TYPO3 and SAP Customer Data Cloud

Thanks to Ingo from Marketing Factory for sharing!

Welcome to the world of integration. SAP Customer Data Cloud (CDC) and TYPO3 CMS are two giants of their respective realms, and today we will be discussing their integration.

If you are not familiar with these terms, let me give you some clarity to begin with: SAP Customer Data Cloud is a platform for customer identity and access management. It enables companies to collect and centrally manage customer data and it provides a reliable solution to manage user identification, authentication, and authorization. It allows users to log in just once and then be able to access different applications without having to log in again each time. Companies can also use the data from CDC to improve their marketing strategies and, for example, provide personalized content and offers. Let’s dive in.

Integrating SAP Customer Data Cloud with TYPO3 CMS can bring a wealth of benefits. It can
offer you a centralized hub for all user data in your system, which can help you to better
understand your consumers. With this integration, you'll improve the user experience while
minimizing development time, and it'll help you to build a more trusting relationship with your
customers. Plus, with an effective integration, you can be confident that you're complying with
data protection regulations.

Over the years, in which we have been dealing with projects involving the content management
system TYPO3, the requirement for interfaces to third-party systems has increased continuously.
As businesses expand and leverage digital platforms to engage with customers, managing user
authentication across multiple systems has become increasingly complex. The website is no
longer just a solitary isolated solution in corporate communication, but only achieves its
potential through the interaction with other systems and data sources, be it a Product
Information Management System (PIM), an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP), a
Customer Relation Management Software (CRM) or specialized applications for mapping talent
management processes (HR).

To address this challenge we, the digital agency Marketing Factory Consulting GmbH (MFC) from
Düsseldorf, would like to show how integrating SAP Customer Data Cloud with a content
management system like TYPO3 can simplify user authentication and provide a seamless
experience for users.

For one of our customers, we created an integration connecting TYPO3 and the SAP Customer
Data Cloud for their extranet applications. Through the extranets, our customer provides its
sales and assembly partners with information and materials and connects to various third-party
systems that support them in their day-to-day work. These extranets are offered to varying
degrees in many countries and languages, and new countries are added regularly. The extranets
have been operated and managed in terms of content on the basis of TYPO3 for more than 15
years. Authentication and authorization is now based on SAP CDC, after various other
procedures, including LDAP and WSO2, were used in the past.

The process of preparing for integration might seem daunting. However, with proper research
and attention to detail, it can be accomplished with ease. Don't forget to take a considerable
amount of time while preparing to minimize any issues that might crop up in the future.
TYPO3 is an almost predestined partner for such tasks thanks to its open interfaces and the high
degree of individual adaptability. We can confidently assure you of this, as we have been able to
prove this again and again through a large number of successfully implemented projects.

Our team at MFC built a TYPO3 integration as part of the switch to SAP CDC, which uses the
connectors provided by TYPO3 and SAP CDC for the authentication (login) and authorization
(permissions) data exchange between both systems. The end user can now use a single-sign-on
(SSO) to all applications which are connected to SAP CDC, including a quotation system or a
spare parts shop. This seamless integration provides a good user experience which reduces the
bounce rate between all integrated systems. Ideally the user is not even recognizing the switch
between the systems while browsing. We use the JavaScript Web SDK for the integration in the
back and front end, as well as the REST API, which SAP makes available at this point.

Overall, integrating SAP Customer Data Cloud and TYPO3 CMS can provide several benefits,
including increased efficiency, improved data accuracy, enhanced customer experience, and
improving data privacy. This helps businesses build and maintain a better relationship with
customers, providing a more personalized experience. It is a process that requires careful
preparation and execution, but the end result is a well-integrated system that can drive business
growth.

Our customer is one of the leading manufacturers in the European construction industry. In 36
production plants in Europe, North America and Asia, more than 6,000 employees develop and
produce high-quality products for use in private and commercial real estate.

In terms of future developments, we can expect to see more advanced features and integration
capabilities that will enhance the overall user experience. The integration will become more
streamlined, and there will be an increased focus on data security and privacy.

If your company also uses both of these software products, we can provide you with many years
of experience in successfully integrating SAP CDC with TYPO3 CMS. The aim is to offer users the
best possible digital service on the outside and to optimally use and refine the existing data
from both systems on the inside. Just contact us if you want to find out more.