Integration Suite: MCP Gateway

Integration Suite: MCP Gateway

| Dhawal Joshi |

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Episode #313

Introduction

In episode 313 of our SAP on Azure video podcast we talk about the MCP Gateway on SAP Integration Suite and how it enables governed, secure access from AI agents to SAP and non-SAP systems.

Together with Dhaval Joshi from SAP and Goran, we walk through the core architecture, explain key security and governance concepts, and show how API assets can be turned into MCP servers for practical agent scenarios.

We also cover a full end-to-end demo, including product publishing, agent subscription, and client connectivity patterns with Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio, plus a look at the roadmap for agent-to-agent and model interaction support.

Find all the links mentioned here: https://www.saponazurepodcast.de/episode313

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Summary created by AI

  • MCP Gateway Architecture And Governance:
  • Dhawal explained how the MCP Gateway in SAP Integration Suite exposes SAP, on-premise, and third-party APIs as governed MCP tools, resources, and prompts, while Holger and Goran clarified its API compatibility, lifecycle controls, and recommended use with agents.
    • MCP Exposure Model: Dhawal described the gateway’s purpose as converting existing APIs, integrations, and data sources into governed MCP services that AI agents can consume as tools, resources, or prompts. The gateway supports SAP Cloud, SAP on-premise, and third-party HTTP, REST, SOAP, OData, custom, and RFC-based interfaces.
    • Three Control Pillars: The MCP server model was organized around connections, governance, and usage analysis. Connections turn existing services into reusable agent tools; governance applies authentication, authorization, traffic management, and usage controls; analytics show which agents, endpoints, tools, and resources are being used.
    • Integration Cell: Dhawal explained that the Integration Cell provides a shared runtime for security, routing, traffic management, and message mediation across APIs and MCP servers. Existing Integration Suite customers can extend their API and integration investments rather than build a separate MCP platform.
    • Developer Hub Governance: The Developer Hub acts as a central catalog for APIs, events, MCP servers, and future AI assets. Agents must be registered and subscribed to obtain scoped credentials, while administrators can apply discovery, approval, access, and production-consumption controls.
    • Recommended SAP Pathway: Dhawal stated that the gateway is intended for agents running on platforms such as Microsoft Azure as well as SAP and on-premise systems. Holger highlighted SAP’s dedicated reference architecture for Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio connecting to SAP through the MCP Gateway.
  • MCP Features And Product Roadmap:
  • Dhawal reviewed enterprise security, API composition, connectors, federation, monetization, and planned agentic capabilities, including dynamic registration, agent-to-agent communication, and model integration.
    • Enterprise Features: The managed gateway provides rate limiting, IP blocking, OIDC-based authentication with SAP or third-party identity providers, payload protection, auditing, logging, tracing, and operational monitoring. Dhawal contrasted this with the complexity of operating and upgrading self-managed MCP servers.
    • API Composition: Multiple backend APIs can be composed into a single optimized MCP endpoint, allowing teams to expose a smaller and more controlled set of agent tools while retaining multiple backend services behind the gateway.
    • Connectors And Federation: Integration Suite’s 250-plus connectors can bring additional systems and data sources into MCP tools or resources. The gateway can also connect to remote MCP servers, and Dhawal described planned federation and composition of multiple MCP servers.
    • Monetization: Dhawal explained that internal use cases can provide catalog access without charge, while external partner access can be governed through plans, quotas, call volumes, and usage-based pricing. Monetization was described as a roadmap capability.
    • Future Agentic Integration: Dhawal said Integration Suite is expected to support dynamic agent registration through mechanisms such as DCR or CIMD, agent-to-agent communication, and interaction with LLMs for broader agentic integration patterns.
  • End-To-End MCP Server Demonstration:
  • Dhawal demonstrated creating an MCP server from a SuccessFactors API, publishing it through the Developer Hub, connecting it to an agent, querying job requisitions, and inspecting the resulting runtime activity.
    • API Preparation: Dhawal used a SuccessFactors job-application API backed by OData and showed that the API could include authentication, authorization, OpenAPI validation, quotas, routing, error handling, transformations, and optional threat-protection policies through a drag-and-drop design.
    • MCP Server Creation: The MCP creation workflow supports API artifacts, HTTP endpoints with OpenAPI specifications, RFC-based backends, and remote MCP servers. Dhawal selected the existing API, assigned an MCP path and version, and chose the job-application operations to expose as tools.
    • Authentication Options: The demo used OAuth, while the gateway also supports client certificates, SAP OAuth, and external OIDC-compliant identity providers. Administrators can configure issuer or well-known URLs, audience, client ID, scopes, and other token-validation settings.
    • Deployment And Catalog Publishing: After deployment, the MCP server received a consumable URL. Dhawal then assembled four MCP artifacts—candidate, job application, job requisition, and equipment requisition—into a New Hire Readiness product and published it in the Developer Hub.
    • Agent Subscription: An agent developer browsed the published product, subscribed to it, and obtained credentials including a client ID, client secret, and authorization token. These credentials were then used to configure the MCP connectors.
  • Agent Query And Runtime Monitoring:
  • Dhawal connected the MCP tools to an agent and retrieved recently approved job requisitions, while Holger and Dhawal confirmed that the same request appeared in Integration Suite monitoring with logs and correlation details.
    • Connector Configuration: Dhawal created an additional job-requisition connector by entering the MCP URL and client credentials. Authentication succeeded, leaving the agent with three connected MCP servers for the demonstration.
    • Natural-Language Query: The agent was asked for recently approved job requisitions. It identified the relevant job-requisition tool through the available connector and returned the requested results, including the most recent requisitions and their locations and approval information.
    • Tool Discovery: Holger asked whether the agent had connected to the gateway after finding the correct tool. Dhawal explained that the agent intelligently identified the relevant connector; additional tools or document context could be added to expand the agent’s behavior.
    • Operational Visibility: Holger noted that the gateway call could be viewed in Integration Suite monitoring. Dhawal showed that administrators can inspect completed or failed activity, adjust log levels, review messages and correlation IDs, and use the information for troubleshooting and auditing.
  • Trial Availability And Customer Adoption:
  • Holger emphasized that the demonstrated MCP Gateway workflow is available in the Integration Suite trial environment, and both Holger and Dhawal encouraged customers to begin using it with Copilot and SAP systems.
    • Trial Environment: Holger stated that viewers can subscribe to the BTP trial environment, enable Integration Suite, and reproduce the demonstrated workflow without waiting for a separate customer deployment.
    • Current Use Cases: Holger said customers are already using Copilot with Integration Suite and the MCP Gateway to connect to backend systems, including on-premise systems. Dhawal said SAP expects broader adoption of the combined Microsoft and SAP capabilities.

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