ECN: Solving SAP Business One Integration Across Multiple Line‑of‑Business Systems
Electronic Communications Network, formerly Nashua ECN, is a fast‑growing telecommunications provider in South Africa. The company runs SAP Business One for management and uses several industry‑specific applications to operate its network, serve customers, and manage the business.
The Challenge
One Source of Truth Across SAP Business One and Specialist Apps
ECN needed data from multiple custom and industry‑specific systems to flow into SAP Business One, so the business could rely on a single, consistent record. SAP B1I presented hurdles for the team, and the scale and variety of systems made direct integration difficult to deliver and maintain.
One source of truth
Multiple specialist systems had to feed SAP Business One reliably; SAP B1i hurdles made direct integration hard to deliver and maintain.
Integration Developer explains
“In the two years we have been using Flowgear, we have found it to be a powerful and flexible platform for integration. For some specific integration requirements, we were able to quickly develop additional scripts, and when we hit snags we found that Flowgear support was responsive and helpful. The Flowgear DropPoint system works well and latency is good.”
The Solution
lowgear SAP Connector, DropPoint, and Expert Support
What made the difference:
- The Flowgear SAP connector exposed SAP APIs quickly and cleanly.
- DropPoint enabled secure connectivity for on‑premise systems with good latency
- ECN’s in‑house team could build and extend integrations without heavy custom code.
Quentin Huggett, Integration Developer, said: “Flowgear solved the integration issues we had with SAP B1I, and the Flowgear SAP connector enabled us to expose the SAP APIs quickly and easily.”
“With our in-house technical expertise we were able to get up and running with Flowgear in a short time. The cost of Flowgear was also much more competitive than using SAP’s own integration solution.”
During delivery and beyond, the team was able to add scripts for edge cases and rely on responsive assistance when needed.
The Results
Unified Data and Faster Delivery
ECN achieved the goal of integrating its specialist systems with SAP Business One, which improved data consistency and sped up delivery of new integrations.
Highlights:
- Exposed SAP APIs and replaced SAP B1I pain points.
- Faster time to live for integrations, using ECN’s internal team.
- Lower integration cost compared with SAP’s native option.
- Secure connections to on‑premise systems with solid performance.
As Viljoen added, “We run a lean organization, so we wanted to automate as much of the customer transaction as we could.”
Unified data, faster delivery
“Flowgear solved the integration issues we had with SAP B1i… we exposed SAP APIs quickly and easily,” said Quentin Huggett. Internal teams shipped integrations faster at lower cost.
Stable layer for a changing stack
ECN will connect new or replacement telco apps into the Flowgear layer and push data into SAP Business One using the same patterns.
Looking Ahead
Stable Integration Layer for a Changing Stack
Telecommunications applications change frequently. ECN’s goal is an integration layer that new or replacement systems can connect to with minimal disruption. With Flowgear in place, the team can interface new applications to the layer, then move data into SAP Business One using established patterns.
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