3542227 - Limitations of Using OData and SOAP APIs for Mass Updating Business Partners in SAP S/4HANA Cloud

When attempting to perform mass updates for Business Partners using APIs such as OData or SOAP, customers may experience performance issues, synchronization problems, or complete update failures. Common issues include:

• Long processing times due to the synchronous nature of OData services.
• Batch operations in OData not being processed in parallel, causing bottlenecks.
• Entire payload failures in SOAP when any single Business Partner update within a BULK payload fails.
• Locking issues caused by key mapping during parallel SOAP requests.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud

The above symptoms arise from the inherent limitations of using OData and SOAP APIs for mass updates. The synchronous nature of OData and the potential for parallel processing issues with SOAP make these methods suboptimal for large-scale updates. Specifically:

• OData API:

  • Synchronous operations can lead to significant delays and inefficiencies.
  • Batch updates are processed sequentially, not in parallel, leading to bottlenecks when handling large volumes of data.

• SOAP API:

  • A single failure in a BULK payload can cause the entire batch to fail, necessitating reprocessing.
  • Parallel requests can lead to locking issues due to key mapping, causing failures or delays.

We recommend using the Mass Maintenance app specifically designed for mass updating Business Partners. This app provides a more efficient and reliable approach for mass updates, avoiding the limitations associated with OData and SOAP APIs.

Refer to the following resources for detailed guidance:

• • Fiori Apps Library page for the App

If the Mass Maintenance app does not support the specific fields you wish to update, kindly please create a feature request to SAP (see KBA2963059- How to Submit Feature Requests for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Product ). In case your request is critical for your Go Live – please reach out to your assigned CSP who will help to coordinate your request.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, Business Partners, Mass Update, Japan DDS Data, Suppliers, API, OData, SOAP, Mass Maintenance app, feature request. , KBA , LO-MD-BP , Business Partners , Problem

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