At a time where the SCN website is due to have a clean face, SAP employee and SAP mentor Mark Finnern delights us, yet again, with a highly useful post titled “Top 25 SCN Blogs of all Time“. In case you have missed it, here is your opportunity to know which are the most popular SAP SCN weblogs, of all time. This ranking has been produced taking in consideration the number of user views, counted on the last 8 years. So these are the most viewed weblogs, which obviously reflect which SAP subjects users are more interested in.

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

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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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.

The results of the 2011 SAP Salary Survey are here, published by company Panaya. The survey results are based on responses from more than 800 SAP professionals around the world.

You can now download the complete survey results, with the latest salary figures broken down by job title, geography, education, experience, and other variables.

You will be able to answer questions such as:

• What are the highest paying SAP job titles?
• Does higher education mean higher pay?
• Which industries pay top dollars for SAP skills?
• Do men earn more than women among SAP professionals?
• Get your 2011 SAP Salary Survey Results and find out everything you wanted to know about SAP salaries.

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.

Nice, how do I get my hands on it?

Please click on the image below to access and download the whole PDF (you will need to register with Panaya).

About Panaya

Panaya’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions enable companies that use SAP to save up to 50% of their application lifecycle costs and minimize the risks associated with system changes. Utilizing cloud-based simulation to analyze the impact of pending changes, Panaya automatically pinpoints which custom programs will break as a result of an upgrade or support package implementation and automatically fixes most of these problems. Panaya provides a complete solution for managing these changes, explaining how to fix the anticipated issues, fixing most of them automatically, suggesting the most efficient test plan, and calculating required project budget and resources. To learn more access Panaya’s website.

Caffeine is a toolset that allows execution of the ABAP language on alternative runtimes outside of the ABAP server. As of today, it supports the execution of a subset of ABAP on the JVM (Java), Dalvik VM (Android), iOS (Objective C), and JavaScript. Its core design is centered around high performance, multi platform execution and multi threading.

Caffeine is at the moment a prototype project and proves the claims made. There is currently no relation to any current or future SAP product, but SAP is working on achieving this.

What’s it for?

Caffeine is a technology, not an application, and it can thus be applied to many use cases. Caffeine is not trying to enable the migration of existing ABAP code to other platforms, but is focusing on adding value to SAP’s On-Device, On-Demand, On-Premise strategy by making SAPs business programming language reach into spaces like mobile devices that our customer are looking to unlock and feed with information coming from the customers backend. Caffeine strives to help developers to build business applications that are better integrated from frontend to backend.

Download Full Paper

SAP StreamWork is now available as a mobile application for the Apple iPhone. Users can keep collaborating with their teams and driving activities forward, even while not at their desks.

The SAP StreamWork mobile application is delivered with settings to access your internet-based SAP StreamWork application, and also has prebuilt integration to your device. With the SAP StreamWork mobile app, you can manage SAP StreamWork from your mobile device so that method content such as notes, pro/con, discussion, decisions, quick poll, and consensus can be easily shared and securely administered among all SAP StreamWork participants.

This application has many exciting features, such as the ability to view team member profiles directly within an activity, to start a phone call or send an e-mail, taking advantage of iPhone native functionalities such as easy use of media files and voice notes. Below ate a few screenshots of the SAP StreamWork mobile app for iPhone in action:

Extend SAP StreamWork to your entire organization: Enterprise Edition

The enterprise edition of SAP StreamWork promises to bridge the gap between people’s demands for easy-to-use, quickly available software and access to enterprise information, and IT’s challenge in delivering enterprise data to cloud applications securely. SAP highlights this framework as being secure, quick to install, easy to manage and easy to extend.

It includes all the teamwork capabilities of the professional edition and adds advanced security, automatic provisioning, and a foundation for integration with your enterprise applications. It’s an affordable enterprise solution that works with your existing IT investments – and provides the flexibility to allow your business users to work the way they want and be productive immediately. Compare all editions.

Further reading and Download links

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!

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

It gives me great pleasure to announce that today I’m releasing version 2.0 of the SAPLAB.org blog. Since the beginning of this project, roughly and more seriously about 2 years ago, I tried as much as possible to update the blog with useful and practical information around several SAP subjects. While doing this, I always tried to add my own personal flavor and experience to it, without, obviously, compromising any client sensible information.

The result and feedback has been good and now I’ve decided to raise this project to a new level. Besides the new look and feel, which is now more web 2.0 friendly, new functionalities will come and also more posts in the following weeks. Please be aware and keep visiting the blog! Please click here to subscribe the newsletter, which will bring updates to your e-mail.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all returning visitors, as well as new visitors landing in SAPLAB. Please take your time to browse through the blog and don’t forget to leave your comments. It’s what gives life to this project!

Sincerely, kind regards.

Antonio Caldas

SAP is probably the world’s leading supplier of process automation technology. Over half of the world’s business transactions, involving 12 Million users in 120 countries, touch one of 140,000 SAP systems – but is only recently making a full entry into the BPM arena. The applications in SAP’s Business Suite, such as ERP and CRM, already automate the majority of its customers’ core process logic, and in doing so deliver both efficiency and standardization.

But BPM is just as much about business-IT alignment, linking strategy to execution and governance to business integration, as it is about process automation. SAP recognizes this, and its approach to BPM must harmonize these new dimensions with its customers’ substantial existing investment in process automation via the SAP Business Suite. In that sense, the company’s BPM strategy differs from that of a pureplay BPM technology vendor or a SOA middleware supplier. SAP offers a set of mutually reinforcing BPM building blocks that leverage existing customer investment while providing a unification roadmap for the future.

(Source: text extracted from the official SAP Netweaver BPM Whitepaper)

Below are a list of 10 BPM Frequently Asked Questions. Please comment on them, it will be highly appreciated! Thanks!

1. How to assign users to a task instance

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Navigate to the affected task instance.
• Switch to the ‘Owners’ tab in the details.
• Add one user by clicking ‘Nominate’.

2. How to check if a Web service is reachable

• First of all make sure that the providing system is up and running.

then

• Check by WSDL
  • Log on to the WS Navigator as a system administrator (http://host:port/wsnavigator).
  • Search for Service Interfaces by WSDL.
  • Copy the WSDL URL into the input box & click ‘Next’.
  • Select the correct operation & click ‘Next’.
  • Specify the input parameters & click ‘Next’.
  • Optional: Specify correct credentials if prompted for.
  • Check if the result is returned correctly or if some error messages were supplied by the back end.

or

• Check by Logical Destination:
  • Log on to the WS Navigator as a system administrator (http://host:port/wsnavigator).
  • Search for Service Interfaces by Logical Destination (the one used in the Automated Activity).
  • Select the correct one & hit ‘Next’.
  • Select the correct operation & hit ‘Next’.
  • Specify the input parameters & hit ‘Next’.
  • Optional: Specify correct credentials if prompted for.
  • Check if the result is returned correctly or if some error messages were supplied by the back end.

3. How to check if SAP NetWeaver BPM is up and running

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Go to the ‘Process Troubleshooting’ (SAP NetWeaver Administrator » Problem Management » Processes & Tasks » Process Troubleshooting).
• Check if components are marked as missing.
  • To check the services in details:
    • Go to ‘Start & Stop Services’ (navigation via ‘Related Links’ available).
    • Filter for ‘Galaxy’ and check if all (4) services are started properly. If not try (re-)starting them.
    • If the services cannot be started check the trace for reasons.
  • To check if the applications are started:
    • Switch to ‘Java EE Applications’.
    • Filter for ‘glx’ and check if all applications (except *.dbschema) are up running. If not try (re-)starting them.
    • If the applications cannot be started check the trace for reasons.

4. How to check the default trace

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Go to the ‘Log Viewer’ (SAP NetWeaver Administrator » Problem Management » Logs & Traces » Log Viewer).
• Open the ‘Default Trace’.
• Filter for the timeframe when the issue had happened.
• Look / Search for entries related to ‘com.sap.glx’ or ‘com.sap.bpem’.
• In case the reported entry did not provide enough information to solve the problem and / or the trace entry looks like a defect in the application consider opening a message

Hint: If nothing was found try increasing the log level and try to redo the action. Finally check again.

5. How to check the service group configuration

There are currently two comprehensive documents dealing with SOA configuration, the official documentation and an introduction document explaining the concepts and the relations between the different entities. Make use of the resource in order to configure your service correctly:

• Configuring Web Services and Web Service Clients in the SAP NetWeaver Administrator (CE 7.11 documentation)
• The New SOA Configuration Approach (by Alexander Zubev)

6. How to check the UWL connector configuration

• Log on to the Portal as a system administrator (http://host:port/irj)
• Go to the ‘Universal Worklist – Administration’ (Portal » System Administration » System Configuration » Universal Worklist & Workflow » Universal Worklist – Administration)
• Check if the table contains an entry of type ‘BPEMUWLConnector’ and if the corresponding system (which is configured for the entry) is up and running.

See also in the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment Library, Configuring the UWL for BPM Tasks.

Hint: If the connector is not part of this list then it was not automatically added during installation of SAP NetWeaver BPM.

7. How to configure roles

• Log on to the User Management as a system administrator (http://host:port/useradmin).
• Search for the user(s) to be configured.
• Once found, select one entry and choose ‘Modify’.
• In the details, go to the ‘Roles’ tab.
• On the left side, search for the role, select it and add it to the set of assigned roles.
• Save the changes.

Typical roles used in BPEM are:

• Every User Role (accessing UWL)
• BPEM End User Role (BPEM UIs)
• SAP BPM Navigation (SAP NetWeaver Administrator)
• SAP BPM SuperDisplay (SAP NetWeaver Administrator)
• SAP BPM SuperAdmin (SAP NetWeaver Administrator)

See also in the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment Library, Authorizations and Roles.

8.How to find tasks recently created

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Go to the ‘Process Repository’ (SAP NetWeaver Administrator » Configuration Management » Processes & Tasks » Process Repository).
• Select the component in which the task is located.
• Select the version of the process recently started which should have created the task instance.
• Click on the name of the task definition. Due to contextual navigation this will bring you to ‘Manage Tasks’ filtered by the task definition.

or

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Navigate to the process started recently.
• Select the process instance and click on ‘Show Tasks’ in the toolbar.

or

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Go to the ‘Manage Tasks’ (SAP NetWeaver Administrator » Operation Management » Processes & Tasks » Manage Tasks).
• Use one of the predefined filters and check if your task is part of the list.
• Expand the search box for tasks (2nd icon in the toolbar).
• Click on ‘Advanced’.
• Filter for tasks with:
  • ‘created from/to’ = today
  • ‘lifecycle’ = all
  • ‘status’ = all
  • ‘priority’ = all

9. How to increase the trace level

• Log on to the SAP NetWeaver Administrator as a system administrator (http://host:port/nwa).
• Go to the ‘Log Configuration’ (SAP NetWeaver Administrator » Problem Management » Logs & Traces » Log Configuration).
• Switch to ‘Trace Locations’.
• Select the node ‘com.sap.glx’ and/or ‘com.sap.bpem’.
• Set the trace level to ‘Debug’ or ‘Info’.
• Select ‘Apply to sub-nodes’.

10. How to start a process out of Web Dynpro?

Once a process is deployed it exposes itself as a web service (so called ‘web service provisioning’). Thus you could import this web service model into the Web Dynpro project and execute it like any other web service. As a result a new process instance will be started off with each successful web service request.

More information on https://help.sap.com/saphelp_nwce711/helpdata/en/62/a6d7ac03994e0796c6b949c8952547/frameset.htm

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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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In the beginning of last week, SAP released 12 Simple Sample Applications for Enterprise Services Consumption (Simple Sample Apps) using the SOA rollout platform Enterprise Services Workplace. These Apps are use cases for the most commonly used Enterprise Services, based on several SAP consumption technologies. These Apps are ready to to use and run in the ES Workplace environment. They also include technical information and documents, programming code, implementation models and demo data. SAP customers and partners can also download and install these Apps locally, in order to test-run them using the backend system of the hosted ES Workplace that they’re using.

SAP announced the Simple Sample Apps in the beginning of 2009 and already the SOA community responded well. Beta testers from all around the world gave their feedback, saying that the Simple Sample Apps are the proper way to take the first steps towards the Enterprise Services consumption, using a comprehensive and straightforward manner.

The initial 12 Simple Sample Apps cover 35 of the most popular Enterprise Services, as well as 16 business objects currently shipped by SAP. They include  several business use cases from various industries. For each Simple Sample App, the following items are available upon download:

• An online demo version
• A detailed documentation on how to use the application
• An archive ready to be imported in an SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment 7.1 EhP1 (SAP NW CE 7.1.1)
• A list of the enterprise services consumed by the App
• Sample testing data

Each download sample also include a detailed guideline on how to install SAP NW CE 7.1.1 on your local PC and how to import an run the application archive.

According to SAP:

Simple Sample Apps provide several benefits. First of all, you can take them as a starting point and accelerator for own SOA projects, just by lowering the hurdle to deal with new technology. The apps demonstrate end-to-end what it takes exactly to build a little composite application, using enterprise services that SAP delivers today. Secondly, they are instantiated Best Practices for testing and quality assurance in SOA projects, since a running Simple Sample App is the final proof point that an enterprise service does what it should do. And last but not least, Simple Sample Apps are a great tool for demo and training purposes, as they help everybody explore and understand the essentials of enterprise services consumption in a nutshell.

Additional links and resources

• Get started with the Simple Sample Apps by downloading them in the Enterprise Services Workplace