP S/4HANA, and those two can be integrated using middleware platforms like SAP Integration Suite or third-party iPaaS solutions such as Alumio. These tools automate data synchronization and workflows, transferring product master data—such as attributes, descriptions, and categories—from Akeneo to SAP S/4HANA.

The integration uses Akeneo’s REST API with OAuth 2.0 authentication, and handles data mapping and transformation within the middleware. It requires an integration environment like SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Key benefits include centralized product management, improved data quality, faster updates, and reduced complexity through pre-built connectors or configurable flows.

Alumio, for example, offers a visual and scalable platform to simplify this integration, enabling seamless data synchronization and automation between Akeneo and SAP S/4HANA.

Step-by-Step Integration Process

If you plan to integrate SAP S/4HANA ERP with a PIM system, it's important to understand the process to ensure smooth data flow and maximize efficiency. Using SAP Cloud Integration Suite (CPI) could give you a lot of advantages compared to trying to implement own custom integration via SAP S/4 HANA REST API.

Step 1: Assessment and Planning

The first step in integrating PIM with SAP S/4HANA is to assess current data, processes, and infrastructure. This involves auditing product data across systems to identify quality issues and gaps. It’s important to define data ownership, authoritative sources, and data governance policies to guide the integration.

Technically, evaluate the SAP S/4HANA setup, including customizations and existing integrations. Consider network, security, performance, and compliance factors that affect integration design. Engage stakeholders from marketing, sales, operations, and IT to ensure all business needs are addressed in the plan.

Step 2: Architecture Design and Configuration

In this phase, business needs and technical assessments are translated into detailed integration plans. This includes defining data flows, mapping SAP S/4HANA product data to PIM models, setting synchronization schedules, and establishing error-handling rules. Clear protocols for resolving data conflicts and validating data during synchronization are also set.

Configuration involves connecting systems via APIs or middleware, implementing security measures like authentication and encryption, and setting up monitoring to track integration performance and data quality. Testing ensures data accuracy, business logic correctness, and system reliability under different conditions, including high loads and failures.

Step 3: Data Migration and Synchronization

Data migration is a crucial step that must be carefully managed to avoid business disruption. Businesses should start by migrating non-critical product data to test and refine the integration before moving mission-critical information.

Synchronization settings should reflect the needs of different data types—some require real-time updates, while others can be synced in batches during off-peak times. Implement robust logging and monitoring to track sync activities, detect errors, and maintain audit trails for compliance. Regular data validation ensures information stays accurate and business rules are followed throughout the process.

Step 4: Testing and Validation

Thorough testing to ensure the integration works correctly includes unit tests for individual components, integration tests for data flows, and end-to-end tests covering complete business workflows.

Performance testing checks that synchronization runs efficiently without slowing down core systems. User acceptance testing involves key stakeholders to confirm that processes are smooth and data access meets business needs. Security testing ensures access controls are enforced and sensitive data stays protected throughout synchronization.

Conclusion

SAP S/4HANA is a leading ERP system experiencing rapid growth in 2025. Product Information Management (PIM) systems centralize and enrich product data, acting as a bridge between SAP S/4HANA and various sales channels. Integration between these systems typically uses APIs or integration platforms like SAP Integration Suite or Alumio. AtroPIM offers both a fully-function PIM software and direct integration options with SAP S/4HANA through its SAP S/4HANA PIM E-Commerce Connector. This integration enables seamless, automated synchronization of product-related data (including images).

The integration process between PIM systems and SAP S/4HANA ERP involves assessing existing systems, designing data flows, migrating and synchronizing data, and thorough testing. These integrations improve data quality, reduce manual work, speed up product updates, and ensure consistent product information across platforms.