In this series of posts I'd like to share my findings on the way from HR 4.7 to HCM (ERP 6) with an emphasis on the technical part of implementing Employee Self Services (ESS).
As you may know when you upgrade your system from 4.7 ERP to ERP 6, quite a lot of things change. First of all the whole architecture of the Web Application Server 7.0 (the basis for ERP 6), as compared to the web Application Server 6.20 (the one from 4.7 ERP), has changed dramatically. This involves areas like the stack of components, the patch management and also of course interfaces provided by the AS.
Take a look at these two pictures. I know they are very rough, but they might give you a glimpse on what has changed from a patch management point of view, that is in the way one applies patches or adds new functionality - I'm referring to the Enhancement Packages about which I'd like to talk in a different Blog (link is going to be added soon).
SAP 4.7 ERP architecture
SAP ERP 6 architecture
But it's not only in the architecture of the Web Application Server, the whole user interface area also has undergone major changes - as an example take the introduction of Web Dynpro (first for Java and then for ABAP) as a mid-range replacement for BSP.
Moreover, complete new ideas such as how to create UI's or design processes were brought into the NetWeaver application server. I guess I will have to write a lot of Blogs just to tackle all this new things, but right now, I just want you to get this point: A lot of things have changed and that means, you can't go on like you used to but have to do something. What that is? I will try to answer this in this blog-series.
Challenges you face
The bottom line of this introductional part of my blog series is this: Implementing HCM with ESS is not only a technical upgrade of your HR system. It's actually a major change in the architecture, landscape and technology used by your company where you need to adapt to.
Common questions you should ask yourself:
- Do you have any Java knowhow in your company?
- Does your SAP Basis group know how to implement, run and operate an SAP NetWeaver system landscape consisting of ABAP and Java colmponents?
- Is your backup/restore strategy fit for the challenges/changes that come with WebAS Java?
- Do your application developers know how to extend, create, or at least customize Java based solutions provided by SAP?
- Is your organization setup to govern user rights and roles management in a heterogenous environment consisting of ABAP and Java components?
If you happen to answer no to any of these questions, read the next articles of this Blog.
So far,
Christian Guenther
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