Outlook add-in: filing e-mails into SAP
The business-relevant correspondence about a transaction lives in a mailbox — which is to say, exactly where it disappears at the next change of personnel.
One button in Outlook, one document at the SAP object
The CaRD Mail Add-In puts a button into Outlook. The user opens a message, picks the SAP object — purchase order, sales order, supplier, customer, document info record — and files. The message travels with its attachments to that object and is visible there to anyone who opens it in SAP. No intermediate saving, no network drive, no forwarding to a shared mailbox.
Technically it is a web add-in: it is provisioned centrally and then appears in every Outlook variant of the same mailbox — in the browser, in new Outlook for Windows and on mobile. Nothing is installed at the workplace, and an update reaches all users at once without anybody triggering a software rollout.
Filing into SAP runs through a released SAP standard service — no modification, no custom program in the core system. Between Outlook and SAP sits a service of its own that holds the credentials, resolves the assignment and performs the filing. It can run in your own data centre or your cloud; the SAP credentials live there and not in the user’s browser.
One limitation we state openly, because it decides feasibility: the add-in requires Exchange Online or Outlook.com. On-premises Exchange servers and mailboxes connected over IMAP or POP do not support the interfaces needed — that is a platform boundary, not a limitation of our implementation. If that is where you are, the classic Office integration serves you better.
At a glance
- File an e-mail with its attachments at the SAP object with one button
- Browser, new Outlook for Windows and mobile
- Nothing installed at the workplace, central provisioning
- Filing through a released SAP standard service
- Credentials live in your own service, not in the browser
- Requirement: Exchange Online or Outlook.com
Why this matters
What a mailbox as a filing location does.
- At a change of personnel the transaction history leaves with the mailbox
- People looking for an agreement ask colleagues instead of the system
- Forwarded mails create copies nobody is responsible for tidying up
- In an audit, a mailbox is not evidence
- Important attachments sit in mailboxes even though an archive exists
What gets filed
The mail as a transaction record, not a snippet of text.
- The complete message including its attachments
- Optionally only selected attachments
- Subject, sender and date as identification
- Linked to the chosen SAP object
- Visible to everyone who opens the object in SAP
Finding the right object
The part that decides acceptance.
- Suggestions derived from the content of the message
- Search across the usual business objects
- Profiles determine which object types are offered at all
- Assignment still requires confirmation
- Several SAP systems through separate profiles
Operations and security
Where things live.
- A dedicated service between Outlook and SAP
- Operated in your own data centre or your cloud
- SAP credentials live in the service, not with the user
- Sign-in through your directory service, assignment controlled there
- Registration in your own tenant — we do not become an intermediary
Platform boundaries
Stated honestly up front, not after purchase.
- Exchange Online and Outlook.com are supported
- On-premises Exchange servers are not — the required interfaces are missing there
- Mailboxes over IMAP or POP do not support Outlook add-ins at all
- Very old Outlook versions are out of scope
- For those cases: Office integration
Related routes
The same idea in other places.
- Gmail variant for Google Workspace
- SharePoint add-in for files from a library
- Filing straight from Windows Explorer
- All routes file to the same place
- More depth: scannen-und-archivieren.de
Frequently asked questions
Does the add-in work with our on-premises Exchange server?
No. Outlook add-ins negotiate their capabilities between client and server, and on-premises Exchange servers stay below the level required to read a message in full. Mailboxes connected over IMAP or POP do not support Outlook add-ins at all. Exchange Online or Outlook.com is the prerequisite. For on-premises environments the classic Office integration remains the right route.
Does anything have to be installed at the workplace?
No. The add-in is provisioned centrally and then appears in every Outlook variant of the same mailbox — browser, new Outlook for Windows and mobile. Updates reach all users at once; no software distribution is needed.
Does anything have to be developed in SAP?
No. Filing uses a released SAP standard service. What has to be set up is the communication scenario or service activation and the authorisations. A custom program in the core system is not required.
Where do the SAP credentials live?
In the service that sits between Outlook and SAP — not in the browser and not in the add-in. You operate that service yourself, in your own data centre or your cloud. The application registration in your directory service belongs in your own tenant too, so that we do not become an intermediary for your data.
Are attachments filed as well?
Yes. By default the complete message including its attachments travels to the SAP object. Where only a single document is needed — the order confirmation out of a long conversation, say — individual attachments can be filed instead.
Is there a Gmail version?
Yes, as a separate variant for Google Workspace with the same service behind it. The interface follows Google’s design rules, the filing in SAP is identical. See Gmail add-on.
Does this match your project?
Talk directly to our consultants — no detours.