Decoupling a Mission-Critical Operations Platform from ERP Dependencies

Customer Snapshot

Industry: Enterprise Technology & Managed Services

Region: South Africa

Platform: ISPIC - internal customer, order, and workflow management system

Engagement Model:

• Backend Engineering
• Platform Refactoring
• ERP Integration Enablement

Technology Context:

• PHP-based platform
• Apache Camel
• STOMP messaging
• Oracle ERP (legacy)
• SAP (target ERP)

Delivery Model:

• 3-week sprints
• Standard agile ceremonies
• ServiceNow (SPM) for tracking and governance

The Challenge

NTT operates ISPIC as a central internal platform responsible for customer management, order processing, and workflow orchestration across the organization.

As NTT initiated a strategic transition from Oracle to SAP, ISPIC faced a critical constraint:

The platform was tightly coupled to the underlying ERP, creating delivery risk, operational fragility, and limited flexibility during the migration.

Key challenges included:

ERP dependency risk

• ISPIC relied on ERP-specific logic and data assumptions
• Any ERP migration risked breaking downstream workflows
• The platform needed to remain stable while ERP systems changed beneath it

Dual-ERP transition complexity

• Oracle and SAP needed to operate in parallel during transition
• ISPIC had to support both systems without duplicating business logic
• Payload handling and routing needed to be abstracted cleanly

Backend workflow stability

• ISPIC is mission-critical to daily operations
• Any disruption would directly impact customers, orders, and internal processes
• Changes needed to be incremental, controlled, and reversible

Integration and routing requirements

• SAP payloads needed to be captured, processed, and routed reliably
• Messaging and integration patterns had to be robust and observable
• The solution needed to align with NTT’s broader enterprise integration standards

The Goal

• Decouple ISPIC from direct ERP dependencies
• Enable ISPIC to operate independently of Oracle or SAP
• Support a controlled, low-risk transition to SAP
• Maintain platform stability and operational continuity
• Establish a flexible integration model for future ERP or system changes

Scrums.com Solution

Scrums.com partnered with NTT to stabilize and refactor the ISPIC backend, focusing on abstraction, resilience, and controlled ERP integration.

Key components included:

ERP abstraction & payload handling

• Refactored backend logic to separate ISPIC workflows from ERP-specific rules
• Enabled SAP payload capture directly within ISPIC
• Standardized payload publishing using STOMP messaging in PHP

Integration routing & orchestration

• Leveraged Apache Camel to route messages cleanly to downstream ERP systems
• Supported parallel Oracle and SAP integration paths
• Ensured ISPIC remained the system of orchestration, not the ERP

Backend stabilisation & refactoring

• Improved maintainability of core workflow logic
• Reduced tight coupling between business processes and ERP behaviour
• Ensured changes could be delivered incrementally without operational risk

Structured delivery & governance

• Delivered work in 3-week sprint cycles
• Used standard agile ceremonies for planning, review, and risk management
• Tracked progress and dependencies via ServiceNow (SPM)
• Worked closely with NTT stakeholders across engineering, product, and delivery

Results

• ISPIC decoupled from direct ERP dependency
• Platform capable of supporting both Oracle and SAP concurrently
• SAP payloads successfully handled and routed via standardized messaging
• Operational workflows preserved during ERP transition
• Reduced risk of disruption during a major enterprise system migration
• Clear foundation established for future ERP or system changes

The platform remained stable while NTT progressed its broader SAP transformation.

Why This Matters

Large ERP migrations often fail - not because of SAP or Oracle - but because core operational platforms are too tightly coupled to them.

NTT achieved:

• A safer, more controlled ERP transition
• Continued operational stability during system change
• A platform-first architecture where ERP systems can evolve independently
• Reduced long-term lock-in to any single backend system

This approach transforms ERP migrations from high-risk events into manageable, phased transitions.

Modernizing enterprise platforms doesn’t require ripping out what already works

Scrums.com helps organizations decouple, stabilize, and evolve mission-critical systems - while keeping operations running.

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