NEWS

In the Digital Age, Data Is the Lifeblood—And Enterprises Are Giants Running Through It

In today’s digital era, data flows like blood—keeping every part of an enterprise alive and moving. But when the data flow slows down, gets stuck, or breaks, operations become like a blindfolded giant stumbling in the dark. This is especially true in SAP HANA environments, where pushing data in real time to Kafka message queues becomes a high-difficulty challenge.

As a leading gas energy enterprise, this company is committed to enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making through digital transformation. However, as its business expanded, it faced a growing need for real-time synchronization of massive production data—particularly seamless, efficient data sync between its SAP HANA database and Kafka message queue.

To support real-time decision-making and minimize the impact of synchronization on production systems, the company urgently needed a high-performance and stable data synchronization solution.

Two Failed Attempts—Where Did Things Go Wrong?

In its pursuit of SAP-to-Kafka data synchronization, the company tried two different solutions. Unfortunately, both fell short of expectations.

Solution 1: SAP Data Intelligence Cloud + Kafka

The first attempt used SAP’s official Data Intelligence Cloud tool along with Kafka for synchronization. While this solution was theoretically viable, it ran into major issues in practice:

• Significant impact on production performance:

  This solution relied on trigger-based mechanisms, which severely affected the performance of the production environment—especially when handling large volumes of data, resulting in noticeable delays.

• Complex configuration and maintenance:

  SAP’s Data Intelligence Cloud required complex setup and specialized technical personnel, making routine maintenance burdensome and time-consuming.

Solution 2: SAP Tools → MySQL/Oracle → (Third-Party Tools) → Kafka

To avoid the drawbacks of the first solution, the company explored a second option: syncing data from SAP to MySQL or Oracle first using SAP’s tools, then forwarding it to Kafka via third-party tools. However, this approach had several issues:

• Unnecessary intermediary layers:

  Data had to pass through MySQL or Oracle before reaching Kafka, adding complexity and increasing maintenance overhead.

• Latency and consistency challenges:

  Multiple transfer layers introduced latency and raised concerns about data consistency—failing to meet the enterprise’s strict real-time and reliability requirements.

A Game-Changer: i2Stream by Information2 Delivers Real-Time Success

After the two failed attempts, the company turned to i2Stream by Information2 as its data synchronization solution. By directly analyzing HANA database logs to capture change data—and with full support from SAP HANA—i2Stream achieved remarkable results.

i2Stream efficiently parses source database logs to capture real-time changes, and utilizes stream data processing to achieve high-speed synchronization across both homogeneous and heterogeneous databases. It supports big data platforms and delivers second-level sync even in high-concurrency scenarios—ensuring complete data integrity and consistency. Both DML and DDL operations, as well as data and schema changes, are synchronized in real time.

Key Advantages of the Project

1. Minimal Impact on Production

Unlike trigger-based methods, i2Stream captures incremental data by analyzing SAP HANA database logs, significantly reducing the load on the production system. This allows synchronization to proceed smoothly without interfering with daily business operations.

2. High-Efficiency Real-Time Synchronization

Leveraging SAP HANA’s ODP (Operational Data Provisioning) technology and interfaces likeODP_RESET,ODP_OPEN, andODP_FETCH, i2Stream achieves rapid and precise data sync to Kafka—meeting high demands for both real-time processing and performance.

3. Flexible Custom Development

i2Stream also offers highly customizable development to fit customer-specific needs—whether adjusting sync frequency or supporting specific data formats. This flexibility ensures synchronization processes remain stable and reliable.

By integrating JCO drivers with ODQMON and ODP technology, i2Stream successfully achieved incremental data synchronization from SAP HANA to Kafka. Throughout the project, its efficiency and stability were clearly demonstrated. With simple configuration and high execution performance, it not only minimized impact on the production system but also ensured data accuracy and timeliness.

Every detail of data synchronization can impact business decision quality and operational efficiency. With its powerful capabilities and real-time sync solutions, i2Stream is a vital ally in digital transformation—helping enterprises maintain fast, consistent data flow and gain a competitive edge through more precise decision-making.