Like most of my other posts, the objective of this one is to provide useful information and help any SAP consultant with a start point to help answer questions like “Where is SAP going in the next years?” or “What is SAP’s release and maintenance strategy for it’s different products?” or the always important “When should we plan to install enhancement packages for our ERP and Netweaver Platforms?“. This and many other questions are clarified and answered in this document. This post covers Netweaver but neverthless, you might also want to read about the SAP Application Areas.

This document reflects the status of SAP’s release planning as of January 2009. It contains the intended strategies, developments, and/or functionalities of SAP solutions, applications, and technologies. I also recommend that you read one of my previous posts called The SAP Netweaver PAM, which will help you understand which components are available for each version, considering some restrictions.

Related posts:

1. SAP Netweaver Main Release Downloads

The SAP Business One Test Environment (B1TE) is a set of tools that helps profile the usage of the SAP Business One APIs by a solution. These tools do not require the source code or a development environment (e.g., Visual Studio) and can be helpful in many ways, including:

• profiling the execution in the performance tuning phase of development
• Troubleshooting run-time issues in customer installations
• Checking possible compatibility breakages in an add-on

These tools are also used by SAP during the solution certification phase.

The following chapters are included in this SAP weblog:

• Introduction
• Main Changes and Fixes of the 2.3 Version
• Additional Features in 2.2 for SAP Business One 2007 A
• B1 DB Browser
• B1 DB Profiler
• B1 DILogsReader (starting from 2007 A) – NEW!
• B1 Form Checker
• B1 Bubble Checker
• MSSQL Profiler
• Feature Download

Click here to access the official web site

Related posts:

1. SAP Netweaver Composition Environment Downloads
2. SAP Announces Business Suite 7
3. SAP Business Suite 7 Retail Demo

If you find yourself working on client proposals or having to prepare an “on-the-fly” response for a client, this is a useful tool for you. Based on my experience, and due to the fact that still many customers are upgrading their systems to the latest ERP 6 (or ECC 6.0) or even considering the newest Business Suite 7, it is common for customers (and specially some topic owners) to know what is varies from one system version for another. Typically, these users or even application champions won’ spend time browsing the SDN or looking for this kind of information in the web.

Here is an example on how you use this tool:

1 – Access http://solutionbrowser.erp.sap.fmpmedia.com/

2 – Start by choosing the Source Release Version for which you want to compare to.  In the example below, I chose SAP R/3 Enterprise (4.7)

3 – Next choose the Target Release Version. This would be the version you’ll be upgrading to, and for which you want to know the delta functionalities. In the example, I chose SAP ERP 6.0 (or ECC 6.0)

4 – Next choose the Solution Area. In the example below, I chose Human Capital Solutions

5 – And finally the module, which should be chosen accordingly. In the example, I chose HR.

6 – After clicking on “Search”, the results will display on the right, showing the different releases

7 – By clicking on the delta functionality link, you can access the details for each area in HR (recruiting, performance management, etc.)

8 – You can also export this results to Word, making it easier to use it directly in a proposal or a powerpoint presentation

Click here to jump to http://solutionbrowser.erp.sap.fmpmedia.com/

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This page enables interested users to download BusinessObjects XI 3 Integration Kit for SAP Solutions.

The following prerequisites must be met in order to install and use this integration Kit:

• SAP NetWeaver or BW or R/3 and Business Objects XI 3
• Type of license: Evaluation/Not for Resale License
• Keycode: 90 day eval: CEN0Y-JV4RSS6-00UV84P-VC63 (updated – July 21, 2008)
• Platform: Windows only (contact Diamond Admin if interested in others)

To download, there is one component required for this evaluation. You have the option of also downloading the software with our Download Manager.  The Download Manager provides a robust method of downloading the software and is available as an ActiveX component or Java applet that is quickly installed when you click on the link to download. Upon a file request, if you don’t already have Download Manager installed, this page will automatically start it and download it to your computer.

• Download using the Download Manager
  
• Download the file directly
  

Addtional links and resources:

• Installation guide
• Business Objects for SAP Integration Forum

Related posts:

1. SAP Announces Business Suite 7

Following the 2009 edition of SAPPHIRE, SAP gives us the opportunity to download some free brochures. You can find your way by browsing by Solutions/Services or by Industry. Use the  search tool to look for brochures that provide additional insight into topics covered at SAPPHIRE 2009. In case your attended the event, you’ll be able to download full and complete content. To do this, SAPPHIRE 2009 badge number and visit the SAP Literature Kiosk.

Instructions:

• Enter a keyword or select options from the pull-down menus.
• You can use both keywords and menus to make your search more precise.

Link/URL:

Click here to download SAP Solution and Industry Brochures

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As a business owner, you need to run your business and you need your information technology (IT) system to work, every day. An i5/OS and IBM System i solution can help you meet these needs. One key factors that differentiates the System i platform from other platforms is the level of hardware and software integration. For example, in a UNIX environment, you must select software components from different vendors (operating system, database software,  system management software, and so on) and integrate them to build a working environment for an SAP system.

The System i family is a fully integrated IT solution that runs its own i5/OS and is based on the IBM POWER5+™ processor technology. An integrated DB2 UDB database is part of System i. With i5/OS, this DB2 UDB offers automatic functions for system management, such as fully automated disk management and workload management. System i can help you simplify your SAP system landscapes, by allowing them to operate with a small staff in a user-friendly way.

On this very complete eBook, IBM compromises to deliver Comprehensive yet simple SAP business applications with i5/OS, Successful business solutions in an on demand complex world and SAP applications and System i integration.

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On the beginning of February, SAP announced the release of Business Suite 7, which represents a new way of software deployment more than a features upgrade. With the new approach, SAP said it’s doing away with its conventional upgrade process for software applications. SAP Business Suite 7 represents the most current versions of SAP’s business applications, including those for managing supply chains, product life cycles, customer relationship, among others. Once upgraded, customers won’t have to do a full upgrade for five years – it’s all based on an Enhancement Package logic now.

The below video shows us a pretty cool example on how the SAP Business Suite allows companies to integrate different processes in one unique web-based front-end system.

See how SAP Business Suite 7 helps targeting profitable customers in a difficult economy.

Related posts:

1. SAP Announces Business Suite 7

Since the launch of the first release of SAP, the visual design of SAP products has gone through several changes and re-design. From the 1970′s until early 1990′s, graphic design was not so much considered in SAP products – functionality always is the prime focus. At those “early days”, the look and feel and usability of SAP software was influenced by the dominant operating system – OSF/Motif and Microsoft Windows. The first SAP re-design was in 1998 with the Enjoy design theme. This theme was now more focused on rich color, texture and dimensionality, with minor details took care at extreme. This was a major breakthrough by SAP, making it’s software instantly recognizable until these days. Comparing to other vendors, SAP achieved higher rates in terms of user friendliness and usability, putting SAP in a leadership position in visual design for business software.

Following the Enjoy theme design for GUI, SAP then focused in the web design strategy. With the rising of SAP Portals, SAP products harmonized on a lighter, cleaner and straightforward design theme called Tradeshow.

Evolution of Design Themes

The figures below show the same transaction in several visual design themes:

Figure 1 – SAP GUI for Microsoft Windows Theme

Figure 2 – SAP GUI in the Enjoy Theme

Figure 3 – SAP GUI in the Tradeshow Theme

Applying different themes doesn’t change the functionality of the transaction. The core application remains the same. So when creating new themes, there are a set of rules and several aspects to take care, since once a theme is officially deployed, it can be used my millions of users in the world.

The New Signature Design Theme

The third revolution in visual design at SAP is the new Signature design theme. A special SAP team located in Waldorf, Germany, has worked hard on this new theme, from 2007 until the end of 2008 and to deliver the latest design theme for SAP applications.  It may sound a long time to deliver a new design theme, but remember that this new visual appearance has to comply with several SAP applications and will cover millions of UI’s in the world.

Figure 4 – Example of the Signature design, SAP Business ByDesign screen running in the SAP NetWeaver Business Client

Figure 5 – The same transaction shown in figures 1-3 running in the Signature Theme

SAP’s Design Guild summarizes with:

With ten design patents pending for the Signature design and loads of positive feedback from customers, the SAP User Experience – Visual Design team is exceedingly proud of this new design and will be evolving it for quite a few years to come. That is, until we start the next revolution.

Article based on official SAP information.

Additional links and resources

• The signature design under microscope
• Visual Design for Business Software
• SAP visual design vision, mission and strategy

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On February 4, 2009, SAP unveiled SAP Business Suite 7, a next-generation software suite that helps businesses to optimize their performance and reduce IT cost. The press conference included remarks from SAP co-CEO Léo Apotheker and Jim Hagemann Snabe, SAP Executive Board Member, Business Solutions & Technology. In addition to the executive presentations and a product demo, the press conference featured a customer panel with high-level executives from major Fortune 500 companies and a question-and-answer session.

Business Suite 7 represents a new way of software deployment more than a features upgrade. With the new approach, SAP said it’s doing away with its conventional upgrade process for software applications. SAP Business Suite 7 represents the most current versions of SAP’s business applications, including those for managing supply chains, product life cycles, customer relationship, among others. Once upgraded, customers won’t have to do a full upgrade for five years.

SAP is syncing all of its improvements to its applications so that they’ll all be available at the same time. Customers will then be able to pick and choose from the provided Enhancement Packages as little or as much as they want, according to SAP.

The suite announcement also includes “Value Scenarios,” or industry-specific software modules SAP is developing to help companies analyze a specific issue, such as the shopping experience in the retail industry, by viewing data across applications, or implement a business process across applications, such as collaborative engineering, in the manufacturing industry. This approach uses dashboard and other technologies incorporated from SAP’s Business Objects acquisition.

A customer that now upgrades to Business Suite 7, for example, won’t have to do a full resource-intensive upgrade to SCM one month and a full upgrade to CRM several months later. Instead, that customer can choose only the enhancements it wants for SCM and CRM from a single enhancement package. The first package is due later this year.

This could now encourage companies still on ERP R/3 to make the upgrade to ERP 6.0, which already uses the enhancement approach and is compatible with Business Suite 7, while R/3 isn’t.

Watch the below video on which SAP Executive Board Member Jim Hagemann Snabe introduces the new SAP Business Suite 7.

Additional links and resources

• Watch the replay
• Download photos from the launch event

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