A couple of months back, I started a bit of a blogging journey with this post.  As I could have predicted at the time, it has taken me much longer to find space in my schedule to carry on with the initiative and get the next part published but here it, finally, is...

What is Mobile?

The question of just what is mobile crops up a lot.  In recent years, arguably due to the revolution kick-started by the iPhone, mobile has become a bigger than ever focus for both enterprise and consumers alike. Many would argue the consumerisation of IT has been driven in the main part by the massive uptake of personal smart mobile devices.  I would add that mobile, as a vague definition, appears to be driving more uptake of IT solutions in areas of organisations that before wouldn’t have considered IT based solutions for their day-to-day challenges.  But does simply having an app in the app store qualify as mobile?  I’m not so sure…

How long is a piece of string?

Trying to define what mobile is can lead to numerous differing answers (some mostly-right, some mostly-wrong, all mostly-valid.)  Getting a global consensus and agreement on any definition is probably akin to herding cats.  As with many subjects, it comes down to perspective, context and opinion. So, I thought I’d share mine here in this blog post (you can decide for yourselves if it is mostly-right or wrong.)

Evolution vs. revolution

Some time ago, not long before SAP acquired Sybase, I had the pleasure of doing some internal work at Atos with some of the Sybase technical and pre-sales team.  One of their guys, who had been in the industry for a long time, had an interesting take on where Sybase had come from with their definition of mobile.  His view was that their unwired platform and approach to on/off-line, synchronisation and data management was equally applicable to someone sat at a desktop in an office connected to a LAN, as it was for someone out on the road using an iPhone via 3G or similar.  The channel of access was almost superfluous to the design.  It was a perspective that largely passed me by for some time…

With hindsight, I now have more of an affinity with where he was coming from.  I was blinkered to a single and specific definition of what mobile means and how it can be implemented.  I think many in the industry and beyond still share this relatively blinkered definition of just what mobile is.  To some extent, we've been brainwashed by the power of Apple's very clever marketing strategy and now, if you ask Joe Bloggs on the street for their definition of mobile, “app's on an iPhone” would probably feature pretty highly (if you are lucky, you may get an Android proponent but still pretty similar answers.)

There are two sides to this – the first as already mentioned is testament to the ability of Apple’s very clever approach to marketing, branding and sticking to their own message.  The other side of this brings me back to the consumerisation of IT.  Not too long ago a smart phone was something that could take photographs as well as calls and texts – these days the functionality has moved on in leaps and bounds and the current smart phones are essentially mini super-computers, with a whole host of other hardware & features bolted on.  They have become an embedded part of daily life for so many (although its important to say, not for all) and in many cultures & countries are now all-pervading.  Although having said that, do many people do much more than call, text and take selfies?!

Mobile First…

In the web design/development world, mobile first and responsive design are big things.  Following the explosion of smart phones and subsequently tablets, effort to make web-apps and websites responsive in their design and build appears paramount to the process of releasing new content and solutions. I have been doing SAP development for a good few years and I have to ask what is new about this?  Ensuring the design and functionality of any page/application works on various screen sizes & resolutions is not anything new – it has always been a pain!  Just search on SCN for questions in the ABAP forums relating to table controls and dynpro programming for example and you will see it isn’t just web that has suffered with this. Ultimately, fitting the solution onto a screen is a problem that is as old as the first UI.

I actually find the whole mobile first approach a bit odd.  It’s almost like positive discrimination in the technology world.  I kind of file it into the same bin as “Big Data” and “Cloud”. (And yes, I’m making the sarcastic speechmarks in the air as I type this.)  We seem to work in an industry that is very, very good at re-inventing the wheel and giving it a shiney new 2.0 name – worse still most of us are very, very good at falling for it.   This is by no means a criticism – it is in part what keeps many of us in work, doing jobs that we find challenging, interesting & rewarding and working with customers who share the same ethos.

… What about Solution first?

I would argue there should only be one real approach to building stuff – solution first.  That is to say, all that matters is that the solution works for the customer(s)/user(s) and deploys the correct technology/design approach/build methodology as is appropriate.  I suspect the Design Thinking approach probably helps you focus on this solution first mentality.  Stating an application must be mobile first just feels like you are excluding a whole range of possibilities before you have even started.  Just as starting with a desktop only solution probably means you'll have extra work to do at a later date if/when you do go mobile.  This is of course where the responsive approach comes in but it is so often directly associated with mobile first, they are in danger of becoming one and the same entity.

Search via Google for mobile first and you will find countless resources, opinions (hopefully this will soon be one of them) and competing perspectives.  So many articles claiming mobile first is right or mobile first is wrong. I just cannot help feeling the war is being fought at the wrong level – mobile vs desktop is just too specific a decision.  Why should the solution need to pick and choose between these channels?  Why should the solution care?

I’d thought of the term “Solution First” a few times prior to penning this post but again, a Google search will show you I’m not alone and I am certainly no pioneer.  Many other posts and articles follow a similar train of thought to me, suggesting that all that matters is the focus on the solution.  If that solution has mobile elements and desktop elements then so be it.  If the development effort is streamlined and/or the UX improved by using a responsive approach, even better.

I would argue the only thing that matters is how your average user interacts with the solution – the user experience.  Let’s take Facebook as an example – do we really think the average Facebook user is sat using their iFondleSlab commenting on the wonderful, responsive design?  How easy it is for them to see the same content on their company desktop machine when their boss isn’t looking?  Are they even aware that a bunch of hipster- developers somewhere are getting all hot and bothered over their cool new responsive build that seamlessly flows whether on a 7” tablet or a 60” plasma?  In short, the answer is mostly a resounding “no!”

A Rudimentary Mobile Solution

Let me give you an example of my earliest experience with a “mobile solution”…  After I finished education one of my first jobs was working for The Benefits Agency as an Admin Assistant, supporting the Adjudication Officers (AO’s) in their reviews, meetings and decisions with customers.  In reality, this was even less glamorous and interesting than it probably sounds – it was 18months of mind-numbing boredom and saw me running around like the proverbial.  Anyway…

For a while, one of my key tasks each day was to handle file retrieval and storage.  Now when I say file, I mean a proper card file full of bits of paper and documentation for each customer – these were all stored in a massive floor to ceiling filing system that ran the entire length of the office I was based in.  There were lots of files.  Even though much of the data was stored on a central computer system, back then there was still a massive dependency upon manually completed paper based forms and very few, if any, were transposed into digital format in any manner (I wonder if that situation has changed over the years much?)  The AO’s needed the customer files so they could review the content before, during and after meetings and review decisions.

So, each day the AO’s would have a diary full of appointments, a requisition list for transferring customers to offices in other areas (typically in the case of house moves) and a slow stream of incoming files that we had requested from elsewhere. In short, there was a constant flow of files moving all over the place.  I’d manually move files from desk to shelf, shelf to desk, desk to mailbox, over and over and over again.  Did I mention it was mind-numbing and I was like a blue-arsed fly?

Let’s fast forward to a typical modern day salesman type role, using a Sybase/SAP mobile solution and see how it roughly compares to my old role in the BA:

Ok, I realise this is a somewhat contrived (and very boring) example but I’m hoping it is becoming a bit clearer where I’m going with this.  You could argue (maybe not very convincingly) that I was the mobile solution.  I was the one taking data from a source and presenting it to a user.  Technology in both hardware and software senses has enabled much more complex and advanced versions of this solution but the underlying requirements haven’t really changed that much.

Another, more modern, example of what I consider to be a truly mobile solution is how Google Chrome sync's my bookmarks, user data, history, etc. across all devices I use.  I don't know how I used to work without this feature on my laptops, desktops and mobile devices.  You will note I class this as a mobile solution, even if I only use it on my desktop or laptop devices.

My definition?

It's been a slightly meandering journey to this point.  Hopefully you are still awake, interested and reading.  After everything I've said above, just what do I define as mobile?  Well, for me the key isn't the device, it isn't the app, it isn't the fact that you are doing something on the 07:05 out of London Euston.  It is all about delivering data and/or functions to a target, whether that is a human or system, irrespective of where the source is and where the target is.  Whilst doing my best impression of a bluebottle at The Benefits Agency, I was enabling a mobile solution for the AO's and their customers; the early Sybase CRM Sales solution was enabling mobile working for sales forces and their customers in a similar manner.  The aims of mobilising were the same but the method of delivery had evolved.

We've probably all seen the articles and posts flying around places like LinkedIn of late, stating B2B and B2C are being replaced by H2H (Human to Human.)  Well, I think what we are moving towards is of a higher level of abstraction.  I think P2C (Provider to Consumer) is the true aim of any solution.  It doesn't matter what, where or how but we live in an age where all manner of devices, systems and people are accessing data and functions.  Mobility is still defined as a special situation, over and above the de facto features of any solution.  I don't think it will be long before mobile, responsive, H2H, etc. are terms confined to history as we simplify our approach to building solutions back down to a P2C approach and these specialist features are just accepted as the standard.

And for those who are getting twitches and cold sweats, I'm not talking about SOA 2.0 - nothing that heavyweight or complex.  A P2C, solution first approach should probably be based on lightweight, flexible protocols and development methodologies.  I'm sure we can all think of some current, appropriate SAP technologies that logically fit into this camp, nevermind candidates in the wider IT industry.  I don't believe we need to search for any new technology to deliver this, we typically have almost all of what we need at our disposal right now.  I do think we need a bit of a mindset change, some refining rather than rebuilding though.  I already see this happening in the SAP world and assume it is on-going in the wider industry.

What is mobile?  It is the deployment of solution first, P2C enabled technology that goes where it is needed most.

Background:

Old launch"page" was released with initial 25 SAP Fiori apps in May 2013.

New Launch"pad" was released with 190+ apps in Nov. 2013.

Old launchpage is valid for customers who went live in 2013.

Customers who are going to live in 2014 should use New SAP Fiori Launchpad with new UI add-on components which have UI extension points.

• SAP Fiori - Launchpad
• SAP Fiori - Extensibility

URL:

Launchpad:

http://<host>.<domain>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/ushell/shells/abap/FioriLaunchpad.html?sap-client=<client>&sap-language=EN

Launchpad Designer:

http://<host>.<domain>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/arsrvc_upb_admn/main.html?sap-client=<client>?scope=CUST

Do not use old launchpage.

Launchpage:

http://<host>.<domain>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/launchpage/home.html?sap-client=<client>

Launchpage Admin:

http://<host>.<domain>:<port>/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/launchpage/admin/admin.html?sap-client=<client>&sap-language=EN

Install new UI add-on components for new SAP Fiori Launchpad

• SAP Fiori - Installation

http://service.sap.com/swdc

Install and Upgrades/Software Packages and Patches -> A-Z Index -> F -> SAP Fiori -> SAP Fiori for Suite

If it is not visible with your user ID, you should submit the request form. All customers can download software after requested.

Do not install old UISRA* UI add-on components because those do not have UI extension points.

Nearly 50% of organizations will invest in mobile apps, devices and mobile device management solutions over the next 12 -- 18 months but not all have a mobile strategy in place to ensure successful deployments of these projects. Yikes! After reading these statistics, I started a search for some answers and found insights from a mobile leader at Mobile World Congress 2014.

At MWC this year, I had the opportunity to interview Dirk Boessman, Senior Vice President of Mobile Development about how to take on mobile projects with a sounds strategy for success. In our seven minute chat, Dirk outlined how his team is developing mobile solutions to not only address but simplify the SAP Mobile solution set to meet and exceed customer needs around mobile security and mobile application development and deployment. He shared his thoughts on how enterprise organizations can balance the opportunities of new mobile devices and technology with their complexities.

Furthermore, Dirk made interesting comments about the benefits of using mobile technologies that are open and industry standard to achieve simplification. For example, he outlined how using OData with SAP Mobile Platform aligns with leading innovative solutions like SAP HANA. He spoke specifically to the announcement of SAP Mobile Platform 3.0 and how this release aligns with both SAP and market requirements for mobile app development such as HTTP, OData, and support for Bring Your Own Tools (BYOT). Dirk also used the example of SAP Kapsel,  a suite of SAP developed plugins that make Cordova enterprise-grade and allows it to more seamlessly integrate with the SAP Mobile Platform Server, and it's alignment with UI technology that is HTML5-based and the foundation for the SAP Fiori UX paradigm.

Watch the full interview to learn about the one technology stack that will support and simplify investments in all mobile projects for ultimate success:

1. What is "Analyze Sentiment" Fiori application?

SAP Fiori application “Analyze Sentiment” allows the user to identify the change in Net Sentiment for a specific topic of interest during a specific period.

2. What are the scenarios / roles supported by the application?

The idea for the application started with the focus on 2 key roles –

• Sales Representative –to identify sentiment expressed in the social media about a customer or prospective customer
• Product Manager –to identify the emotions people express about a product, brand or competitor. An interesting use case is the Demand Signal Management (DSiM) scenario where the demand for a product in a certain geographic location can be forecasted based on the sentiment data from that location.

The design of the application allows it to be used for any role or any scenario. Some sample scenarios/roles which we identified during our demos and discussions are as follows –

• Strategic Purchaser – to use the sentiment information about suppliers as one of the inputs for qualifying them
• Hiring Manager – to identify the perception about prospective employees

3. How does the application look like?

We have a speed demo which will allow you to click through the application. It can be accessed using the link http://demo.tdc.sap.com/SpeedDemo/01d144efaf9cb208 or you can scan the QR code to launch directly on iPad.

All Agentry iOS users,

As a proactive effort by SAP to make it known to our beloved customers, we are adding important notes on an issue and the available fix for Agentry. We thank all customers who have forwarded this issue to us for us to take action on it.

Symptoms:

If you are using Apple pushes for your iOS devices and you started your Agentry server and have this error below then this message is for you.

~~~~~~~~~error~~~~~~~~~~~~~

error:14094415:SSL routines:SSL3_READ_BYTES:sslv3 alert certificate expired, ..\Socket\openSSLsockets.cpp#896:OpenSSLstreamSocket::SSLStreamSocket::checkSSLerror

~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resolution:

The resolution, detail of the fix and cause of the problem is fully documented (fix certificates to download or what patch to use) in the KBA (Knowledge Base Article) below.

KBA 1992797 (The user may need to log in to their SAP account to access the link).

Regards,

Mark Pe

SAP Senior Support Engineer

Together with its ecosystem, SAP has diversified its PartnerEdge for Application Development program. To get more information about the evolution of this program, I interviewed Thorsten Leiduck, Vice President of Platform Ecosystems and eChannels, SAP to learn more.

In his interview, Thorsten outlined the PartnerEdge for Application Development Program objectives and 2014 updates. I learned that the program is offered to anyone who is interested in developing applications on SAP's Platform technologies like SAP HANA, SAP HANA Cloud or SAP Mobile Platform to name a few. Furthermore, the PartnerEdge for Application Development teams work directly with developers and partners to support application projects from download of free SAP technology to certification to ensure quality before release to market, and specifically SAP Store where 230,000 SAP Customers are actively searching for innovative apps. Watch the interview to hear the entire story.

The most exciting part of this chat was when Thorsten announced the SAP 2014 Application Challenge series, He explained that once again, SAP is looking for the most innovative applications from our ecosystem that will deliver the highest value to our customers' businesses and showcase the best use of SAP technology.

The SAP 2014 Application Challenge series includes the following opportunities:

• SAP and Google Application Challenge
• SAP PartnerEdge for Application Development Challenge for SAP HANA
• SAP PartnerEdge for Application Development Challenge for Cloud
• SAP PartnerEdge for Application Development Challenge for Mobile

All partners are invited to develop and publish their Big Data/HANA, Cloud, Mobile or integrated Google enterprise application on the SAP Store for a chance to win BIG!

How to join and be part of the game?

• Register today and submit your application idea to one or more SAP Application Challenge
• Become an SAP Partner- or Explorer-Member now to receive program benefits
• Publish your app/application on the SAP Store

All winning partners will receive valuable go to market support for their application via the SAP Store and more.

Visit the Application Development Partner Center to learn more about the 2014 SAP PartnerEdge for Application Development Challenges including timelines and additional benefits.

Best of luck to all, looking forward to seeing your innovative apps this year!

Mobile technology is starting to make an impact in a number of industries, including the public sector, utilities, mining, and more. A recent SAP (my employer) deployment with the New Zealand Department of Conservation (the first in the country) caught my attention because it has a foot in two worlds, functioning both a government agency and an asset-intensive business.

As an asset-intensive business, Department of Conservation (DOC) inspects and maintains tens of thousands of assets including fences, buildings, trails, campsites, restroom facilities, and much more, all around the country. It’s responsible for keeping parks and recreation areas safe, accessible, and habitable for both people and wildlife. As a government agency, DOC must collect massive amounts of data and report to Parliament.

That’s why SAP Work Manager, a field service safety and productivity tool, is such a great fit for the DOC. In the field, park rangers use the app on their mobile devices to access work orders and asset history, collect data (such as snapping a pic of an asset in need of repair), track their time performing tasks, and more. They can go in and out of network coverage, and the app saves all their info until they’re in range, and then sends it back to the home office.

On the office side, the agency can send and receive work orders and notifications to and from all the mobile park rangers and inspectors. It’s also now receiving high-quality data from the field in real-time, which then gets incorporated in the DOC’s backend portfolio of SAP applications (financial management, fixed asset management, and plant management modules), where the agency can access it for reporting and making better-informed decisions every day.

There are so many organisations out there still using laptops—even clipboards and paper—to manage their data-intensive field service processes. The improvements in safety, cost, and productivity are so big with mobile that I expect the conversion to mobile to be like a chain of dominoes over the next five years.

Watch the video here. Read the press release here.

We’re only 4 weeks removed from the 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony. Unfortunately, this means that I’m 3 years and 48 weeks away from getting my next fix of short track speed skating. Aside from awkwardly sliding around the hardwood floors in my socks, I’ve been turning to unlikely places to inject that excitement back into my daily routine.

While they didn’t necessarily have the same razor thin margins of victory, and they were relatively devoid of dangerous maneuvers, Loyalty 360 offered up its inaugural awards earlier this week. To loyalty and marketing professionals, this was their Olympic games. It was a chance to get recognized by 24 industry experts that applied a score of 1-10 based on how well the brand performed against a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria. [Feel free to insert your favorite Olympic figure skating judging joke here.] The Loyalty 360 scoring, however, was on the up-and-up - an objective and unbiased ranking of loyalty leaders.

Unlike with Eddie the Eagle, or the Jamaican bobsled team, this time the underdog walked away a winner. Although there wasn’t an actual medal podium, I am very proud that SAP customer Société de transport de Montreal (STM) picked up hardware in the following two categories:

• GOLD for Customer Experience & Engagement
• SILVER for Use of Technology in Loyalty Marketing

STM was an underdog, because it's a government organization that was competing against many well respected consumer brands. Plus, it’s typically a challenge to find any government organization delivers a superior customer experience, or is a leader when it comes to using technology in marketing. However STM - North America’s 4th largest public transit organization - has a secret weapon on its team, its CMO, Pierre Bourbonniére, who spent decades running Air Canada’s loyalty program. When Pierre was faced with the challenge of increasing ridership 40 percent by 2020, he knew that the team would need to enhance STM’s brand image and engage with riders in order to:

• Provide a better user experience based on increased information and greater value
• Shift ridership to off-peak hours (daytime, evening, weekend)
• Increase the frequency of public transit use

Click here to find out more about STM, and how it co-innovated with SAP to create STM Merci, its award winning mobile app that leverages the latest innovations in big data, analytics and mobile to deliver precision marketing. In real-time, STM is now able to analyze its 1.3 million daily riders' situational context (who, where, when, what), and preferences, along with their interests in order to deliver them highly personalized and relevant offers and recommendations in the moment.

While Pierre and team truly relish the accolades from Loyalty 360, and others, their primary desire is to deliver the best possible experience to the riders. Therefore, they were ecstatic to become the #1 app on Apple’s Canadian App Store under the lifestyle category within 2 days of launching. Equally as important – this has proven to be a powerful tool that enables STM to successfully reach the riders and affect their behavior in a way that puts STM on a path to achieve its aggressive growth targets. In fact, 24 percent of Merci members have increased their usage of public transit since using the app and 57 percent have used public transit to discover new shopping and event related destinations throughout Montréal. There’s also a viral component, as 47 percent have taken a friend along for the ride (pun intended), sparked by the offers they receive from STM Merci.

Congratulations to Team STM! We look forward to your continued innovation. In the meantime, I’ll be working on my Apolo Ohno form - speed skating throughout my house.

Most of us, who have been working on Fiori Wave 1, have been using the Fiori Launch Page to access various apps. With the launch of Fiori wave 2 and all the new apps, SAP has also come up with “Fiori Launchpad”. It’s the new entry point to all your Fiori apps.

If you have started configuring the wave 2 apps, it’s time for you to get yourself acquainted with the Launchpad. While the wave 2 apps are accessible by Launchpad, the wave 1 apps can also be added to the Launchpad.So if you are wondering why your wave 2 apps are not visible on the launch page , in-spite of all the configuration and roles being in place, here is the answer.

The question is what was the need for Fiori Launchpad?  Well, Fiori has been evolving since the day it was launched. We have recently got the set of new apps with Wave 2.  One of the main ideas behind Fiori is to provide a simple and user friendly User interface. While Wave 1 made the apps look appealing to the user, Wave 2 brings the UI a step forward.

The Launchpad still has the original tiles feature in it. What it enhances is the level of Personalization.

It allows you to create catalogs and groups for your homepage

Groups:  Are predefined application categorized together. We can enter different tiles to a group from a catalog. These groups can be assigned to PFCG roles,                these roles are in turn assigned to users.

Catalog: It defines the set of all tiles that users can use to personalize the home page.

The apps need to be configured and we need to add valid roles and registered correctly in transaction LPD_CUST entries on the gateway system.

Launchpad Designer

Launchpad Designer can be used to configure your catalogs and groups from the front end. And can be launched in a number of  browsers.

Advantages of using Launchpad:

Here are a few advantages of using the Fiori Launchpad. As we explore more we can add to the list.

• Search feature.
• Single sign on.
• Information at single place.
• Real time information
• Enables forecasting
• Personalized interface
• More interactive

Following 2 videos would help you to get an understanding of what Launchpad has in store for you. As it goes beyond Fiori, an introduction to SAP smart Business cockpits.

SAP smart Business Cockpits

SAP Smart Business for Sales Order.

All the required documentation is available at:

SAP Launchpad Help.

Launchpad

For years, car insurers have figured premiums based on driving records, age, gender, marital status, where you live, and other factors. It’s a law of averages, both fair and not fair. Good drivers probably end up paying more than their due over their lifetimes. Accident-prone drivers probably end up paying less.

It could be all about to change.

Now, thanks to a partnership between SAP Canada, Baseline Telematics, and Industrial Alliance called Mobiliz, auto insurance companies in several Canadian provinces have the ability to determine premiums based on how their customers actually drive.

Here’s how it works. You put a chip—a small wireless device—in your car. The chip measures speed, acceleration, braking, and total distance travelled each month. If you drive safely, you’ll see your premium go down. If you drive like a proverbial bat out of hell, your premium goes up. Each month, you pay according to your performance during the previous one, and can improve your driving skills to lower your bill for the next.

SAP (my employer) provides the big data capabilities that make it possible to collect, manage, and analyse the massive amount of information the chips send in real-time.

This is just another way that mobility, and specifically machine-to-machine technology, is transforming an industry from the back office. And the insurance industry no less, which is traditionally very conservative, often even more so than banking.

Isn’t there some natural law about the most effective way to change people’s behaviour is by hitting them in the pocketbook? One of the hopes of the program is that the real-time feedback will help drivers, particularly young drivers, adopt safer driving habits on a large scale, which will result in fewer accidents overall.

Hello All,

Today, I read an interesting article: The mobile web is dead, long live the app | ZDNet . Another catchy title and another obituary ( on the lines of 'Web Dynpro Java is Dead.' ). But, does it any have meat or is it all fluff?

The most compelling argument supporting the title was 'User Experience on web can never match app experience'. So, has it boiled down to just about the user experience? What about the data security, consistency and various other aspects of the solution? Are we giving too much importance to UX than the user demand?

Short digression:

As a user, UX is the driving force in adoption of any solution. In the current IT space, if an application/web site is not easy to use the users may never use it however secure it may be. So, UX is mandatory but its not everything. One of the aspect critical to the survival of the solution is its agility or the ability to change with minimal disruption. SAP calls it innovation without disruption. We shall discuss more about innovation without disruption is another blog in a different space.

WE are back:

If the tech evalengelists profess the death of mobile web then why are we bothered about the web applications accessed on mobile? OPEN UI5 and SAP fiori are being projected by SAP as one solution for all devices- desktop, laptop and mobile devices. Considreing the trend of decresing usage of web applications on mobile device then it impacts the single development model for all devices. We could still retain two separate teams, one for destop/laptop devices and one for mobile apps. More than the teams, we must have separate strategy for solutions on mobile. One solution fits all has been a good marketing mantra but rarely does it fulfill the user requirement. Hence, for a better user adoption, we must have specific targetted development model.

AS a default, we should have a specific set of people/team which should address the UX on mobile. The same solution may have to be developed as an App. Most news sites have their own native apps to ensure UX is not compromised. As an enterprise, it may be impractical to invest heavily into native apps along with desktop apps but the gap can be bridged by making use of apps which work across platforms. Wait a minute. Did we return to mobile web? Did we suggest indirectly that apps which run on open standards supported across platforms ex: browser, as the way forward?

IN my opinion, mobile web is the need of the hour. What is also true is we cannot have one screen developed for all device types. So, one solution fits all may be theoretically true but not practical to the users. We have to adopt out screens accoding to devices. the look and feel and the UX should be adapted according to the device types.

Well, after my confused, convoluted blog, I would end the blog sort of abruptly. There is evolution in this space and its bringing not just more clarity but also different perspectives. We need to observe it more before diving deep into it. lets keep the cards close to our chest before coming up with the next prediction.

Thank you all for bearing with me

Regards,

Sharath

SAP Support tries to be proactive in giving resolutions out to the customer to be readily available before the need arises.

Based on some internal installation of SAP Work Manager 6.0 (released on SMP 2.3) the following KBA articles will help users deploy and troubleshoot attach document successfully.

1. Issues with different language setup (Unicode issue): See KBA # 1996686.
2. Issues where the document (ex: GOS) is not downloading to the PDA (Port conflict issues): See KBA # 1996731.

As SAP users, you may need to logon to your SAP account to access the KBA articles. You may opt to bookmark this article for future reference.

We will add more to this list as we go.

Regards,

Mark Pe

SAP Senior Support Engineer

The 4th Industrial Revolution is upon us where everything in manufacturing is smart and cyber technology is helping us be more productive and efficient.  Processes are becoming decentralized and systems are more intelligent while still feeding information back to a centralized environment.  We all ask our ourselves how do we gain that edge in this new age.

Well I'm excited to be attending SAP Manufacturing Industry Forum 2014 (April 15 & 16) in three weeks where we come together from across the globe to learn, network and share challenges and solutions.  Here is what I hope to get out of the event.

1. Drive Competitive Differentiation and Growth – We live in a world of rapid change. Manufacturing companies must embrace new disruptive technologies like mobile, cloud, big data computing, and 3D visualization to drive new revenue streams and competitive differentiation. Expert workshops will cover best practices that leverage these technologies to achieve these goals.  Mobile including Syclo apps will be a big part of the discussion.

2. Customer Success Stories – Hear actual users discuss their manufacturing best practices, upgrade experiences, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and much more! Learn what others have done right as well as what they’ve done wrong and become inspired for your own initiatives.

3. Peer-to-Peer Networking Opportunities – Connecting with fellow SAP customers and partners has tremendous value for all.  Attendees can share ideas, challenges, and solutions between sessions, at breakfast and lunch, and/or during planned networking events.

You can learn more about the event at http://global.sap.com/campaign/na/usa/CRM-XU14-IMC-MFCVNHPE/index.html

See you in Chicago.

In the wake of the World Retail Congress Asia Pacific that just took place here in Singapore this week, I thought I’d dedicate a post to how mobile is improving the shopping experience.

I covered the results of SAP’s Global Mobile Consumer survey last fall, which told us that:

·       32% of consumers surveyed have purchased products via their mobile in the last 12 months

·       82% are interested in buying goods and services through their mobiles in the future

·       80% agree that organisations should use any available technology to make life easier for their customers.

Retailers are taking notice, and offering more services via mobile. One example is a customer of ours Loblaws, a Canadian supermarket chain, which last year launched its PC Plus mobile app. (President’s Choice, or PC, is Loblaw’s premium, private-label house brand. PC Plus is the name of the Loblaws loyalty program.)

The mobile app keeps track of what you buy, and then sends offers for those items. When you buy the items, you earn points that you can redeem to save on your grocery bill. The app also includes a shopping list, recipes and a meal planner that all integrate with each other. The app uses data about what you buy and what’s on offer that week to suggest recipes you might like. You can add any you like to your meal planner and send a list of ingredients to the shopping list—and you’re on your way. Here’s the YouTube channel with videos to explain.

When retailers first realized that shoppers were using their mobiles in-store to compare prices and get a look at items they later bought online for less, they cried foul. Now it seems like they’re getting smart: mobile isn’t only a channel from your customers can use to access the Internet, it’s a channel you can use to access them, and provide more value than your online competitors.

Hi All,

One of the important step in Fiori configuration is to implement all the notes mentioned by SAP.

If you miss out on one, its a difficult task to identify the real cause of error.

Here's a comprehensive list of SAP notes that are required to get your CRM Fiori Apps running.

Feel free to mention any notes you had to implement to correct some coding issues and have not been included here.

Regards

Meghna

I’m excited to be presenting a seminar in April on the topic of mobile security. While I’ve been working on this topic for the better part of 7 years, I rarely get a chance to present on my home turf to fellow Canadians. If you are based in the greater Toronto area, I would like to personally invite you to join me for a seminar on April 16th to learn strategies to secure your mobile enterprise.

If you’re following this blog you probably recognize that enterprise mobility is essential to the success of most businesses. But without the proper security measures in place, many enterprises risk data leakage, malware infections, and data loss. The question to as is: Is your enterprise protected?

The premise for this seminar is that that security is NOT something that you want to risk doing wrong! I’m excited to be joined by two fantastic partners; Rogers Communications (who has partnered with SAP to provide cloud based mobile security solutions) and Mocana (who specialize in mobile application security - or app wrapping). Together we’re uniting forces and bringing our best security experts to this event. We’ll discuss and evaluate available alternatives to secure your mobile enterprise and dive deeply into advanced security techniques.

You’ll learn about mobile security solutions that will:

• Secure applications and data across all managed and unmanaged devices
• Comply with strict industry requirements
• Decrease liability from exposure to corporate data breaches
• Secure applications without using mobile device management (MDM) in scenarios where MDM is not feasible (e.g. legal requirements, bring your own device, contractors)

SAP’s mobile security solutions enable you to secure devices, apps, and content – protecting you well beyond simple MDM. You can register today to attend our April 16 seminar or if you’re not local, you can check out our solutions anytime at sap.com/mobile/EMM.

I look forward to seeing you in Toronto!

Scheduling Agreement application using Standard Fiori Approve Purchase Contract Application

As we know that Scheduling agreement and Purchase contract only differs in agreement type which is a input field. Though it differs in transaction as well; #ME31K for Contract and #ME31L for Scheduling agreement. Rest every details are same. But for approval apps in Fiori , what we have seen is workflow details are picked up from the  work item shown in SAP inbox. So why don’t we use the Purchase contract application and just change the Scenario definition and UI changes.

Here below are the steps :

Step 1 : Duplicate Purchase contract tile from the admin page of Fiori

http://xyz.com/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/ui2/launchpage/admin/admin.html

• Click on Edit and then create , you will get this screen :

Give:

• Title: Scheduling agreement approval
• ID: Z_SERVICE_SA

• Save it.

• Now click on the catalog from the left and edit tile details.

Change following details in Tile details:

• Title: Approve Scheduling Agreement

• Service URL: /sap/opu/odata/iwpgw/taskprocessing;mo/ScenarioCollection/?$filter=key eq ‘Z_SERVICE_SA’

• Here ‘Z_SERVICE_SA’ is the catalog id, which you have to use in Scenario definition as Scenario Identifier.

• Target URL: /sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/z_ui5_sa_apv/index.html?backToHome=true

• Here z_ui5_sa_apv is the copy of UI service for Purchase contract ui5_mm_pc_apv, which you have changed and uploaded back using ABAP repository_load program.

• Uncheck “Use Launchpad” checkbox.

• Now that we have one separate tile for Approve Scheduling agreement, create a role and assign catalog id.

• Go to PFCG and create a Z role: say Z_SAG

Assign role template: /IWBEP/RT_MGW_USR

• Make sure you give full access and Authorization and User comparison is done.
• Provide Username who will be accessing it, and do the user comparison.

Assign consumer type: TABLET

Assign Roles to consumer: Z_SAG (As created in PFCG in previous step)

Task Definition: TS20000169 (Task id for Scheduling agreement)

System alias: LOCAL (PGW)

Backend Testing:

Make sure release strategy is properly configured and you are able to get the workitem in sap inbox. By this I mean, create a scheduling agreement from employee id and manager should be able to check the request in his inbox.

Once the request is received in backend, this means your standard workflow is working fine.

UI Changes:

1. Download the code for ui5_mm_pc_apv and make a copy of the code in eclipse.
2. Change the text labels of UI. Wherever you see Purchase contract, change it to Scheduling agreement, which you are seeing in header details, popup for decision and Item level.
3. Now upload it using repository_ load program and save it as Z name : z_ui5_sa_apv
4. Open BSP application in SE80.
5. Give z_ui5_sa_apv
6. In Component.js code , replace sScenario : ”PC_APPROVAL” to  sScenario : ”Z_SERVICE_SA”
7. Save and activate.

Now open your Fiori application :

http://test.com/sap/bc/ui5_ui5/sap/z_ui5_sa_apv/index.html

You should get tile in your launchpage or app specific link :

You can see all the workitems from your backend and Approve Scheduling agreement should work fine.

There you go, you have one more standard Fiori app

Please let me know for any other details.

Please note : Above setup is done only for running standard Scheduling agreement app, if in futire requirement comes up for enhancing Scheduling agreement application from Gateway front, then copy the SEGW project of Purchase contract and create a Z service. So SRA001_PCAPPROVAL will change to Z technical service and then go on enhancing it and class name will also change.

-Tejas Chouhan

Hi there. My name is Mariah Perry, and I am an intern on SAP’s Global Product Marketing Team. I am currently in my fourth year of university, studying English and Business with a specialization in Digital Arts Communication. I am pleased to be sharing my first – but not last – SCN blog with you.

I was born into a generation that quite literally had the Internet at their fingertips. Between sharing updates on social media to messaging friends, mobile has been part of my day-to-day life since I was old enough to own a cell phone. As someone hard-wired to share content on a mobile device, it was something that I did unconsciously and freely. However, until my internship at SAP I did not know much about enterprise mobility or mobile security. My internship has fostered an understanding of enterprises’ need to deliver safe and secure content on mobile devices, especially in a Bring Your Own Device world. Today, I would like to share the top three things I have learned while piecing together mobile security.

1. Be your own detective

In a workforce equipped for BYOD, do you know where your data is being used? According to Enterprise Mobility for Dummies, only 12% of employees have signed any kind of usage or security agreement with respect to personal devices in the workplace (1). That leaves 88% of the mobile workforce susceptible to how their data is being used. Why is this? Global VP of SAP Mobile Secure Senthil Krishnapillai explains that traditionally, people only associate security with devices. However, the expansion of BYOD now supports mobile app security and content security as well. One must be aware of – and adopt – all of these elements in order to stay on top of mobile security.

The other critical component of being your own detective is understanding where your data is coming from. Is it on premise or in cloud? The massive adoption of cloud cannot be ignored, especially in terms of mobile security. Krishnapillai articulates the benefit of providing security as a service in the cloud, stating that the lack of manual upgrades to existing infrastructure not only increases speed but makes the businesses more secure. For an enterprise, investigating the benefits of mobile security in the cloud is an extremely worthwhile task.

Watch the video with Senthil Krishnapillai now.

2. Don’t be afraid to adopt and evolve

During my time at SAP, I have learned change happens constantly – whether it is the coffee in the lunchroom or the latest technology trends, nothing it static. In such a fast-paced environment, the best advice I can give is: don’t be afraid to adopt and change. Mobile security illustrates this concept well. As I mentioned before, when a company thinks about security, they typically think of securing the mobile device, which is a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. However, for companies facing stricter industry security requirements, extra protection is required. Right now, there is a need for companies to further secure their applications.  Milja Gillespie, Director of Marketing for Mobile Secure, explains that mobile app protection, or app wrapping, can provide these capabilities. App wrapping is a great example of why it is important to grow and adapt. This solution opens new doors for enterprises and their customers. For example, enterprises can now deploy a secure application  on an unsecured device, particularly that of a customer or partner. With app wrapping, the future of security is full of possibilities. Since it became available 6 months ago, Gillespie says the solution has had “fantastic interest and uptake.” It seems they are taking my advice!

Watch the video with Milja Gillespie now.

3. Collaboration is Key

Fundamental to my role at SAP is collaboration. Every day, I collaborate on a global scale in order to complete my work. On any given project, I am sharing information and content with my team members spanning time zones and countries. Working in such an environment has taught me that employees need the ability to access personal and corporate content at any time. Matt Carrier, Senior Product Manager for Mobile Security, addresses the question at the heart of the mobile workforce: How do I collaborate within teams securely? The answer is simple: the right solution needs to be in place. The new version of SAP Mobile Documents allows teams to edit documents in a secure space, leading to increased productivity. A good product’s security must be virtually unnoticeable for employees to collaborate, which is what SAP Mobile Docs excels at. When pressed with a deadline, I do not have to worry about the security requirements before clicking send.

Watch the video with Matt Carrier now.

If you are interested in learning more about how mobile security can work for your enterprise, attend Milja Gillespie’s seminar in Toronto, Canada. Here are the details:

Mobile Security Seminar

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Registration: 8:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m.


Seminar: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

SAP Offices at 4120 Yonge St. Toronto, ON

Connected to TTC subway at York Mills station, paid parking available for $14/day

Register here.

1 Coad, Carolyn, Tom Badgett, and Corey Sandler. Enterprise Mobility for Dummies. 2 ed. Mississauga: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd., 2013.

Since the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook, just prior to the 2014 Mobile World Congress, there has been considerable press about Facebook and WhatsApp.  In the last few days, the latest headlines have been about how WhatsApp handled a record 64 billion messages in a 24 hour period.  That is a fantastic number and it represents magnificent growth.  I’m not trying to take away from this brilliant achievement, but I must point out that WhatsApp subscribers didn’t really generate 64 billion messages.

WhatsApp also noted that they recorded 20 billion inbound (originated) messages and 44 billion outbound (terminated) messages.  Simply stating that “WhatsApp handled 64 billion messages in a 24 hour period is misleading.” In fact, WhatsApp subscribers sent 20 billion distinct messages.  They are counting the message when it leaves the originator and then counting it again when it is received by one or more recipients.  That’s not the most accurate way of publicizing their messaging metrics and unfortunately; both the press and some analyst do not make this distinction.

How this industry counts messages is not the most standardized process; however, we should be counting distinct messages (with one originator and at least one recipient):

Today, there are approximately 22.5 billion SMS messages generated worldwide, on a daily basis.  This is based on SAP Mobile Services’ own traffic statistics, coupled with information from Portio Research and others.  Much has been said that WhatsApp alone greatly exceeds the daily SMS volumes.  Again, this is not completely true, although, they are knocking on the door.  As a group; however, OTTs (non-SMS interworking) do exceed the daily SMS rate.   I have calculated that OTT messages are between 35-45 billion messages per day – even if I only focus on the real number of distinct messages that are generated.

So, let’s talk about the differences in how subscribers interact with OTT messaging services vs. SMS for a moment.  First off, I should also acknowledge that these messaging style differences were brought to my attention from a Portio Research report that we reference.

One of the nice things about pure OTT messaging services is that many offer typing indicators along with delivery and/or read indicators.  Many even provide the concept of presence – that it, the availability status of the other party is displayed.  It is much more of an Instant Messaging type of exchange.  Therefore, each user will likely send many more messages to convey the same thoughts and ideas that would normally be sent in only one or two SMS messages.  The mindset of most senders of an SMS is that they’ll send the message and expect it will be read either now or in the future.  If the other party reads and responds quickly, then the exchange could take on a more IM-style characteristics.

The example below shows the differences between an OTT based conversation and an SMS conversation:

The OTT conversation shows 8 distinct messages (although WhatsApp might say that’s 16 messages! ) while the SMS-based conversation conveys the same ideas in 3 messages.  While this is a rather radical view, the concept is sound.  In reality while many SMS messages convey more in the initial messages of a conversation, most times, once both participants realize they are chatting in near-real-time, they conversation looks more “IM-like.”  Nevertheless, this illustrates how free OTT apps can easily generate more messages per conversations than SMS.

The key to accurate OTT messaging metrics as a measure of progress is a common statistic; however, it is also one that can easily be misunderstood.  That measure plus number of monthly active users (MAU) are both good indicators of the true reach and value of a messaging service.  Simply stating that a service has 100 million registered users, without an MAU metric is useless.  For example if 100 million users were registered, but only 20 million are MAU, then there is likely some problem with the app/service when 80% are not using the service on a monthly basis.  Interestingly, MNOs do not typically report MAU for certain services, but simply subscribers.  We then have to look to other metrics, sometimes painstakingly acquired by analyst firms, to ascertain more usable metrics regarding overall status of a service.  Accurate measurements of messaging and similar metrics in today’s global mobile ecosystem are important as it enables both potential users as well as enterprises to make accurate decisions about engaging with and using these new, innovative services.

Please follow me on Twitter: @wdudley2009

SAP has a long successful history in delivering solutions for technicians and maintenance workers to manage their work orders and time. These workers conduct physical labour and require the use of their hands to perform routine jobs. Mobile technology, such as mobile 1.0 apps, have been leveraged by these professionals to streamline processes however there are new technologies like wearables and specifically smart glasses that can integrated with enhanced mobile 1.0 deployments and free up hands to complete work more efficiently and effectively.

Sounds great, but let's look at a real example.

We were able to get a demo of this exact scenario. Arno Mielke, Director of Mobile Solutions and Innovations, SAP provides an overview of a concept application for integration of SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer into SAP Work Manager. The demo shows how maintenance and service technicians can enhance their performance with remote control, gesture control, augmented reality and wearables like smart watches (e.g. Samsung Gear) or glasses (e.g. Google or Vuzix).

But there's more (as always).

Manuel Saez, Director of SAP Mobile Innovation Centre teamed up with Olivier Mercier, Senior Developer for SAP Mobile Innovation Centre to dive deeper into the AR and Multimodal demo given by Arno. They give the specific behind the project, such as AR technology from Metaio, and SAP Software such SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer and talk about how this technology can be applied to any user, not just technicians and maintenance workers.

This is a seriously cool demo and video interview that I highly recommend that you watch if you are considering how to leverage AR and multimodal interaction in any project.

Enjoy!