Does ml-connector require the on-premises SAP agent to be running at all times?

Yes. The agent must run continuously on your network with SAP .NET Connector or Java Connector installed, because RFC and BAPI calls cannot originate from the cloud. ml-connector will log connection errors if the agent is unavailable. Your SAP Basis team typically hosts the agent on the same network segment as SAP ECC.

What happens if an OData service is not activated in SAP ECC?

ml-connector will detect that the service is not available and log a message with the exact TCODE (for example, SICF) needed to activate it, along with the service name (for example, SAP_CUSTOMER_EXCH_SRV). Your SAP Basis team can then activate the service and the sync will succeed on the next run.

Can I sync vendor records from SAP ECC into Zendesk?

Yes. Vendor master records from SAP ECC's LFA1 table (and vendor extension tables) can be mapped to Zendesk organizations, allowing you to track supplier relationships and support history in the same system. The configuration follows the same pattern as customer sync, with vendor names, contact persons, and custom fields mapped to organization fields in Zendesk.

SAP ECCZendesk

SAP ECC and Zendesk integration

Your SAP ECC instance holds the authoritative master data for every customer and vendor your company works with. Your Zendesk support team uses that same customer list to route tickets and manage support escalations. Connecting SAP ECC and Zendesk keeps customer and vendor records in Zendesk synchronized with changes in your ERP, so support agents are always working from current information. New customers added to SAP ECC automatically appear in Zendesk as organizations and contacts.

How SAP ECC works

SAP ECC is an on-premises ERP system that exposes master data and transactional records through RFC/BAPI function modules, OData v2 via SAP Gateway, and SOAP web services. Customer master data is accessed via BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETLIST and BAPI_CUSTOMER_GETDETAIL; vendor data through BAPI_VENDOR_GETLIST and BAPI_VENDOR_GETDETAIL; and related tables such as KNA1 and LFA1. Read access is immediate, but the on-premises agent must run with SAP .NET Connector or Java Connector installed on your network, and any OData services must first be activated by your SAP Basis team via TCODE SICF. SAP ECC has no native webhook system, so data is retrieved by polling on a schedule you control.

How Zendesk works

Zendesk is a cloud support platform that manages tickets, users, and organizations through REST APIs at https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/. All calls are secured with OAuth 2.0 or an API token via basic auth. Organizations are created or updated via the Organizations API, and users are managed via the Users API. Zendesk supports webhooks for ticket and user events using HMAC-SHA256 signature verification, but the integration works equally well with polling if you prefer scheduled syncs.

What moves between them

Customer and vendor master records flow from SAP ECC into Zendesk. Each customer in SAP ECC's KNA1 table maps to a Zendesk organization; each contact (sales person, account manager, or service contact) in the customer relationship tables maps to a Zendesk user. Similarly, vendor master records from SAP ECC's LFA1 table can be synced as Zendesk organizations for supplier relationship tracking. Sync is unidirectional from SAP ECC to Zendesk; Zendesk holds no source data that writes back. The integration polls SAP ECC on a daily, weekly, or custom schedule that matches your master data maintenance cycle, and updates are applied incrementally so only changed records are pushed to Zendesk.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector connects to SAP ECC through the on-premises agent you configure, authenticating with HTTP Basic Auth for OData endpoints or RFC Basic Auth credentials that the agent validates at the network boundary. On first connection, ml-connector verifies that the necessary OData services (such as SAP_CUSTOMER_EXCH_SRV) are activated; if not, it logs a clear message with the TCODE needed to enable them. On the Zendesk side, ml-connector authenticates with your OAuth 2.0 client credentials (preferred for integrations) or an API token. Customer records are retrieved from SAP ECC by polling RFC_READ_TABLE on KNA1 and related customer extension tables, mapped to Zendesk organization fields (name, domain, notes, custom fields), and posted via the Organizations API. Contacts are synced as Users in Zendesk, with email addresses and name fields extracted from SAP ECC contact master tables. Since SAP ECC write BAPIs like BAPI_CUSTOMER_CHANGE require an explicit BAPI_TRANSACTION_COMMIT call, ml-connector never calls write BAPIs; the integration is read-only from the ERP. Zendesk users and organizations are upserted on email or external ID, so re-running the sync is safe and will only update records that have actually changed in SAP ECC. ml-connector respects Zendesk's API rate limits and backs off on 429 responses, retries transient network errors with exponential backoff, and maintains an audit trail of every record synced.

A real-world example

A mid-market distribution company runs SAP ECC in their data center and uses Zendesk for order and delivery support. When a customer calls with a problem, support agents need to see current credit limits, outstanding orders, and recent invoices from the ERP in their Zendesk workspace. Before the integration, agents manually searched SAP ECC in a separate window, switching contexts and risking stale data. With SAP ECC and Zendesk connected, each customer appears in Zendesk as an organization with current master data synced daily from SAP ECC: company name, tax ID, billing contact, and risk rating. Support agents can see this context directly in the ticket interface, resolve issues faster, and transfer detailed order questions to the sales team with accurate reference data.

What you can do

Sync customer master records from SAP ECC (KNA1 and customer extension tables) into Zendesk as organizations with company details and custom fields.
Map SAP ECC vendor records (LFA1 and vendor extension tables) into Zendesk for supplier relationship tracking and support.
Sync customer contacts and sales persons from SAP ECC contact master tables into Zendesk as users with email and name fields.
Poll SAP ECC on a daily or custom schedule, authenticate through the on-premises agent with RFC Basic Auth, and update only records that have changed.
Maintain a full audit trail of all customer and vendor syncs, with the ability to replay or investigate any record change.

Questions

Does ml-connector require the on-premises SAP agent to be running at all times?: Yes. The agent must run continuously on your network with SAP .NET Connector or Java Connector installed, because RFC and BAPI calls cannot originate from the cloud. ml-connector will log connection errors if the agent is unavailable. Your SAP Basis team typically hosts the agent on the same network segment as SAP ECC.
What happens if an OData service is not activated in SAP ECC?: ml-connector will detect that the service is not available and log a message with the exact TCODE (for example, SICF) needed to activate it, along with the service name (for example, SAP_CUSTOMER_EXCH_SRV). Your SAP Basis team can then activate the service and the sync will succeed on the next run.
Can I sync vendor records from SAP ECC into Zendesk?: Yes. Vendor master records from SAP ECC's LFA1 table (and vendor extension tables) can be mapped to Zendesk organizations, allowing you to track supplier relationships and support history in the same system. The configuration follows the same pattern as customer sync, with vendor names, contact persons, and custom fields mapped to organization fields in Zendesk.

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