The New SCN SAP NetWeaver Architecture Category – An Introduction

Dear Friends at the SAP Community Network,

it is my pleasure to have fulfilled one of this year’s small personal goals and contributed to the

realisation of a new Category on the SCN, for everything NetWeaver Architecture and concerning

NetWeaver Architects.

The new Category can be found here, SAP NetWeaver Architecture Category On the SAP SCN.

And it looks like this:

         

Why did we all work hard to get a new Category specifically, for NetWeaver  Architecture

and Architects ?

A number of people have found it surprising and strange, that there are Categories and Spaces

on the SCN for nearly everything one can think of in the SAP world, apart from, NetWeaver

Architecture.

But, what is NetWeaver Architecture ?

Putting it into the perspective of a town, NetWeaver Architecture is the town building planning office.

NetWeaver Architecture decisions and plans for designs ensure in every company that the best

decisions for the SAP Landscapes all over the world are being taken.

We all know, if a town doesn’t have strong leadership and control from the planning authority all kinds

of strange things can happen.

The same is true in SAP Landscapes.

Starting with SAP Landscape planning, and moving  through the whole spectrum of SAP NetWeaver

Architecture related decisions, if there is not proper planning, and understanding and forward thinking

and subject matter expertise at the SAP and Enterprise Architecture levels then the result can often

become expensive to support and maintain.

The new SCN SAP NetWeaver Architecture Category, has been born out of desire amongst like

minded members of the SCN Community to have somewhere to discuss

      Architecture decisions

     Strategies

     Challenges

     Problems

    

     Thoughts

     Musings

    

     Trends

     Ideas

Until now, there hasn’t been somewhere on the SCN where Architects can call home, instead there

have been SAP NetWeaver Architecture discussions and documents spread all over the community,

difficult to find, and more importantly, stopping fluid communication amongst Architects.

One of the biggest goals of the new Category is to lead and encourage more engagement on the SCN

from Architects and anybody interested in the Architecture subjects.

With a Category to call home, all Discussions and Blogs and Documents will be in one  place, making

it easier to find information, easier to contribute information and easier to engage with other like minded

people.

Have any Architects ever wished that over a coffee in the morning they could scroll through ONLY the

latest Architecture Blogs and Discussions and Documents, well those prayers are answered and now

they can.

The NetWeaver Architecture Category can be found directly by clicking this link.

Or alternatively, Benny Schaich-Lebek one of our new best friends, has been so kind and given us a

link right in the middle taking pride of place on the NetWeaver Technology Space:

         

Getting into more details, what is the Role of the NetWeaver Architecture Category ?

     . to provide a home for Architects and anybody interested in Architecture

      . to consolidate Architecture subjects      

     . to motivate engagement and contribution

         

     . to make Architecture more fluid on the SCN and less disparate

What is covered in the NetWeaver Architecture Space ?

This is still an open question, to narrow down what is Architecture and where the boundaries of

Architecture lie .

As the SAP NetWeaver Architecture is so new, and young, nothing is yet written in stone,

regarding rules of engagement and barries and dividing lines between other areas       .

There is an ongoing Discussion over here to narrow down what the Architecture category should

cover and everybody is welcome to join this discussion and  contribute and influence this direction.

Who should contribute and engage in the SCN NetWeaver Architecture Category ?

     . SCN is about diversity and inclusion and the SCN Architecture Category is no different

     . ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY who is interested in Architecture is welcome and encouraged

     to engage in Discussions and contribute with Questions, Answering Questions and writing

     Blogs and Documents

     . Everybody is welcome

     . Remember, questions are as valuable as answers, questions encourage answers, and

     everybody learns from the discussions around questions.

     . Infact, Architecture, is one area, where it would be even more valuable to contribute deep

     Architecture questions in the form of Blogs and benefitting from being able to present pictures

     to help explain the question and using the Blog comments as the discussion around the

     subject question, here’s an example of using a blog and the benefits of a blog, ie pictures etc

     as a container for an architecture discussion

What is the RIGHT Architecture Answer ?

Something I find interesting with Architecture is there is never one black and white right answer

to an Architectural question.

This is because, Architecture decisions are influenced amongst other things by:

           . short and long term strategy

           . short and long term goals

           . budgets

           . demand  and it is often the case that what is right for one company is not right for another.

Therefore, in the NetWeaver Architecture Category Discussions and Blogs, there will  not always be

definitive right or wrong answers, only explainations and discussions of strategies based upon all

kinds of outside pressures and decisions. And the more these areas are discussed and the knowledge

shared, so the easier it will be for everybody in the Architecture area and so all Architects will become

stronger by learning from each other.

How to Contribute and Engage in the NetWeaver Architecture Category ?

     . 1, go to the NetWeaver Architecture Category

              

           . 2, click create a Blog or Discussion

              

     . 3, and most importantly, MAKE SURE to click the checkbox      to tag your Contribution, Blog,

     Discussion, Document as       NetWeaver Architecture as shown in this picture:

              

What Next ?

           . let’s all engage and use the new Category

           . if we’re really lucky, one day we might get our own SPACE, how cool would that be ?

          . everybody interested make your way to the What is Architecture Blog and let’s hammer 

          out what exactly Architecture is.

What Would Be Nice To Have ?

          . It would be really nice if we can build up some template foundation Architecture documents

          like what we find in the NetWeaver Installation Master Guides, but more available to the wider

          audience of the SCN

          . helping people with foundation template Architecture decisions

          . advice on common Architecture problems

To wrap up, everyone is welcome, the NetWeaver Architecture Category is about inclusion, and don’t be shy,

because anybody who knows SAP or think they know SAP will know, there is never one right or wrong answer

for Architecture questions, there are always a whole load of factors at play, and the correct decision for any

company is the one which best fulfills all of their  agreed priorities and goals.

Feel welcomed to use the comment section to give feedback on what you would like to see from the

the NetWeaver Architecture Category, and then go into the Category, feel included and engage and start

things off.

We cannot finish this introduction without thanking one of our new best friends, Mariana Mihaylova for all

of the guidance and support she gave in leading us to this interim destination.

All the best,

Andy.

p.s. if you like the subject of this blog, don’t click like, instead, go over to the Category and engage and

contribute.