The tips and tricks for today is for you want to start to developer for SAP Netweaver 7.3, if you have that desire then you should read the document below.

Link for document Performance Best Practices Guide for SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.3

- First of all, we must choose which icons you would like to insert (we can use various standard SAP icons):

- Capture the value found in column Bitmap, chosen in this case the image ID: 0W Cancel and its value is B_CANC Bitmap.

- To place this icon into the button, just click the button you want to insert the icon:

- Go to Properties of the selected button and find the element ImageSource:

- Enter the following code followed by the information desired Bitmap image:

~sapicons/s_b_canc.gif

- It is now ready and you should see a result similar to:

- Please note another simple way to insert icons in WebDynpro Java, from the point that you already have the icon in the desired format .GIF (Graphics Interchange Format):

GIF Icon:

Link to download

- We should insert the icon inside the project, within the following folder:

src\mimes\Components

- Now let’s create a new attribute inside the Model:

- In the example below we create an attribute called iconExcell.
- In Properties of this new attribute, the element type must be of type String.

- Add the following code inside the method wdDoInit().

- Accordingly, we will initialize the context attribute iconExcell with storing Excel icon.

try {
wdContext.currentContextElement().setIconExcell(
WDURLGenerator.getWebResourceURL(wdComponentAPI.getDeployableObjectPart(), "excel.gif"));
} catch (WDURLException e) {
wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportException(e.getLocalizedMessage(), true);
}

- To insert the icon inside the button you want, just set the element of button ImageSource with the attribute iconExcel:

Hope you find this post useful. Please be sure to comment or ask me any question in case you run into difficulties.

• WebService: We can define a WebService as a method of communication between two electronic devices or systems over the web (internet). Web services are increasingly enabled by the use of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as a means of standardizing data formats and exchanging data. The ABAP Workbench offers an environment where you can publish, search for, and call Web services. It enables the SAP Web Application Server to act both as a server and client for Web services.

The Web service infrastructure enables developers to:

• Publish independent function that was implemented as RFC-enabled function modules, function groups, BAPIs, or XI message interfaces. This includes functions available as part of mySAP.com solutions, or functions developed by customers or partners. The Web service can be used across the entire Internet using standard protocols and can easily be added to any development environment.
• Consume Web services, regardless of where they are stored or how they are implemented. Business processes can be implemented across several systems, either within an enterprise or across several enterprises.

• The WebServices Services Description: is an XML-based language that is used for describing the functionality offered by a Web service. A WSDL description of a web service (also referred to as a WSDL file) provides a machine-readable description of how the service can be called, what parameters it expects and what data structures it returns.

• Adobe Flash Builder/Flex: is a software development kit (SDK) released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform. Flex applications can be written using Adobe Flash Builder or by using the freely available Flex compiler from Adobe.

After a brief introduction of the main concepts I will now describe how to build a Flex application that consumes data from SAP, using WebServices. You need to have the SAP R/3 and the Adobe Flash builder tools installed.

On this post I assume that you already have created a SAP webservice that is responsible to export some data in a table format. On the example provided below we will use a Webservice called “FlightGetList” which is the name also of the Function Module in the SAP system. You can easily find on the web all necessary steps to create a webservice. However I will define the main ones:

• SAP webservice can be created in transaction se37, first opening the Function Module that you want to provide as webservice, and then go to Utilities – More Utilities-Create WebService – From the Function Module
• Then you need to configure the webservice using the transaction SOAMANAGER
• Finally you need to get the URL of the webservice: click on “Display selected Binding’s WSDL URL” link to get the WSDL URL. You will get a URL displayed on the right and side of the screen that will be used later in Adobe Flash Builder

Create the project in Adobe Flash Builder / Flex

- After installing the Adobe Flash Builder 4 open it.
- Create a Flex project. Give it a name such as Flex Quickstart

- Press Next twice.
- Press Finish.

Create the design of application

The following steps should be implemented in order to create some user interface:

- Switch to Design mode

- Drag a Label from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the Label properties

- Drag a TextInput from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the properties of the Text Input

- Drag a Button from the Components view to the Design Area

- Set the properties of the Button

- Drag a DataGrid from the Components view to the Design Area.

- Switch back to Source View.

- Remove the <mx:columns> from the Datagrid.

- Add the following code to the application:

– Call the webservice in Flex and get the data

Now we need to actually create the objects that call the web service, luckily with Flex, this is a simple two step process. First, Load the WSDL, second call the service. Just to be as standard as possible we want to put the code that loads the WSDL into a place that is only called once and called right at the beginning of the Application’s life. In Flex there is an event called “initialize” that has just those properties.

- Now we need to load the WSDL in the initApp function.

Let’s explain the code above:

• It first creates a new instance of our web service: “flightWS = new WebService();”
• It points the service to the WSDL defintion: “flightWS.wsdl = “http://localhost:8000/sap/bc/srt/rfc/sap/Z_FLIGHT_WS?sap-client=000&wsdl=1.1″;”
• It adds Event Listeners to the service so that when things happen we can know about it:
• “flightWS.addEventListener(FaultEvent.FAULT,onWSError);” Will call the onWSError function whenever there is an error in the service call or definition loading
• “flightWS.addEventListener(LoadEvent.LOAD,onWSDLLoaded);” will call onWSDLLoaded when the WSDL has been loaded and the service is ready to be invoked
• “flightWS.addEventListener(ResultEvent.RESULT, onFlightWSGotResult);” will call onFlightWSGotResult when some data is returned from the service
• We then instruct the service to load the WSDL from the server: “flightWS.loadWSDL();”

- The next thing to do is actually call the service with our Airline as input. A web service can define many different operations/function modules; we just want to add one called “FlightGetList”

Now let’s get the data from SAP and populate the created dataGrid. to do this we just change the onFlightWSGotResult function to:

This will simply look at the ResultEvent and set the data provider of our DataGrid to the member of the result called, “FlightList”.

Now if you run the application you will be prompted with a username and password box! Why? Well, the web service you are calling is password protected on the ABAP system it is served from. Just like a normal browser, the Flex application pops up the dialog box to get the user name and password. You just need to type the username and password used to log in the SAP system and then you should see the dataGrid filled up with the data from the backend.

Mark Finnern also adds a few observations that sustain this thorough list:

Wow there are some well known names and some surprises in the list, not the least the number one blog post by Steffen Weber. With 178K almost twice as many hits as the famous often updated originaly named XI FAQ post by Michal Krawczyk. Looks like the Excel Macro File referenced in Steffen’s blog post does come really handy. Congratulations Steffen for having written the most viewed post of the last 8 years.

I have to smile seeing that Michal’s XI/PI FAQ post is #2. I had long discussion with him why this kind of content should be moved to a wiki page so that everyone can improve it. His argument is that you need a curator, otherwise the quality isn’t there. Number of views he got is proofing his point, comments of certain links not working anymore can be counted for the wiki camp, but this is not the blog post to bring up that argument again, but to celebrate the top blog posts of SCN.

Thomas Jung can ad the title Master of SCN blogging to the long list of his career achievements, as 6 of his posts are in the top 25. I am always at awe seeing the beauty and quality of his posts. I remember the early beginnings when Brain McKellar nudged him after seeing his excellent BSP forum answers to post blogs. I am so glad he did oh and we miss Brian on SCN.

Love it that a Crystal Report post by Blair Wheadon is #5. It is a beautiful proof, that the BOBJ community has found a home on SCN. Being posted only 2 years ago in December 2009 it is also the youngest blog post on the list. Really amazing that it is on rank #5 already. Well done Blair.

Just wow that there are still 3 Roberto Negro posts in this top 25 list. He used to dominate the BW space, as it was called back in the mid 2000s. He moved on and is unfortunately not working in the SAP space anymore. Really bummed that he nver made it to a TechEd, or at least I don’t remember. I hope the hammock he once offered me is still standing somewhere in Italy waiting for me to relax in. Roberto we really miss you here, please come back.

Manfred Lutz and Ingo Hilgefort are the other two bloggers that have more than one post in the list. We have over 3000 SCNers who have written at least one post, To be in the top 25 is quite the achievement. Thank you all for putting the effort in.

Top 25 SCN Blogs of all Time

1. SAP NetWeaver Portal Reporting for Collaboration Rooms
This Blog describes how to create consolidated and ordered reports out of standard SAP NetWeaver Portal collaboration room raw data files.
Steffen Weber in Knowledge Management (KM), Standards, SAP NetWeaver Platform

2. XI/PI FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Exchange Infrastructure – Frequently Asked Questions
Michal_Krawczyk_PIXI in SAP Process Integration (PI)

3. Sending E-Mail from ABAP – Version 610 and Higher – BCS Interface
Yesterday I posted a weblog on how to send E-Mails from ABAP in releases <= 46D using the API functions. Today we are going to look at releases >= 610 and the BCS Interface.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Application Server

4. Web Dynpro ABAP Demonstration Videos
Web Dynpro, with its strong graphical modeling environment, provides an interesting challenge for authors of all types of written materials on the subject. Often videos can fill that gap. This weblog describes several hours of newly released Web Dynpro ABAP videos.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Beginner, Enterprise Portal (EP), Web Dynpro

5. Crystal Reports in Visual Studio 2010
An overview of how Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 customers will receive Crystal Reports.
Blair Wheadon in SAP Crystal Reports, Interoperability .NET

6. New Blog Series: ABAP Trial Version for Newbies
New Blog Series: ABAP Trial Version for Newbies With the new build of the SAP NetWeaver 2004s ABAP Trial Version (SP11), we in SAP NetWeaver Product Management are eager to introduce, through a series of blogs, SAP ABAP technology to those with limited ABAP experience.
Manfred Lutz in ABAP, Application Server, Beginner, Web Dynpro

7. BusinessObjects and SAP Part I
This is Part I of a series on BusinessObjects and SAP products.
Ingo Hilgefort in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Business Process Expert

8. How do you activate ABAP Proxies?
Have you got the error message “Unable to connect to the Integration Builder, when you are trying to create a ABAP PROXY from a R/3 system? This blog show the steps to be executed to make sure you are able to build ABAP Proxies.
vijaya kumari in SAP Process Integration (PI)

9. SAP NetWeaver 7.0 – Java and ABAP Trial Version on Linux – VMware Edition – Tips & Tricks
Here you find the required steps missed out in the official Documentation. How to get the Application Server running, install the License and connect from Windows.
Gregor Wolf in ABAP, SAP NetWeaver Platform

10. BSP a Developer’s Journal Part XIV – Consuming WebServices with ABAP
In this BSP Developer’s Journal we once again look at a technology that just does ride on the edge of the BSP environment. We look at how we can call WebServices with ABAP.
Thomas Jung in Business Server Pages, ABAP, Application Server

11. LOGISTIC COCKPIT DELTA MECHANISM – Episode one: V3 Update, the ‘serializer’
This is the first episode of a series (of three) concernig delta mechanism in the Logistic Cockpit for BW. Here you can find a short overview examining the conception and technical background of delta extraction related to logistic flows towards BW system by using the Serialized V3 Update.
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

12. Basic ABAP OO eLearnings
I frequently receive requests for learning materials on basic ABAP Object Oriented concepts. In response I have created a 5 part eLearning series that is intended to be accessible to anyone just starting out with ABAP OO.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Beginner, Business Server Pages, Web Dynpro

13. Troubleshoot the SAP NetWeaver 2004s BI Frontend Installation
This aim of this blog is to discuss how to configure your browser parameters as well as discuss how to install the latest SAP NetWeaver 2004s BI Frontend Components. Keep in mind that it is always best to keep your frontend patches up to do date. This article covers most of the issues I’ve seen when working with different browsers and frontend components specifically related to installation of frontend components.
Prakash Darji in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Enterprise Portal (EP)

14. LOGISTIC COCKPIT – WHEN YOU NEED MORE – First option: enhance it !
Through this weblog we will go on in our tour around the logistic data extraction world: after having familiarized with the data flows that the system can run for every available update methods in LBWE and before approaching all the other extraction mechanisms managed by SAP Business Warehouse, now it’s necessary facing this question: what’s happen if a standard logistic datasource (and its related information set) is not enough for our needs ?
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

15. Web Dynpro ABAP exercises from TechEd 2007
For those who are looking to improve their Web Dynpro ABAP skills, here is the content of the hands-on session for Web Dynpro ABAP at TechEd 2007. Based on the ESM (Enterprise Sales Model), the exercises are structured so that the result of one task forms the foundation for the next exercise. The download contains all required objects, the ESM data generator, the example solutions, the templates, and the document ‘CD255 Developing User Interfaces with Web Dynpro ABAP’. All you need is a local installation of the latest ABAP Trial Version.
Manfred Lutz in ABAP, Application Server, Web Dynpro

16. Gravity – Collaborative Business Process Modelling within Google Wave
Gravity is a prototype developed by SAP Research in Brisbane, Australia and SAP NetWeaver Development providing real-time, cloud-based collaborative business process modelling within Google Wave. Google Wave is Google’s new real-time collaboration platform that combines features of e-mail, social networking, wikis and instant messaging in one integrated browser-based client.
Alexander Dreiling in Service-Oriented Architecture, Business Process Expert, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, Business Rules Management, Composition Environment (CE), Consumer Products, Insurance, Interoperability, SAP NetWeaver Platform, SAP Research, Enterprise Social Systems

17. Update Your ABAP Development Skills to SAP NetWeaver 7.0
If the title of this blog sounds familiar, then chances are good that you have attended session CD251 at one of the TechEds this year. Now find out how some of the core content of this TechEd Session has been made available as an Online SDN E-Learning.
Thomas Jung in ABAP, Service-Oriented Architecture, SAP Process Integration (PI), SAP TechEd, Web Dynpro

18. BusinessObjects and SAP – Installation and Configuration Part 1 of 4
In this blog series I am describing the steps that are required to install and configure the BusinessObjects solution on top of a SAP BI system (Part #1).
Ingo Hilgefort in Analytics, Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Community Day, ERP, SAP NetWeaver Platform, SAP TechEd

19. ABAP Proxies in XI(Client Proxy)
The other way of interfacing XI is through proxies. From WAS 6.20, proxy generation feature enables application systems to communicate with XI using proxies. Proxy generation enables you to create proxies in application systems. Proxies encapsulate the creation or parsing of XML messages and the communication with the relevant runtime components required to send or receive the messages.
Ravikumar Allampallam in SAP Process Integration (PI)

20. Generic Extraction via Function Module
Short overview about the extraction api, using custom defined function modules.
Siegfried Szameitat in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

21. Aspirant to learn SAP XI…You won the Jackpot if you read this!-Part I
My inbox is flooding with many mails soliciting the direction to start their career into SAP XI. I am too lethargic to reply for everyone as it is a bit lengthy process to explicate it in a mail. You can ask me, Why am blogging so late? I told you already am lazy to pen lengthy stuff:)…But…One day I got a mail from an graduate student asking me to guide him…!!….Alas! Iam amazed and impressed with that mail….I guess SDN Community has accomplished its goal in global marketing and inspiring all sorts of people across the globe……Kuddos to SDN!…
Sravya Talanki in SAP Process Integration (PI)

22. LOGISTIC COCKPIT DELTA MECHANISM – Episode three: the new update methods
This third episode describes in detail all the elements required to help make an aware selection of the right new update method (after the serialized V3 update mechanism replacement) for the applications related to the Logistic Cockpit.
Roberto Negro in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse

23. Http* Errors in XI
There are many forum discussions about Http Errors. This blog is collective information about most common HTTP errors occurring during XI implementations and possible tips to solve the problems.
Krishna Moorthy P in SAP Process Integration (PI)

24. SAP’s definitive strategy for planning technologies moving forward: What’s the word on BPC, BI-IP and SRC?
This blog discuss SAP’s direction for planning products. It describes SAP’s official stance, and provides a bit more insight into Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for SAP NetWeaver.
Ryan Leask in Analytics, Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Intelligence (BusinessObjects), Business Process Expert, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, Business Solutions, Enterprise Performance Management, SAP NetWeaver Platform

25. First steps to work with Change Request Management scenario
This blog describes how to create a test landscape to practice with the Charm scenario in Solution Manager 7.0 without creating interferences with real TMS landscapes. Also you will find tips and tricks for the common mistakes in the configuration of this scenario.
Dolores Correa in SAP Solution Manager

Many thanks again to Mark Finnern for this great contribution. Here is Mark’s career summary.

Mark Finnern is the Chief Community Evangelist of the SAP Community Network focusing on the SAP Mentor initiative. He is an SAP veteran, has implemented SAP FI/CO at many customers in Germany and the US. Was the co-inventor of the Pre-Configured Client (PCC), which at times was used by 90% of all US SAP customers to save implementation time. It evolved into SAP’s Best Practices and All-In-One offerings. He is the proud owner of a Traffic Monitoring System patent. Mark was the driving force behind community features of the SAP Community Network: Blogs, points recognition system, wiki, Community Day now Inside Track. Mark Finnern has a bachelor’s degree in Business oriented Computer Science from the Fachhochschule in Furtwangen Germany. He is also the founder and host of the Future Salon with its new tag line: Creating a world that works for all.

Source: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/27705

The earnings of an SAP professional depend on many variables, including your location, education level, and experience, as well as the location of the company you work for and the industry you are in. Published by Panaya for the third year now, this survey will help you compare your compensation makeup to industry peers, better understand what drives compensation in this market, and get useful ideas for increasing your value.

Please click on the image below to access the full report (pdf)

The 2011 study conducted by Panaya Inc. was read by thousands of SAP professionals all over the world and received great accolades as one of the most comprehensive salary studies focused on SAP talent.

How does your salary compare with those of other SAP professionals in your industry?
Would you like to know where you stand on this hot topic?

Just fill in the survey and see how your salary matches up to those of other SAP professionals. It is based on parameters such as:

• Job Title
• SAP experience
• Region
• …and many other parameters

All individual responses will be strictly confidential. The report will be available only in aggregate form (in a future post).

Please click on the image below to access the survey.

Cloud services present some intriguing opportunities for augmenting, or even replacing, corporate data centers. With the ability to quickly spin up new servers, whether to help ease the burden during peak periods or get a new project off the ground quickly, the cloud can bring a new level of agility to organizations that use it effectively. But using it effectively means paying attention to lots of details. ERP Executive talked with Martin English, senior consultant with Stream Technologies, an SAP NetWeaver services and consulting company based in Australia, who offered these tips to get you started.

That said, it is important to keep in mind 5 key points if you’re thinking about taking SAP into the Cloud.

1. Build up staff confidence and skills
2. Choose your spots
3. Keep fundamentals in mind
4. How will you address disaster recovery
5. Estimate usage carefully

Please click on the image below to access the full report (PDF, opens in a new window)

ERP Executive is Published by Panaya Inc.

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This article describes 5 different ways on how you can effectively keep a control on the existing SAP licenses:

1. Keep a constant communication channel open with your SAP account executive
2. Actively use the SAP Support Portal
3. Actively use the SAP License Administration Workbench
4. Take Advantage of Software Audit Tools
5. Bring in a Software Audit Service

Source: Panayna Inc

Panaya’s main focus in this study were issues that are of interest to the global SAP community versus regional issues.

For example:

• Are Europeans earning more than Americans? (Hint: No)
• Is there gender bias among SAP professionals?
• Is there a correlation between education and pay level?
• What are the top paying jobs?
• What is the outlook for 2011?

Note: you can also view the 2011 SAP Salary Survey to access the complete figures and survey results.

The SAP Salary Survey

The earnings of an SAP professional depend on many variables, including your location, education level, and experience, as well as the location of the company you work for, the SAP version you are working on, the industry you are in, as well as your gender. Panaya conducted this survey to help you compare your compensation makeup to industry peers, better understand what drives compensation in this market, and get useful ideas for increasing your value.

Get your 2011 SAP Salary Survey – Infographic

Please click on the image below to access and download the whole PDF.

About Panaya Inc

Panaya’s software-as-a-service helps companies that use SAP or Oracle reduce 80% of their upgrade and testing risk and effort. Utilizing a cloud-based supercomputer, Panaya simulates the upcoming upgrade, automatically pinpointing which custom programs will break as a result of the upgrade and automatically ?xing most of these problems.

Panaya’s testing solutions dramatically expedite ERP testing and eliminate the need for manual test script maintenance. Seamlessly capturing business knowledge in the background, as users work with the ERP applications, Panaya automatically generates plain-English test scripts that are rapidly executed and continually self-adjust based on test results

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.

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.

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.