User Defined Objects in SAP Sourcing/CLM

This blog should explain the user how to setup and utilize User Defined Objects in SAP Sourcing/CLM.

Introduction

SAP Sourcing/CLM is known for its flexibility and configuration capabilities; some examples are the ease of adding new fields and the ability to configure the user interface with different field labels and layouts. Another feature which has been proven to be very helpful for our customers are User Defined Objects
(UDO).

UDOs allow system administrators to configure an entirely new business object. They include all of the major features of SAP Sourcing business documents including the document type / template creation model, configurable phase definitions, workflow, and user collaboration. The main use case for customers have been:

• Custom forms (e.g. project requests or legal service requests)
• Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
• Surveys
• Legal Service requests
• Custom approvals for certain categories

Enable UDOs

A base installation and setup of SAP Sourcing does not come with UDOs enabled. UDOs are enabled via system properties that are set by the system user. There is a single property that turns them on and separate system properties that enable each of the five configurable UDOs. There are system properties for both purchaser side and supplier side enablement (UDOs are able to be seen by suppliers in addition to buyers if the requirements dictate such).

Security Profiles

Once the system properties are enabled, UDOs are available for use in the system. However, SAP Sourcing does not come with any security profiles that provide access to the UDOs; as a result, adjustments to the relevant security profiles are required to provide the appropriate access to the UDOs and the associated setup objects (document types and configurable phase definitions).

Upon establishing the system properties and security profile settings, a new navigation menu option will exist for UDOs. You can enable up to five UDOs with different settings, in the case above, only one UDO is enabled.

Security Template

One important step in the setup of UDOs is to create a security template for the new object.

Localized Resources

Finally, SAP Sourcing provides a basic set of tabs and data that can be used on a UDO. Obviously, the real power is achieved by adjusting the layout through page customizations and adding new fields via extension definitions. Also, for UDOs, it is important to update the localized resources so that terms such as ”User Defined BizDoc” are changed to the appropriate term based on the configuration.

Before:

After

Wrap-Up

As you can see, the real power of UDOs is achieved through the inherent SAP Sourcing flexibility that enables custom fields and user interface adjustments using the extension definition and page customization capabilities in setup.

To review, the key things to do when adding UDO functionality to an implementation are:

• Enable UDOs using system properties
• Update the appropriate security profiles with the necessary access rights
• Update the appropriate localized resources to reflect the true use of the UDO
• Add the necessary extensions and page customizations for the business functionality required
• Create the appropriate Document Types
• Create the appropriate Phase Configurations
• Add Workflow (if required)