SAP PI is the common middleware used in MDM implementation for the latter to exchange master data with remote systems. As of MDM 5.5 data transfer between MDM and PI used to happen via FTP and File network shares.
From MDM 7.1, integration with the PI server is done using the PI Adapter. MDM Java API's port functionality of pulling and pushing data into MDM repositories is leveraged by the adapter. This leads to a tighter integration and better message monitoring.
The MDM PI Adapter supports the two following types of message flow:
1. The PI server receives data from the connected system and pushes it to the MDM inbound port using the PI adapter.
2. When the syndication event is triggered, data is distributed to the designated outbound port. The PI adapter picks up the data and sends it to the PI server.