Results of the PI Requirement Prioritization (IFG for PI)
Between November 2011 and February 2012 the International Focus Group for PI (IFG for PI, formerly named as GSIG for PI) collected 90 requirements for functional improvements of the SAP NetWeaver PI platform. After the consolidation in February and March 133 participants rated and prioritized the requirements by means of an online survey.
Apart from the SCN IdeaPlace, which is open to all SCN members, the requirement prioritization has especially addressed members of the national SAP user groups. We are already in discussion with SAP how these two channels could be combined for future requirement collections.
The top 20 rated requirements out of 90 are:
| Number | Description |
Absolute Points | Relative Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Documentation of graphical mappings (incl. export of mapping documentation) without use of third party tools | 499 | 4,12 |
| 2 | Improved tracing functionality for SOAP and HTTP channels | 405 | 3,82 |
| 3 | Business activity monitor (dashboard to query and display detailed message traffic and to analyse specific patterns, e.g. during a period of 6 months) | 398 | 3,72 |
| 4 | Integrated test tool for regression testing (for support package upgrades, etc.) | 393 | 3,71 |
| 5 | Configuration of individual archiving and deletion periods (e.g. based on integration scenarios or Integration Flows) | 393 | 3,67 |
| 6 | Improved maintenance for value mappings (improved UI, upload/download into Excel) | 390 | 3,64 |
| 7 | Public API for access to Enterprise Services Repository | 384 | 3,12 |
| 8 | Graphical extract / overview of configuration scenarios for interface documentation | 382 | 3,64 |
| 9 | Version comparison for objects (like in ABAP) | 371 | 3,82 |
| 10 | Additional alerting functions (message stays in queue over x seconds, sender channel receives no messages within x hours, maximum message number exceeded) | 368 | 4,13 |
| 11 | Display flat file content in PI monitoring for content conversions | 366 | 3,49 |
| 12 | Renaming of objects in ESR | 363 | 3,63 |
| 13 | Renaming of objects in Integration Directory | 363 | 3,49 |
| 14 |
Improved, more powerful flat file conversion without requirement of third party tools or SAP B2B Add-On |
363 | 3,87 |
| 15 | Start of PI in safe mode with stopped channels (so that channels can be started in coordinated way after an uncontrolled system crash) | 360 | 3,49 |
| 16 | Test/debug of graphical mappings accessing dynamic configuration | 356 | 3,46 |
| 17 | Streaming support for large messages (not only file-to-file scenarios) | 350 | 3,65 |
| 18 | Support for XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0 (mapping and routing) | 348 | 3,48 |
| 19 | Eased identification of source system in case of locked users | 346 | 3,64 |
| 20 | Parameter checks for communication channels and adapter modules | 346 | 3,60 |
In the list above the requirements are sorted by the absolute numbers of points they got by the participants. The relative points show the average number of points (from 1 to 5) based on the participants who rated the specific requirement. Top requirement in both kind of ratings is the documentation for graphical mappings.
SAP has nominated 9 out of the 20 top requirements to take part in the SAP Customer Connection Program. For details go to the blog IFG for PI: Subscription process for new PI Features in SAP Customer Connection Program.