Summary

The integration solution is designed to solve a coordination and rate limit management problem between Ariba Event Management API and Keelvar APIs . 

During the implementation of Interfaces (see below) that require orchestration of the APIs between the two systems, it was discovered that strictly imposed rate limits in Ariba Event Management APIs mainly, but also Keelvar Intake and Export APIs, are reached, causing Integrations to fail.

To address this, an Integration Orchestration Solution is introduced using available tools in SAP CPI.  The major aspects of the solution are:

1. Use of a single JMS Queue shared by all Interfaces utilising the mentioned APIs
2. Use of single Router IFlow that sequentially and synchronously processes messages in the JMS Queue
3. Use of Connectors to Ariba and Keelvar APIs that are rate-limit aware and automatically pause if limits are reached.

Overall, this solution provides a robust, controlled, and extensible foundation for managing multiple API-based integrations between Ariba and Keelvar, ensuring operational stability and compliance with API usage policies in Ariba and Keelvar. And furthermore, this solution can be extended if and when further Integrations need to be implemented that utilise Ariba and Keelvar APIs, in addition to the 3 interfaces that currently ( as of 24-October-2025 ) utilise this:

Description

Ariba Event Management API contains both intake and export endpoints supporting Ariba Strategic Sourcing Platform to read, create and update Sourcing events, Scenarios and Awards. The Event Management API requests are rate-limit controlled as shown below:

Keelvar Intake and Export APIs are two different sets of API Services that are utilised with the JMS Queue solution, with separated rate-limits:

• Intake APIs: Enables Sourcing Event read, creation and update in Keelvar. In addition, APIs also contains services to check the Event Processing background job status. 
  

  API	Burst	Sustained
  Sourcing Events	120 per hour	500 per day
  Process Job Status	30 per minute	600 per hour

• Export APIs: Enables reading of Sourcing Events, Bids and Awards.
  

  API	Burst	Sustained
  Awards	60 per minute	43,200 per day
  Bids	60 per minute	43,200 per day
  Events	60 per minute	43,200 per day

In addition, Keelvar provides a Webhook management API which is utilised in the Event Management Orchestration between Ariba and Keelvar. However, this set of APIs do not have a published Rate-Limit controls and described in a separate document here.

To manage this constraint, the solution described in this document provides a framework to orchestrate the APIs to enable Integration implementations that can avoid or recover from rate-limiting exceptions as well as well as to handle exceptions such as data errors, service unavailability etc.

When using this solution, the following guiding principles need to be applied in the IFlows pertaining to the Integration:

• All requests to APIs from IFlows will be via Request-Reply objects - this enable the ability to handle Exceptions by logging the response message bodies, return codes etc
• The Processing will be broken up in to small Asynchronous sequential calls. This allows the processing to re-process only failed API calls and then, once successful, hand over to the next IFlow seamlessly
• The IFlows will be designed in such a way to reduce the number of API calls, ideally to contain only one API call for each system. Multiple APIs to the same system increases the chances of rate-limit failures.
• The IFlows will be designed so that re-processing via the JMS Queue will not effect the processing that was done in the failed execution. 
• The IFlows will only use the Ariba and Keelvar Connector IFlows to access the APIs. This ensures that the API calls are sequential and each is completed before the next occurs
• The IFlows will handle and log the exceptions and raise a new to push it back to JMS Queue. This ensures that the Error notification is captured in CPI.
• The Sequence of the IFlows are via Process Direct direct endpoints to allow the Router to identify the Processing IFlow once it is pushed into JMS Queue

Functional Overview

High Level Architecture

[Upstream Systems]
       │
       ▼
   [CPI IFlows]
       │
   (Write to JMS Queue)
       ▼
    [JMS Queue]
       │
 (Single-thread Reader)
       ▼
 [Router IFlow]
   ├──> pd:/Ariba/EventConnector
   └──> pd:/Keelvar/ApiConnector
             │
             ▼
      [External APIs]

Key Components

Component    Description
SAP CPI JMS Queue    Buffers messages to control API call rates. Single-threaded reader enforces sequential processing.
Router IFlow    Reads from JMS queue, determines routing path using headers (ProcessDirect).
ProcessDirect IFlows    Downstream IFlows for specific integration logic (Ariba, Keelvar).
Connectors    Handle API authentication (OAuth2), request building, and rate-limit enforcement.
Rate Control Mechanism    Induces pauses if rate-limit headers show exhaustion.
Error & Retry Handling    Managed via JMS retry logic and manual reprocessing of DLQ messages.

Technical Details

Integration Design

JMS Queue Configuration

Router IFlow

• Reads message headers (e.g., ProcessType, TargetSystem).

• Forwards to ProcessDirect endpoints using conditions:

  if (target == "ARIBA") { message.setHeader("CamelSAP_Endpoint", "pd:/Ariba/EventConnector") } else if (target == "KEELVAR") { message.setHeader("CamelSAP_Endpoint", "pd:/Keelvar/ApiConnector") }

• Logging and MPL trace enabled for monitoring.

ProcessDirect IFlows

• Perform transformations (XML ↔ JSON).

• Set up request payloads and headers.

• Call connector IFlows using HTTPS.

Connector IFlows

Configuration Parameters

Error Handling & Retry Strategy

Security Considerations

• OAuth2 Client Credentials authentication for both Ariba and Keelvar.

• Credentials stored securely in CPI Security Material.

• All communication over HTTPS.

• Optional integration with SAP IAG for audit reporting.

Monitoring & Observability

Future Enhancements

• Parallel JMS Queues for different process categories.

• Dynamic rate adjustment using API feedback.

• Integration with SAP IAG for centralized user and audit tracking.

• Event-driven alerting on DLQ threshold breaches.