Jon Reed is widely known in the SAP community. Not only as a SAP mentor, but also as an independent analyst, blogger, tweeter and creator of (lots of) podcasts covering different SAP areas, with special focus on SAP trends and SAP careers. In 2010, Jon Reed embraced another new project, as Editor in Chief of The ERP Executive – Panaya’s Magazine for SAP Managers. Recently, Jon and partner-in-video-crime Dennis Howlett launched JD-OD.com – a video commentary web site for the on-demand enterprise. Jon is also an Enterprise Irregular (more on Jon Reed’s full profile).

As SAPLAB.org owner and blogger, I take this opportunity to thank Jon Reed for his availability to answer some questions and contribute, yet again, with rich content for the SAP community.

SAPLAB: Jon, it seems that you’re a natural entrepreneur and that your scope within the SAP world never stops growing. How did this all start?

JON REED: It first started as an SAP recruiter. Actually, I was a failed Lotus Notes recruiter. I became a recruiter because I felt I didn’t understand sales, it was the one area of small business management that I had not faced. I took a commission-only recruiting job with the chance to build a whole IT recruiting division. But: I really struggled for a while there. Eventually I discovered SAP and with some hard work and lots of luck, I put some people to work. I went on to build an ERP recruiting practice, but maybe the biggest thing, looking back now, is that I started publishing an email career newsletter for SAP professionals. There are a couple of lessons there: first, I had no idea about SAP when I started writing it, but was very determined. Second, I pursued the newsletter because it played to my journalistic strengths. Playing to your strengths is a key lesson for any entrepreneur. In 1996, I helped launch one of the first ERP web sites. Nowadays, we talk about the strategic importance of having great content. Back then it was just my determination to succeed and pay off my student loans.

SAPLAB: What SAP areas do you think are worth investing reading and learning in the short, medium and long term?

JON REED: Every SAP professional needs an area of focused expertise. Having said that, it’s important to understand the intersections between “transactional ERP” and “next generation ERP,” which I would classify as the long and difficult journey towards the “intelligent enterprise.” Companies still haven’t gotten enough value from their ERP investments, but I think it’s a fair argument that ERP tied into BI, in-memory, and strategic cloud and mobile extensions can help to bring that value. Understanding those trends is important. In particular, learning how to integrate technical-know how with an ability to solve business problems is essential for any SAP professional. I don’t care whether you’re a developer or a Financials consultant, that advice stands.

SAPLAB: You’ve written several posts referring what you call “SAP Hot Areas” or “SAP Hot Skills”, which we had the privilege to quote in SAPLAB.org in post “Are you SAP hot skilled?”. If you had to revisit these skills today, what would be your list of topics?

JON REED: I’m not sure that much has changed yet from those hot skills. Except perhaps even more BI. Having said that, two years from now we should see some VERY big differences, such as a demand for mobility, on-demand, BI (BusinessObjects) and in particular in-memory (HANA) related skills. However, many of these areas are still emerging (for example, NetWeaver Gateway and Sybase Unwired Platform 2.0 are both still in ramp-up), so we won’t see big job growth in these areas for a while. BI 4.0, the new Business Objects platform, should generate even more hiring in that SAP BW/BusinessObjects vein, but again, I see next year as a much bigger year for that as BI 4.0 is still in ramp-up also (though the GA is close).

SAPLAB: We keep receiving questions from readers regarding where to obtain high quality SAP certifications. Can you tell us a bit about the “certification five” and also your own view on certified SAP consultants VS non-certified SAP consultants?

JON REED: Well, there’s really only one form of certification in the SAP world, and that’s from SAP itself. Now, there are other training providers now offering “certification” if you pass their test at the end of a course, but SAP is still the gold standard for certification, nothing is really close. However, I would correct myself and say that SAP is the “bronze standard” because SAP’s own certification program is only a small part of what I believe it can be. My views on SAP certification are pretty widely known but in summary I don’t believe at this time SAP certification is a good differentiator for quality SAP consultants. Many of the best SAP consultants I know are either not certified or have expired certifications. You may have heard otherwise but that’s the fact. Field experience and “soft skills” are still way more important to SAP consulting success than being SAP certified. SAP is doing a nice job at the university level with certification. If you’re at that early level I strongly recommend the process-oriented TERP10 certification. I love what SAP did with TERP10 and I want to see that extended into more senior level courses. But aside from that, investment in SAP training and certification has to be considered in the context of an overall investment in your skills development that also includes books, trade shows, webinars, etc. People who think certification will land them an SAP job are naïve. The Certification Five, a group of five SAP Mentors of whom I am a part, formed because we believe passionately that SAP certification could eventually become that “gold standard” that provides a trusted benchmark for hiring managers and also a roadmap for all SAP professionals to aspire to. SAP Education has responded, and we’re moving ahead I with the formation of the Certification Influence Council – one of the C5’s core action items – which had its kickoff meeting this spring at SAPPHIRENOW. The CIC includes two members of the C5 (myself and Martin Gillet), as well as key customers, partners, and user group leaders (as well as SAP Education of course). We have had very good meetings so far but it must be said there is a very long way to go. The jury unfortunately is still out on where SAP certification is ultimately headed so I can only hope that we reach some consensus and move ahead aggressively. In particular I want to see the Master Level fully developed and re-instated to the three tiered SAP certification vision. I also want to see the Professional Level moved off of pure multiple choice to better validate field experience. Not everyone agrees with me but those are my views and I’m not backing down.

SAPLAB: What are your thoughts about SAP HANA?

JON REED: I have issued a couple of key podcasts on JonERP.com on this topic so I highly recommend checking them out as there is a lot to cover there. I love the vision of HANA because I think it has the potential to reduce the cost of ownership for SAP customers while providing a huge amount of increased business value. The long term vision of HANA might even mean the ultimate reunion of OLTP and OLAP systems for customers which could be extremely powerful. Even BW running on HANA could be a major step, and SAP says there could be some ramp-up there by the end of this year. Having said that, HANA concerns me because I believe that many in the marketplace have bought into the hype that HANA is ready now to have some huge impact. I’m sure SAP will be irritated that I say this, but I don’t believe HANA is ready yet to have that impact. I see it as an early stage product, not unlike the early releases of BW. I believe some harm may be caused by the overhyping of HANA versus the reality on the ground. For example, most people didn’t realize that almost every HANA customer featured in Hasso Plattner’s SAPPHIRENOW keynote was an early stage Proof of Concept (POC) customer, not a live productive use case. SAP has done an undeniably fantastic job creating buzz around HANA but now they need to find a way to deliver (or clarify the messaging into something more realistic) before they get a backlash from those who had huge expectations that HANA would do something right away. I’d like to see SAP talk a lot more about the practical use cases that are possible now. I was encouraged SAP did a podcast with me and some other Mentors to talk about exactly that. Right now there are indeed some interesting use cases for HANA that customers need to be more aware of, and I think that kind of talk is important, not just “game changing” hyperbole about what may someday be possible. I should say that I’m not alone here, I have talked with the leaders of many of the European user groups about this issue and they feel very similarly.

SAPLAB: We also have lots of beginners asking us for advice on where to obtain “proper” certified training in SAP. Some of them come to us disappointed with official training programs, looking for alternatives. I imagine this is a delicate topic to advise upon… You’d you like to like to comment?

JON REED: There is a wide variety of SAP training options out there. I do think SAP takes its SAP training seriously and they have worked hard to make it much more role-based, which is a practical improvement of some significant value. The big problem is that it’s not realistic for most people to take a couple weeks off for in-class training anymore. We need more flexible training models that include more on-demand learning, but also interactive on-demand that blends self-directed study with teacher interaction. SAP to its credit is well aware that on-demand is a big part of the future of training delivery, but there is quite a bit of work to do here. I think you have to be careful with your readers, and separate training and certification. If you want to be SAP certified, you should get that certification from SAP. That means likely you would take the class from SAP too, as you likely won’t pass the exam if you don’t take the training that is linked to the exam. I’d like to see SAP issue more exam preparation materials for experienced consultants. Other SAP training firms have started to provide their own “certification” as they say, but let’s be honest, these currently have limited market value beyond the pride you might feel for completion. As to the quality of training, I see it like anything else – you have to ask other customers and get references and then try to “buy smart” by investing in training that has worked out well for other students. I’m not going to recommend specific products here however.

SAPLAB: What advice would you give to an SAP beginner-to-be-consultant who’s overwhelmed by the SAP global dimension?

JON REED: Start small. Pick an area you are passionate about that seems to be in some demand in your region. Don’t pick an SAP specialty if you are not passionate about making a life becoming an expert in it. And cast a wide view, if you’re going to be an SAP programmer, for example, you should be passionate about development trends as a whole, not just with SAP.

SAPLAB: I have been enjoying a lot your new project JO-OD.com. How did the JO-OD.com project start? What was its main driver?

JON REED: Dennis Howlett approached me and said, “let’s do this,” and I said, pardon my language, “F*ck yeah!” For a few reasons. First, Dennis is a fantastic collaborator and a trusted friend. He’s also pretty darn good with video production and has taught me a lot there. I think he and I have some chemistry because while we agree on many things, we have our differences and have always been able to argue well and give each other a bit of a good-natured hard time in public and in private. This keeps us both honest and can make for some funny moments on video, like when I brought up StreamWork in our Sapphire Edge on Demand video and got an immediate visceral reaction from Dennis. Though Dennis is a well-known curmudgeon, I can be pretty grouchy as well. If one of us is over-excited about a technology the other can provide a corrective. That makes for a good banter I think. Obviously, the on-demand focus of the site matters, because “cloud” is a topic full of BS but also full of impact for today’s enterprise. There is much to dissect and many hype balloons to puncture. A main driver behind the project is that, first of all, video is a big part of the future of enterprise media. I continue to love podcasting and sharing the long-form conversations, but video is a different medium where more concise ideas can be vividly shared. The learning curve in video is steep but there is great opportunity to share moments that you can’t really capture any other way. Video coverage is particularly key at events. Dennis and I can set up a shoot quickly and grab a 15 minute video with a customer or executive and be on our way. Dennis and I both believe that too much of the video that is produced is, in a nutshell, vendor-sponsored crapola. We try to capture a more informal and honest discussion, and we think that’s where enterprise conversation needs to go – less spin, more unscripted moments. We’re really trying to emphasize customer views because that’s where the buck stops. As I see it, this kind of unfiltered content should help us make sense of the blazing speed of today’s tech developments, where a site like Google Plus can launch and have 10 million members in weeks. So far, JD-OD has been blowing out our video bandwidth limits each month, so maybe we are doing something right.

SAPLAB: Your website and blog is highly content driven and has been growing considerable in size. Any plans for the future?

JON REED: I don’t really plan things so much anymore, preferring to shoot from the hip based on what I see out there. I will say that the JonERP site will likely get a bit of a makeover in the next year to move to a more modern platform. My current platform is awfully fast and reliable but it’s time to move. I can tell you that my view on content creation has changed over time. Nowadays, I only do content that I think captures a freedom of expression on my part and also advances the conversation around a topic. So, I do less podcasts than I used to, for example, but I try to make each one a can’t-miss event for me as a participant and hopefully for the listener. Whatever media format I work in, video or what have you, I try to be consistent in that attempt to create something memorable. But: I don’t want to do it with cheap sensationalism. My style is what I call “ruthless fairness” and that’s not always a sexy as tearing people down, but that’s my style. I like to attack an issue from all sides and get into enough detail to hit on the nuances. For me, the details are where the real story is almost always buried. I realize that many people think that you can only do short podcasts because no one has any time to listen to something longer than five minutes, but I don’t agree. I don’t want to live in a world where no one can focus for longer than five minutes. So, I do the content that pleases me and helps me learn and hope that others will come along for the ride. I’m also proud of the third party product reviews I am doing with Amit Bendov on the ERP Executive site because I think there is a need for in-depth, independent product reviews of all the third party SAP solutions out there, and no one else is really doing them. I’m interested to see where that goes. Because so much of my content is a big production, I’ll continue to enjoy Twitter, and now Google Plus, as places where I can riff and share in quick bursts. One word of advice: while I’ll always have my own web site, you can’t hang out only on your own site anymore. You have to go where the conversation is and that’s a key mantra for anybody who wants to be an influencer these days, whatever that word means.

SAPLAB: Finally, what do you think of SAPLAB.org?

JON REED: I’m enjoying your site more and more because I think you are focusing more and more on creating original, unique content. That’s what it’s all about. There are a lot of “scraper sites” out there that are trying to make a name (or a cheap buck) by scraping and featuring bits of other people’s content. As a content creator I hate that stuff. Let’s face it, there are no shortcuts. I think you’re heading in the right direction with your current approach.

SAPLAB: Jon, thank you very much for your collaboration and contribute. Not only readers will get to know a little bit more about you, as we’re all lucky to read your thoughts towards the future on SAP.

JON REED: Thanks for the interesting questions. Have your readers contact me on Twitter if they have any questions that aren’t answered here.

Related posts:

1. SAPLAB Version 2.0 is on-line!
2. Best SAP SDN Blog Posts from 2010
3. 10 SAP Blogs you must follow

Following the first three articles of this series, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, we now progress further and look on how to perform the last FI parking SAP Business workflow configuration steps.

Execute transaction code OBWA and create a new variant.

Execute transaction code OBWJ and assign your new variant to your own Company Code.

The necessary workflow configuration is now complete. We have created a new variant and registered it to our Company Code. Our workflow is now ready for testing.

In order to test your new Workflow, execute transaction code FV60

Enter the relevant data for your Invoice and press the Park Button. The document will be parked.

When the user presses the “Save as Completed” button, the workflow will be triggered and the Supervisor user role will receive an email.

The Finance Officer will receive the following work item:

He will have option to release or reject the document:

If the Finance Officer chooses reject, a Comments screen is opened for him. An automatic notification is also sent to the Initiator so that he knows the reason why the document has been rejected.

If the Finance Officer releases the Document, it will be sent to the Finance Manager who can either post it, reject it or view it.

Wrap Up

This completes our FI Document Parking workflow. We’ve seen the events to trigger the workflow, release it for payment, email notification for the relevant users, use the standard BO FIPP methods for posting and display, and we’ve also seen how to configure it.

Again le me express my gratitude to Cold Coffee, who was kind enough to send us this very thorough and detailed explanation on how to trigger a custom SAP Workflow whevener a document is parked in the FI module.

Related posts:

1. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 1
2. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 3
3. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 2

Following the first two articles of this series, Part 1 and Part 2, we now progress further aiming to develop a fully functional SAP Business workflow which triggers when a document is parked in the SAP FI module.

So our Workflow now looks something like this:

You should also add a mail step in the rejection task to send an e-mail to the initiator informing that the document has been rejected. At this stage, we will come to the condition when the Supervisor releases the payment. It is important that set a release flag to control this behaviour. Define an element named released and make sure you don’t forget to set its import and export parameters.

Add a container operation and set the following settings:

By now, this part of your workflow should look like this:

Now that the document is released by the Finance Officer, we will add a User decision step, to capture the Manager’s decision. When receiving the Work Item, the Manager will have the following options available:

1. View the document
2. Reject the document
3. Post the document

For the review branch, add a new activity using the standard method DISPLAY of BO FIPP.

For the post branch, add a new activity using the standard method POST of BO FIPP.

For the rejection branch, use the previous email step to send an e-mail to the Initiator, informing that the document has been rejected.

The user decision step should look similar to this (the rejection email task is not shown below):

We have now done all the required Workflow tasks and steps.

On part 4 of these series of posts “Trigger workflow when a document is Parked“, we will cover the necessary SAP FI parking Workflow configuration steps.

Related posts:

1. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 2
2. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 1
3. How to create a Sales Order in SAP (Part 1)

Following my first post “How to do a Support Package Stack Upgrade – Part 1“, on which I explained the basic concepts such as Support Packages and the OSS Notes, in this post I’ll explain the step by step process on how to achieve this somewhat complex and easy to fail operation.

As I said in part 1, preparation and organization play a critical part in this process. You should also have a complete check-list of whatever cut-over activities you’ll need to perform after the SP upgrade. A Z developments inventory is also a very good idea, if you want to avoid losing any previous developments.

The Check List

An organized check list will help you with the whole Support Package upgrade. Here’s an example you can follow:

Preparation

• Confirm new Patches are available for upgrade (estimated 30 minutes);
• Download all the files in the support stack XX (estimated 30 minutes);
• Ensure system has already been validated for additional packs  (check with your teams for time estimate );
• Acquire passwords for: (estimated 15 minutes)
  • JSPM
  • SDM
  • Admin for client 000
  • J2EE admin
  • <sid>adm credentials
  • Config tool admin
  • File server and O.S. admin (might be necessary)
• Send system messages and lock all users beforehand (estimated 20 minutes);
• Ensure that J2EE administrator user is unlocked (estimated 5 minutes);
• Ensure that you have at least 10GB of available space in hard disk (estimated 2 minutes);
• Perform a backup of the EPS adn IN Kernel folder:
  • Usr\sap\trans\eps\in (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\sys\exe\nuc (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\sys\exe\run (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\scs01\exe (estimated 5 minutes);
  • Usr\sap\<sid>\DVEBMGS00\exe (estimated 5 minutes);
• IF cluster fail CI over to DB (estimated 15 minutes);

Execution – ABAP

• Extract and move all the ABAP patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in) (estimated 2 minutes);
• Perform SAINT/SPAM Update to patch XX (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import SAP_Basis patch XX using SPAM (estimated 45 minutes);
• Import SAP_ABA patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import PI_Basis patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import SAP_BW patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);
• Import BI_CONT to patch XX using SPAM (estimated 30 minutes);
• Import ST_PI patch XX using SPAM (estimated 15 minutes);

Execution – JAVA

• Extract and move all the Java patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in) (estimated 2 minutes);
• Logon as <sid>adm when deploying patches through JSPM;
• Perform JSPM update to patch XX (select single packs for this one) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Using JSPM, update all the components to patch XX (Select Support Package stack) (estimated 120 minutes);

Execution – Additional Patching

• Unpack Kernel archive and update it to latest patch (e.g. SP11 has patch 95) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Unpack IGS archive and update it to latest patch (e.g. SP11 has patch 7) (estimated 15 minutes);
• Confirm additional patches that need to be installed (estimated 15 minutes);
• Extract and move all the additional patch files into the right location (e.g. [drive]:\use\sap\trans\eps\in);
• Upgrade patch levels (estimated 250 minutes);
• Run SGEN (depends on server type) (estimated 300 – 400 minutes);

Post Processing

• Create SPAU Resolutions (estimated 2 minutes);
• SPAU Analysis (estimated 120 minutes);
• OSS Reapplication (estimated 80 minutes);
• Unlock Users (estimated 15 minutes);

Please note that the estimated times that I put here are assmunign that no unexpected errors occur. You know as well as I do that should something go wrong, these times can increase substantially. In my opinion, this is why it is so important to have a well organized Check List. Not only it will help you get an overview of all the tasks in hands and their sequence, but it will also help narrow down a potential error.

Please come back soon; on the next posts I will go into detail on how to perform a SAP system Support Package Stack Upgrade.

Related posts:

1. How To Do a Support Package Stack Upgrade – Part 1
2. SAP Support Package Stack 17 Fact Sheet
3. What you must know about Enhancement Packages

Following Part 1, this tutorial explains a step by step process for the creation of the SAP Business workflow, which is triggered whenever a document is parked, as well as the functionality for posting and the necessary workflow configuration.

Now we want to send mail to the initiator that document no xxxxx has been sent to his supervisor.

Enter a mail step:

Now we want to add a task which will enable the supervisor to release amount for subsequent posting. Add a new task – we will use the RELEASE method of FIPP BO.

Our workflow looks like this:

Now on the rejection task, we want to add a MAIL interface, so that the Supervisor role can add some comments on why he is rejecting this document. We will be using standard SAP business workplace mail for this purpose.

On rejection add the following standard task under a new activity: TS20000139. Also add a process control which will set our workflow to complete:

Our SAP Business workflow is almost done. Please be sure to come back tomorrow and check Part 3.

Related posts:

1. Trigger workflow when a document is Parked – Part 1
2. How to create a Sales Order in SAP (Part 1)
3. SAPLAB Version 2.0 is on-line!

Good morning readers. Today I have the pleasure to publish a very good guest post, by Cold Coffee, who was kind enough to send us a very thorough and detailed explanation on how to trigger a custom SAP Workflow whevener a document is parked in the FI module.

This tutorial explains a step by step process for the creation of the SAP Business workflow, which is triggered whenever a document is parked, as well as the functionality for posting and the necessary workflow configuration.

Due to the length and level of detail included, this article will be divided into 4 parts, to be published on the next 4 days (including today).

Scenario

• Initiator parks the document.
• Workflow is triggered on ‘COMPLETED’ event.
• It is sent to Finance Officer
• He /she either release the document for payment or reject it.
• Upon release document is sent to Finance Manager.
• That person can view it, post it or reject it.

Notifications

• When workflow is triggered, initiator receives a mail that document has been sent to his supervisor.
• When document is rejected, workflow is set to complete and initiator can be sent a comments mail.

Used Business Object

• FIPP

Workflow Creation Steps

Go to transaction code SWDD. Create a new workflow and save it under your package.

Go to the Work flow container and add a new element. The following screen opens:

Create a new element ZFIPP as we are using BO FIPP

Also set import and export parameters:

Click on the Basics Data button or press Ctrl-f8 and enter the work flow starting event:

We want the work flow to start on ‘Completed’  event OF FIPP BO.

Activate the triggering event. It will be done through a Customizing Request.

Also generate Automatic Binding

Both the Activation and Binding buttons should be green by now

Now our workflow should look like this: Event is successfully configured.

On the next series we will detail the workflow design, covering task creation, notifications and events. Please be sure to come back tomorrow!

Related posts:

1. How to create a Sales Order in SAP (Part 1)
2. SAPLAB Version 2.0 is on-line!
3. How To Do a Support Package Stack Upgrade – Part 1

In this session, we are going to understand how to create a sales order in SAP SD. For more tutorials like these or for SAP Training, please visit Magna Training.

Business Scenario: A customer has placed an order with company ABC Computers Inc., for 10 computers to be delivered on 10th of March. The customer typically pays with Net30, but this time for this order, he wants a Net 60 payment terms.

Step No. 1: Use the Transaction Code [ VA01 ] to create the Sales Order in SAP. Alternatively, you can use the menu path as shown in the picture below [ Logistics -> Sales and Distribution -> Sales -> Order -> Create ]

Step No. 2: Use the document type ‘OR’ in the field Order Type.

Select a Customer ( say 1400 ) and enter some text in the Customer PO Number field and either hit the return key or the Green check mark button. This will ensure that SAP will validate the data you have entered.

Step No. 3: Enter a material number and quantity. We have chosen a material of M-01 (representing Computer product) and a quantity of 10 based on the scenario. As you can see, the corresponding material descriptions and other information is automatically pulled up by SAP.

Step No. 4: As you can see, SAP automatically proposed a Requested Delivery date (28/02/2011) from the picture above. This data is retrieved from the lead time configuration in the Sales Order. However, since the customer has requested that the goods be delivered on March 10th, let’s change the requested delivery date.

Hint: Always change the Requested Delivery Date before you enter the line items.

Step No. 5: Since the customer has requested a change in the Payment terms, let’s select the right payment terms from the SAP Search Help.

Since the customer has requested a payment terms of NET 60, we are choosing a payment terms of ‘0004’ – Within 60 days due net.

Step No. 6: If you are done with creating the Sales Order in SAP, click the save button to finish the order. SAP will display the order number at the bottom.

In the next parts of this series, we will discuss more about how to manipulate more fields in the SAP sales order and the business significance of those fields.

Related posts:

1. SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Transaction Codes
2. How To Do a Support Package Stack Upgrade – Part 1
3. Best of SAP Sites Directory

I ran into a curious post by Sergio Ferrari which allows us to calculate how many lines of ABAP code we have in our systems. More than a curiosity, this simple tool can help us determine if our system is too overloaded with custom code or not.

The author excluded ABAP generated by special frameworks, like Report writer, SAP Query, Web Dynpro, LSMW,  and so on. He opted to do the filtering by Source System, Owner and Package. The release covered by this tool is ECC 6.0 an the following are also out of scope of this tool:

• BSP’s
• Adobe Forms, Smartforms and SAPScript
• XSLT/Web Services

This utility was named ZSDN_simple_ABAP_SLOC_COUNT, and aims to be an an indicator. The author didn’t want to give it too much relevance, the idea is solely to be an useful tool and help us estimate the upgrade effort or to evaluate the amount of work allocated for each of our packages.

As a curiosity, the post also includes the following information, related to lines of code in known software systems:

• Windows XP:      45 million lines of code
• Windows Vista:  50 million lines of code
• Mac OS:              86 million lines of code
• SAP (ABAP):      238 million lines of ABAP

Copy the code from the textearea below and paste it in a new report in transaction code SE38.

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*& Report  ZSDN_SIMPLE_ABAP_SLOC_COUNT
*& Author: Andrea Olivieri, Sergio Ferrari
*&         Techedge SpA
*& Version: 1.0  - 2009/01/20
*& Title   How many lines of custom ABAP code are inside your system?
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
REPORT  zsdn_simple_abap_sloc_count_n LINE-SIZE 255.

* Global Data Type [ GDT   ]
TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_repository,
         devclass  TYPE tadir-devclass,
         name      TYPE trdir-name,
         object    TYPE tadir-object,
         srcsystem TYPE tadir-srcsystem,
         author    TYPE tadir-author,
         subc      TYPE trdir-subc,
         sloc      TYPE i,
       END OF ty_repository.
DATA: l_repository TYPE ty_repository.
DATA: t_repository TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_repository.

* defining the selection-screen
TABLES: tadir.
SELECT-OPTIONS: xpack   FOR tadir-devclass,
                xobject FOR tadir-object,
                xauthor FOR tadir-obj_name.

INITIALIZATION.
  PERFORM init_select_options.

START-OF-SELECTION.
  PERFORM get_obj_set.
  PERFORM upd_obj_set_count_class_sloc.
  PERFORM count_prog_sloc.

END-OF-SELECTION.
  PERFORM alv.

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&      Form  init_select_options
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*       INCLUDE OBJECTS:  PROG, FUGR and CLAS
*       EXCLUDE PACKAGES: $TMP and from A to W
*       EXCLUDE USERS:    SAP, SAP*, DDIC
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM init_select_options.

* Include objects: PROG, FUGR and CLAS
  IF xobject[] IS INITIAL.
    xobject-sign   = 'I'. xobject-option = 'EQ'. xobject-low = 'PROG'.
APPEND xobject.
    xobject-sign   = 'I'. xobject-option = 'EQ'. xobject-low = 'FUGR'.
APPEND xobject.
    xobject-sign   = 'I'. xobject-option = 'EQ'. xobject-low = 'CLAS'.
APPEND xobject.
  ENDIF.

* Exclude packages: $TMP and from A to W
  IF xpack[] IS INITIAL.
    xpack-sign   = 'E'. xpack-option = 'BT'. xpack-low = 'A'. xpack-high
= 'WZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ'. APPEND xpack.
    xpack-sign   = 'E'. xpack-option = 'EQ'. xpack-low = '$TMP'. APPEND
xpack.
  ENDIF.

* Exclude objects belonging to users: SAP* and DDIC
  IF xauthor[] IS INITIAL.
    xauthor-sign   = 'E'. xauthor-option = 'EQ'.     xauthor-low =
'SAP'.  APPEND xauthor.
    xauthor-sign   = 'E'. xauthor-option = 'EQ'.     xauthor-low =
'SAP*'. APPEND xauthor.
    xauthor-sign   = 'E'. xauthor-option = 'EQ'.     xauthor-low =
'DDIC'. APPEND xauthor.
  ENDIF.
ENDFORM.                    "init_select_options

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&      Form  get_obj_set
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*       Get from TADIR
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM get_obj_set.
  DATA: l_tadir TYPE tadir.

  SELECT * FROM tadir INTO l_tadir
           WHERE pgmid      EQ 'R3TR'
           AND   obj_name   IN xauthor
           AND   object     IN xobject
           AND   devclass   IN xpack
            AND srcsystem   NE 'SAP'
           AND   author     IN xauthor.               "#EC CI_SGLSELECT
    IF NOT l_tadir-obj_name CP '_______________________________*'.
      MOVE-CORRESPONDING l_tadir TO l_repository.
      l_repository-name     = l_tadir-obj_name.
      l_repository-devclass = l_tadir-devclass.
      APPEND l_repository TO t_repository.
    ENDIF.
  ENDSELECT.
*
  SORT t_repository BY devclass name.

ENDFORM.                    "get_obj_set

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&      Form  upd_obj_set_count_class_sloc
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*       ...and Compute SLOC for CLAS
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM upd_obj_set_count_class_sloc.
  TYPE-POOLS: sedi.
  TYPES: BEGIN OF ty_irdir,
          name LIKE trdir-name,
          devc    LIKE tadir-devclass,
        END OF ty_irdir,
        BEGIN OF ty_itab,
          repname LIKE sy-repid,
          devc    LIKE tadir-devclass,
        END OF ty_itab,
        BEGIN OF ty_crdir,
          name LIKE trdir-name,
          subc LIKE trdir-subc,
          devc    LIKE tadir-devclass,
        END OF ty_crdir.

  DATA: save_tabix      TYPE sy-tabix,
        l_class         TYPE sobj_name,
        l_pgmid         TYPE pgmid,
        l_object        TYPE trobjtype,
        class_name      TYPE programm,
        class_pool_name TYPE programm,
        lclskey         TYPE seoclskey.
  DATA: sourceline      TYPE string.
  DATA: l_1st_char      TYPE c.

  DATA: l_irdir         TYPE ty_irdir,
        l_itab          TYPE ty_itab,
        l_itab1         TYPE ty_itab,
        l_crdir         TYPE ty_crdir.
  DATA: t_irdir TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_irdir,
        t_itab  TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_itab,
        t_itab1 TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_itab,
        t_crdir TYPE STANDARD TABLE OF ty_crdir.

  DATA: l_sloc          TYPE i.

  LOOP AT t_repository INTO l_repository.
    save_tabix = sy-tabix.
    CASE l_repository-object.
      WHEN 'PROG'.
        SELECT SINGLE subc FROM trdir INTO l_repository-subc WHERE  name
= l_repository-name.
        IF sy-subrc = 0.
          MODIFY t_repository FROM l_repository INDEX save_tabix
TRANSPORTING subc .
        ENDIF.
      WHEN 'FUGR'.
        CONCATENATE 'SAPL' l_repository-name INTO l_irdir-name.
        l_irdir-devc = l_repository-devclass.
        APPEND l_irdir TO t_irdir.
        l_repository-name   = l_irdir-name.
        l_repository-object = 'PROG'.
        SELECT SINGLE subc FROM trdir INTO l_repository-subc WHERE  name
= l_repository-name.
        IF sy-subrc = 0.
          MODIFY t_repository FROM l_repository INDEX save_tabix
TRANSPORTING name object subc.
        ENDIF.
        CLEAR l_irdir.
      WHEN 'CLAS'.
        DATA source_new TYPE sedi_source.
        DATA l_inctype(5).

        class_name = l_repository-name.
        l_pgmid = 'R3TR'.
        l_object = l_repository-object.
        l_class = class_name.
        CALL FUNCTION 'SEO_CLASS_GET_CP_NAME'
          EXPORTING
            pgmid                 = l_pgmid
            object                = l_object
            obj_name              = l_class
          IMPORTING
            progname              = class_pool_name
          EXCEPTIONS
            no_class_or_interface = 1.

        IF sy-subrc = 0.
          SELECT SINGLE subc FROM trdir INTO l_repository-subc WHERE name
= class_pool_name.
        ENDIF.

        lclskey-clsname = cl_oo_classname_service=>get_clsname_by_include(
class_name ).

        CLEAR l_class.
        CONCATENATE l_repository-name '%' INTO l_class.

        SELECT name FROM  trdir INTO TABLE t_crdir WHERE  name  LIKE
l_class.
        IF NOT t_crdir[] IS INITIAL.
          LOOP AT t_crdir INTO l_crdir.
            l_inctype = l_crdir-name+30(5) .
            REFRESH source_new.
            CALL FUNCTION 'SEO_CLASS_GET_INCLUDE_SOURCE'
              EXPORTING
                clskey                       = lclskey
                inctype                      = l_inctype
              IMPORTING
                source_expanded              = source_new
              EXCEPTIONS
                _internal_class_not_existing = 1
                not_existing                 = 2
                OTHERS                       = 3.
            CHECK sy-subrc = 0.

*           Compute SLOC !
            LOOP AT source_new INTO sourceline.
              l_1st_char = sourceline.
              IF    sourceline IS INITIAL
                 OR l_1st_char = '*'.
                DELETE source_new INDEX sy-tabix.
              ENDIF.
            ENDLOOP.
            l_sloc = LINES( source_new ).
            ADD l_sloc TO l_repository-sloc.
          ENDLOOP.
          MODIFY t_repository FROM l_repository INDEX save_tabix
TRANSPORTING sloc subc.
        ENDIF.
      WHEN OTHERS. CONTINUE.
    ENDCASE.

  ENDLOOP.

  IF t_irdir[] IS NOT INITIAL.
    LOOP AT t_irdir INTO l_irdir.
      REFRESH t_itab1.
      CALL FUNCTION 'GET_INCLUDES'
        EXPORTING
          progname = l_irdir-name
        TABLES
          incltab  = t_itab1.

*     append lines of t_itab1 to itab.
      LOOP AT t_itab1 INTO l_itab1.
        l_itab-repname = l_itab1-repname.
        l_itab-devc    = l_irdir-devc.    "Sometimes it's false
        APPEND l_itab TO t_itab.
        CLEAR l_itab.
      ENDLOOP.
    ENDLOOP.
  ENDIF.

  DATA: l_trdir TYPE trdir.

  LOOP AT t_itab INTO l_itab.
    SELECT SINGLE * FROM  trdir INTO l_trdir
           WHERE  name  = l_itab-repname
            AND    cnam  NOT LIKE 'SAP%'
            AND    cnam  <> 'DDIC'.
    CHECK sy-subrc = 0.

    MOVE-CORRESPONDING l_trdir TO l_repository.
    l_repository-devclass = l_itab-devc.
    l_repository-object   = 'PROG'.
    APPEND l_repository TO t_repository.

  ENDLOOP.

  SORT t_repository BY name object devclass.
  DELETE ADJACENT DUPLICATES FROM t_repository COMPARING name object
devclass.

ENDFORM.                    "upd_obj_set_count_class_sloc
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&      Form  count_prog_sloc
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*       text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM count_prog_sloc.
  DATA: l_prog     TYPE c LENGTH 30.
  DATA: isource    TYPE TABLE OF string.
  DATA: l_1st_char TYPE c.

  LOOP AT t_repository INTO l_repository WHERE object = 'PROG'.
*   Compute SLOC !
    l_prog = l_repository-name.
    READ REPORT l_prog INTO isource.
    DATA: l_source_line TYPE string.
    LOOP AT isource INTO l_source_line.
      l_1st_char = l_source_line.
      IF    l_source_line IS INITIAL     "Empty
         OR l_1st_char = '*'.            "Comment
        DELETE isource INDEX sy-tabix.
      ENDIF.
    ENDLOOP.
    l_repository-sloc = LINES( isource ).

*   Update SLOC into t_repository
    READ TABLE t_repository WITH TABLE KEY name     = l_repository-name
                                       devclass = l_repository-devclass
                                       object   = l_repository-object
                                       srcsystem = l_repository-srcsystem
                                       author    = l_repository-author
                                       subc      = l_repository-subc
                        TRANSPORTING NO FIELDS.
    IF sy-subrc = 0.
      MODIFY t_repository FROM l_repository INDEX sy-tabix TRANSPORTING
sloc.
    ENDIF.
  ENDLOOP.
ENDFORM.                    "count_prog_sloc

*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*&      Form  alv
*&---------------------------------------------------------------------*
*       text
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
FORM alv.
  DATA: gr_table     TYPE REF TO cl_salv_table,
        gr_display   TYPE REF TO cl_salv_display_settings,
        gr_functions TYPE REF TO cl_salv_functions,
        gr_sorts     TYPE REF TO cl_salv_sorts,
        gr_agg       TYPE REF TO cl_salv_aggregations.
  TRY.
*     Create ALV table
      cl_salv_table=>factory( IMPORTING r_salv_table = gr_table CHANGING
t_table = t_repository ).
*     Set zebra layout
      gr_display = gr_table->get_display_settings( ).
      gr_display->set_striped_pattern( cl_salv_display_settings=>true ).
*     Display all standard function
      gr_functions = gr_table->get_functions( ).
      gr_functions->set_all( abap_true ).
*     Sort
      gr_sorts = gr_table->get_sorts( ).
      gr_sorts->add_sort( columnname = 'DEVCLASS' subtotal = abap_true ).
      gr_sorts->add_sort( columnname = 'NAME'     subtotal = abap_false ).
*     Totals
      gr_agg = gr_table->get_aggregations( ).
      gr_agg->add_aggregation( 'SLOC' ).
*     Display table
      gr_table->display( ).
    CATCH cx_salv_msg.
      WRITE: / 'Exception CX_SALV_MSG'.
    CATCH cx_salv_not_found.
      WRITE: / 'Exception CX_SALV_NOT_FOUND'.
    CATCH cx_salv_data_error.
      WRITE: / 'Exception CX_SALV_DATA_ERROR'.
    CATCH cx_salv_existing.
      WRITE: / 'Exception CX_SALV_EXISTING'.
  ENDTRY.
ENDFORM.                    "alv

Additional links and resources:

• Source lines of code (wikipedia)

Related posts:

1. How to Send a System Message to another SAP User
2. One Minute, One Great ABAP Tip
3. TIP: Overide Lack of Authorization on a Transaction Code

Alvaro Tejada Galindo, also known as @Blag is a Senior ABAP Consultant from Lima – Perú. He started learning programming at the age of 20. He started with Visual Basic 6.0 and C++ and he also learned some Pascal, Euphoria and Java. In the past 10 years, Alvaro has been involved in ABAP development, also learn scripting languages like Ruby and PHP.

In this post, similarly to what he did back in 2007, 2008 and 2009, @Blag compiled a list of what he considered the best and most useful SDN posts in 2010. Let me also take this opportunity to thank @Blag for his contribution, it is really very useful besides it’s what I consider rich content.

Ranting

• The Grinch who stole the Questions - Julius Bussche
• Geek’s Dictionary: What is the Walldorf Kiss of Death? – Thorsten Franz
• Kiss of Death for Web Dynpro Java – The Follow-Up Questions – Thorsten Franz
• Can we reinvent the grey haired ABAPer? – John Moy
• Should SDN be used for cross-blogging? – Michael Nicholls
• “Request-A-Blog” from a SAP Mentor – Richard Hirsch
• Goodbye Simplicity, Hello Obfuscation – &SAP_EDIT – Chris Paine
• A Blogger’s Carol – Jim Spath

WebDynpro

• Silverlight Islands in Web Dynpro Java 7.20 – Yariv Zur
• Wave Islands in Webdynpro ABAP – Uwe Fetzer
• Web Dynpro ABAP: Display tiff images – Elvez
• ABAP Class using Singleton pattern – used in WDA Enhancements. – ashish shah
• Web Dynpro Forms using HCM Processes and Forms – Brad Pokroy
• The death of Web Dypro Java has been greatly exaggerated… – Wolfgang Hilpert
• Technology Stability in a World of Constant Change – Michael Bechauf
• WebDynpro UIs – Usable? - Pete Lagana

Beyond SAP

• Are there SAP user groups in Latin America? – Jim Spath
• Meet the Mentors – Alvaro Tejada Galindo
• Ode to Marilyn Pratt: Honoring the Advocate on Ada Lovelace Day – Moya Watson
• Twenty Four ^2 – Jim Spath
• Consuming ABAP Webservices in Flex – Neil Gardiner
• SAP Mentors setting the tone for consulting? – Dennis Howlett
• I too want to become a famous blogger – Muthu Ranganathan
• SAP SDN Blog Reader for iPad, iPhone and Android devices – Helmut Tammen

SAP Developer Network

• SAP Mentor Monday: Highlights 2009 from SAP Mentors – Mark Finnern
• Turning a new page… – Craig Cmehil
• My UNOFFICIAL underground SCN promo fan video – Chris Solomon
• Meet David Branan Community Support Angel – Marilyn Pratt
• Powered by YOU: SCN By The Numbers – Mark Yolton
• Congratulations to the current Topic Leaders (2009-2010) – Laure Cetin

Business Server Pages

• Single Sign On to BSP pages – Holger Bruchelt

Emerging Technologies

• smartJSON – Lightweight JSON Library For ABAP – Wiktor Nyckowski
• iPhone App for searching HELP.SAP.COM – John Moy
• Mobile Augmented Reality in SAP – Ivan Femia
• SAP River, Gateway and more at Innovative Community Day Bangalore – Dipankar Saha

Community Projects

• unofficial Timeline of SAP – Sergio Ferrari
• Community Project ZGEOCODE – Gregor Wolf

Business Process Expert

• Want Fries With That? – Martin Lang

Widgets

• SAP Mentor Directory 2010 – Anil Bavaraju

Beginners

• Web Dynpro ABAP on TV for beginner (Hello World) – Holger Stumm
• Video: Why & How To Blog on SAP Community Network? – Natascha Thomson
• Growing in your SAP Career – Somnath Manna
• Asking Good Questions in the Forums to get Good Answers – Rob Burbank

ABAP

• ABAPdoc v2 – Onno Bagijn
• Macros – Good or Evil? – Gerd Rother
• Twibap: the ABAP Twitter API – Uwe Fetzer
• The ABAP Workbench and the Test-Driven Development Cycle in EHP1 - Stephen Pfeiffer
• xlsx2abap – Read and edit your Excel files from ABAP – Ivan Femia
• Enterprise Geeks to planet earth: “Houston, we have a problem” – Dennis Howlett
• Against All Odds – Programming of Communicating (S)ALV Grid Controls – Uwe Schieferstein
• Re-learn ABAP: Transition from Procedural to OO ABAP – Eric
• Calling a function module is now FM Droid – Raúl Vides Mosquera Pumaricra
• abap2xlsx – I’m no longer a baby, I grow up and now I’m a fully featured tool – Ivan Femia
• Just When You Thought You Knew Everything about ABAP Date Calculations… – Rob Burbank
• Calling a function module (abap code) – Raúl Vides Mosquera Pumaricra
• ABAP Trial Version 7.02 available in SCN! – Horst Keller
• ABAP Testing and Troubleshooting Tools – Which Features Are In Which Releases? – Olga Dolinskaja
• ABAP Debugger Scripting: Basics – Stephen Pfeiffer
• ABAP Debugger Scripting: Advanced – Stephen Pfeiffer

Carreer Center

• Nuke that code, let us start over – Vijay Vijayasankar

Standards

• SCRUM as example for new approaches in application development – Marcel Salein

SAP Education

• How do you know the consultant you get is the consultant you interviewed? – Kevin Wilson
• SAP Certification: The Certification 5 Report – Dennis Howlett
• SAP Communities, SAP Mentors, what’s in it for me ? How to convince my boss to
  let me access it ? (SAP Inside Track debriefing & Invitation to TechEd Networking Sessions) – Martin Gillet

SAP SAPPHIRE

• Where will you be ? – Abesh Bhattacharjee
• Blue Shirt Brigade aka SAP Mentors at #SAPPHIRENOW #ASUG2010 – Mark Finnern
• Sapphire Now 2010 in Orlando – My First Sapphire – Simon To
• My Sapphire experience @Orlando and the people who made it special : Part – 1 – Abesh Bhattacharjee
• My Sapphire experience @Orlando and the people who made it special : Part – 2 – Abesh Bhattacharjee

Higher Education

• SAP Mentors, Certification Five geek out with Bill McDermott – Dennis Howlett
• I would get SAP certified if…. – Vijay Vijayasankar

CRM

• Create your own BOL Object – Harel Gilor

SAP TechEd

• Why I want to go to TechEd – Chris Paine
• #nataschatoteched: An SAP Mentors case study – Ted Sapountzis
• Zen and the Art of Community – David Hull
• Life After Demo Jam – Matt Harding
• SAPTechEd in Vegas…Win, lose, or draw? – Susan Keohan

Community Day

• A Scrapbook of SAP Inside Track Vancouver – Jason Cao
• We made it! SAP Inside Track Istanbul – Abdulbasit Gulsen
• SAP Inside Track Sydney, Australia 2011 – Graham Robinson

Service-Orientes Architecture

• Semantics of Web Services – Tobias Trapp

Business Intelligence

• The BW – HANA Relationship – Thomas Zurek

Mobile

• SAP’s Mobile Strategy: Really? – John Appleby
• Caffeine – ABAP to Go – The Motivation – Daniel Vocke
• Android and RESTFul web service instead of SOAP – Michael Hardenbol
• Mobile apps or HTML? – Tobias Hofmann

Open Source

• Barcodes in SAP with the Barcode Writer in Pure Postscript. – Robert Russell
• Call a function module in the ABAP Editor: Stop Crying – Start Laughing. – Andrea Olivieri

Analytics

• What does SAP mean by “In-Memory”? – Ethan Jewett

SAP xApps

• Release : SAP MII Backuper v 1.0 – Abesh Bhattacharjee

Code Exchange

• Creating your own project on Code Exchange – Rui Nogueira

SAP Business Workflow

• What not to WF – Susan Keohan
• Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight… – Susan Keohan

Source: blag’s SDN weblog

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2. 22 SAP How To’s you can’t miss!
3. 2010 SAP Salary Survey

SAP’s CRM Solution Management team has been very busy in creating short videos that demonstrate new features in CRM 7.0 EhP1. Below are a few highlights for each relevant area.

Interaction Center/Service

• SAP Ehp1 for CRM 7.0 – CAD Data Available for Alert and Rule modeler by Cathy Ma
• SAP Ehp1 for CRM 7.0 – C Alert for Incomplete Emails by Cathy Ma
• SAP Ehp1 for CRM 7.0 – BP Confirmation in Call Transfer Scenario by Cathy Ma
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Rule Modeler Enhancements Part I: Show Policy Relationships by Kimberly Davis
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Rule Modeler Enhancements Part II: Usability Improvements by Kimberly Davis
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1: Service Analytics by Akash Winny

Marketing

• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Marketing Funds Management by Anik Roy
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – The new Marketing Calendar! By Nora Schrotz
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Relationship Segmentation for High Volume Segmentation by Bastian Finkel
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Object Segmentation for High Volume Segmentation by Bastian Finkel
• SAP CRM EhP1 – Leveraging Partners in Loyalty Programs – Part I by Bhushan Khadpe

Sales

• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1: Savo and Sales Opportunity by Mirjam Wittmann
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 Shared Tools by Mirjam Wittmann

CRM Analytics

• SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1 Insight-to-Action: Embedded competitor analysis in opportunity management by Gert Tackaert
• SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1: CRM Interactive Reporting by Gert Tackaert
• SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1: Xcelsius dashboard integration by Gert Tackaert
• SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1: Dashboard on Homepage by Gert Tackaert

Real Time Offer Management (RTOM)

• SAP CRM 7.0 EHP1 – Real Time Offer Management by Business Goals by Maya Kidron
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – Related Campaigns in RTOM Offers by Maya Kidron
• SAP CRM 7.0 EhP1 – RTOM real time event based recommendations in CRM by Maya Kidron

About SAPLABS, LLC

SAP Labs, LLC researches and develops software products for the SAP business application systems. The company offers SAP NetWeaver platform and enterprise service-oriented architecture, SAP xApps composite applications, and SAP solutions for radio frequency identification. It supports SAP developer network, a collaborative community of technical experts and business analysts, the business process expert community, application consultants, and process developers. The company has strategic relationships with organizations, such as Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Rutgers, Software Developer’s Forum, Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft. SAP Labs, LLC was founded as SAP Technology, Inc. in 1996 and changed its name in 1997. The company is based in Palo Alto, California. SAP Labs, LLC operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of SAP America, Inc.

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Well I can say that this is a long awaited SAP launch and that will provide help to many users worldwide. If you’re like me, at a certain point in your SAP career, you felt the need to have your own SAP sandbox. Being for professional purposes or for your own personal skillset build, an SAP sandbox system is always handy and you can’t well perform this kind of experiments on your client development system.

Up until now, there weren’t many (viable) available solutions. There are some companies that provide you a paid service for you to have your own SAP system/client but usually expensive for most of us.

This month Learning on Demand by SAP launched a new service called SAP Sandbox onDemand, which consists of an SAP ECC 6.0 system with sufficient basic data, such as customer and vendor master data, to enable substantial experimentation.

Using this system, users can access the core ERP functionality of modules such as FI and CO, SD, HR and MM and can write and test ABAP code and modify SAP Netweaver settings and configurations. This offering will provide interested individuals with the ability to reinforce their existing SAP ERP knowledge and skills through experimentation in a live but safe environment. It will also enable you to clarify areas of ambiguity in your knowledge or to test new functionality that they may be considering for an existing or new client.

Given that the SAP Sandbox onDemand is accessed via an SAP WebGUI, there is no need to install any client-side software on your PC, so you can start using the system immediately after receiving your access details.

Comparing with other and existing offers, SAP Sandbox onDemand has a fair price in my perspective: US$80 for 30 days access.

Click here for more info and start playing now!

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2. SAPLAB Version 2.0 is on-line!
3. 22 SAP How To’s you can’t miss!

ARE3 Consulting is the result of an innovative idea towards market approach and recruitment areas, specifically for SAP ERP implementation projects. With more than 10 years in the market, ARE3 specializes in SAP recruitment giving response to their clients that are more and more demanding in terms of SAP skills and qualifications. ARE3 operates on sound judgement and that for the company counts on specific market consultants, to cover markets such as the Portuguese and Spanish.

In 2009, ARE3 acquired a CRM platform and hired additional experienced senior recruiters to respond to market demands. The result was a turnover above 250m Euro. In the beginning of 2010 ARE3 invested on the ARE3 Job Board, which is already well known in the SAP job market. ARE3 is also investing in social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, the SAP Club magazine and also advertising in specialized SAP websites and SAP blogs such as SAPLAB. In the first semester of 2010 ARE3 has almost doubled it’s turnover comparing the whole 2009.

In what relates to the future, ARE3 started a partnership with SAP and with a gold partner, assuming itself as an EBM (Extended Business Member) for small and medium businesses.

Click here to access ARE3 website or access ARE3 Joboard directly

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2. SAPLAB Version 2.0 is on-line!
3. Are you SAP Hot Skilled?