So what does it mean to innovate on top of a traditional ABAP stack? This may mean different things to different folks depending on whether you are a business person, developer or business process expert. It may mean;
· Starting to really utilize that Java stack sitting out there in your SAP NW landscape.
· Developing a great BPM enabled application that consumes one of those SAP enterprise services that we have had available for so long.
· Finding unique and inventive ways to more fully utilize your existing SAP deployment.
Whatever your answer I think it should definitely find a way to achieve one or more of the following outcomes;
1. Deliver a solution to a problem that does not exist yet or crystallize an opportunity that you can’t see yet
2. Realize a process improvement that changes the game for you in terms of either service execution or product delivery
3. Drive further adoption and use of your SAP system (including ABAP components)
So what do you do when your senior management comes to you and says “I want to monitor the health of my productive SAP systems in real time over the iPhone”. Do you turn around and say;
· Why don’t you just log into SAP and run ST03(N or G )?
· I don’t think that SAP has an application for that yet!
· It’s coming in the next enhancement pack release.
· IPhone, what’s that? (Not a good answer!!)
· Hmm, can I compile objective C on my NW server and do I still need to worry about my Cocoa Touch Layer?
· Sure, let me check SCN and get back to you. I might find some good information there to help me get started.
As it happens there is now a body of work starting to be built up on SCN (SDN-BPX) that starts to address the iPhone issue. As Sergio alluded to in a reply to the first blog there are some really interesting things being done, documented and delivered.
Is Blue the new Green ?
So when considering the whole innovation question let me say that you should start with a thorough review of SCN and SAP sites such as Marketplace.
The next blog will consider the above management request from a BPX point of view (as I am not a developer) and we will see what the potential options are when trying to utilize the iPhone platform to deliver innovation on your ABAP (Blue) stack.
