Event-Driven Integration in 2026: Connecting Azure and SAP Without Heavy Middleware

In many enterprises, integration still means nightly batch jobs, CSV exports and brittle point-to-point connections. Meanwhile, the rest of the world expects near real-time updates, automated workflows and systems that talk to each other without human glue. In 2026, we finally have the tools to make this easier — especially in the Microsoft/Azure ecosystem. Event-driven integration is no longer a buzzword from conference talks; it’s a practical way to connect systems like SAP and Microsoft 365 without building another giant ESB. In this article, I’ll walk through a concrete, reproducible example: We assume an event happens in SAP (e.g. a sales order is created or changed). This event is exposed via a simple webhook or API proxy. Azure receives the event, routes it via Event Grid and triggers an Azure Function. The Function enriches the data and posts a message into a Microsoft Teams channel. This is obviously only one direction (SAP → Azure → M365), but the pattern generalises: once yo