We’ve broken down the major H1 2024 SAP® SuccessFactors® updates to help you easily digest the latest changes. In this post, we’ll look at what’s new in the Technical space.

Deprecation of HTTP Basic Authentication for APIs

SAP stopped maintaining Access to APIs based on HTTP Basic Authentication last June 2, 2023, and they will delete it on November 20, 2026. They have communicated this schedule previously.

HTTP Basic Authentication (Basic Auth) is an authentication method to access APIs in SAP SuccessFactors. SAP made the retirement plan for HTTP Basic Authentication in favor of the more secure OAuth 2.0 authentication method.

OAuth 2.0 is now supported in both OData API and SFAPI. We recommend you start migrating from HTTP Basic Authentication to OAuth 2.0 for better security and complete the migration before the deletion date.

Key Dates for Replacement:

End of Development Phase

Since the 2H 2020 release (November 20, 2020), no enhancement has been made for HTTP Basic Authentication.

End of Maintenance:

By 1H 2023 (June 2, 2023), SAP SuccessFactors stopped the maintenance for HTTP Basic Authentication.

Replacement Date:

The plan for decommissioning is 2H 2026 (November 20, 2026). The deprecation milestone is when a feature is no longer available for productive use. You should now be using an alternative method for your business scenario.

Deprecation of SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite Single Sign-On Certificate

The SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite Single Sign-On certificate will expire on June 2, 2025. SAP is requesting that customers migrate all systems to SAP Cloud Identity Services-Identity Authentication by now.

If you are currently using a third-party corporate IDP solution such as (Microsoft Azure AD, Okta, Google, OneLogin, etc.) or Basic Authentication (username and password), we ask your organization to migrate to Identity Authentication since SAP SuccessFactors plan is to move all customers to the preferred method for SAP Cloud Identity Authentication.

When you migrate to Identity Authentication:

  • Identity Authentication will automatically update your SuccessFactors certificate if you are a customer using Identity Authentication (either as a real IDP or proxy IDP to a 3rd party corporate IDP).
  • If Identity Authentication is the real Identity Provider (IdP) for SuccessFactors, then SAP will handle the upgrade necessary to minimize the impact of 3rd party cookie deprecation.
  • If Identity Authentication is a proxy to a corporate IDP such as Microsoft Azure AD, Okta, Google, etc, SAP will provide automation to assist the upgrade necessary to minimize the impact of third-party cookie deprecation. Further configuration could be needed from your end, e.g., renewal of certificates from your Corporate IDP.

As a customer, please remember the benefits of adopting Identity Authentication in your landscape:

  • When your SAP SuccessFactors tenant is connected to the Identity Authentication service, it handles all logins (including password, two-factor authentication, risk-based authentication, or corporate identity provider) for your SAP SuccessFactors system.
  • Identity Authentication allows you as an HXM Suite customer to complete a major Identity Authentication pre-requisite for some of the most important innovations of SAP SuccessFactors solutions, i.e., Stories in People Analytics, Work Zone, Task Center, Internal Career Site, etc.
  • Faster innovation and better product quality/support with one unified authentication service to develop, maintain, and innovate.
  • Better incorporation of new technologies and innovations in the security/authentication domain.
  • Streamlined user management across the enterprise and better user self-services.

Adoption of Common Superdomain for SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite and Identity Authentication Tenant URLs

Major web browsers plan to discontinue third-party cookie support; as a result, SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite and Identity Authentication are adopting a common superdomain for their tenant URLs. This enhancement also includes Employee Centered Payroll (ECP), WorkForce Analytics (WFA), SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) and Onboarding 1.0 (ONB1.0).

Tenant URLs now use the new superdomain cloud.sap and sapcloud.cn on tenant URLs during the initial tenant provisioning process and the Identity Authentication upgrade and change processes.

In the current version:

  • Your SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite tenant URL will now follow the pattern https://performancemanager.hr.cloud.sap/login?company=<company_id>
  • Your Identity Authentication tenant URL will now follow the pattern https://<ias_tenant_name>.accounts.cloud.sap

We highly recommend you upgrade to Identity Authentication to avoid potential disruptions in SSO functionalities and utilize the upgrades provided by Identity Authentication to minimize the impact of third-party cookie deprecation.

Deprecation of Employee Central SFAPIs Except CompoundEmployee API

The SOAP-based SFAPIs for Employee Central, except the CompoundEmployee API, will reach the end of maintenance on May 17, 2024, and be deleted on May 23, 2025.

SAP is deprecating all Employee Central SFAPIs in favor of OData APIs. If you use SFAPIs, please convert the SOAP API calls to OData ones.

Deprecation of Packaged Integration SAP SuccessFactors Learning and SAP ERP Financials Integration

Packaged Integration SAP SuccessFactors Learning and SAP ERP Financials Integration will reach the end of maintenance and development on June 2, 2023, and will be deleted on May 17, 2024.

If this integration package is applied in your environment, you must seek an alternative method for your business scenario.

Key Dates for this Deprecation:

End of Development Phase:

SAP SuccessFactors will stop enhancing these integrations as of 1H 2023 (June 2, 2023). Customers can continue to use the software, but they should begin planning when it will no longer be available. SAP SuccessFactors will still fix high-priority bugs.

End of Maintenance:

As of 1H 2023 (June 2, 2023), SAP SuccessFactors will not deliver patches for the software. SAP continues to answer your how-to questions.

Replacement Date:

As of May 17, 2024, SAP SuccessFactors will retire this integration. Customers should be using an alternative method for their business scenario.

Enhancements to OData APIs

With the 1H 2023 release, SAP SuccessFactors is releasing a number of enhancements related to OData APIs. These are the most relevant ones:

Data Privacy Consent Statement APIs

Customers can now use Data Privacy Consent Statement APIs to view consent statements. They can also view and update the status of acknowledgments for users.

Enable Snapshot-Based Pagination for MDF APIs

Customers can enable snapshot-based pagination for individual MDF objects.

In the previous version, only API users with Admin Access to MDF OData API permission could use the paging=snapshot parameter when querying MDF OData APIs. In the current version, after you enable snapshot-based pagination for an MDF object, all API users can use the paging=snapshot parameter when querying that MDF OData API. The only limitation is that this configuration doesn’t enable snapshot-based pagination for child objects. If you need snapshot-based pagination for all MDF objects and their child objects, you must have Admin access to MDF OData API permission.

Property expirationDate Now Filterable in OData API EmpWorkPermit

Customers can now use the expirationDate property as a filter when they query the EmpWorkPermit OData API.

SAP made this property filterable so you can get a list of employees whose work permits will expire on certain days and send them notifications if needed.

Enhancements to ERP Integration (S/4 HCM & SAP ERP HCM)

With the 1H 2024 release, SAP SuccessFactors is releasing a number of enhancements related to ERP Integration. This is the most relevant:

Connecting Multiple Employee Central Instances to the Same Client of the SAP S/4HANA System.

Customers can now connect multiple Employee Central instances to the same client of their SAP S/4HANA system. For example, if a company has different legal entities that require separate management of employee data and, therefore, separate instances of SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, but you want to ensure that common processes, such as payroll that you run in SAP S/4HANA, run consistently for all your employees.

How to turn it on: Support package 3 of the SFSF EC S4 HCM INTEGRATION (ECS4HCM) add-on must be installed in your SAP S/4HANA system.