Today (less than 2 or so hours ago) I started the ERP on HANA Trial.  You can do this yourself by going to try.saphana.com/erp

Be sure you have an Amazon Access Key and Secret Key before starting. 

There is also a great tutorial to follow, parts of which I share here.  When you first launch the Fiori Launchpad using the trial, you first see the following screen:

One part of the tutorial takes you through the typical procure to pay (MM) and SD cycles.

The above is the purchase order approval screen.  As we learned in DJ Adams Understanding SAP Fiori Webinar – The Director’s Cut webcast, the “Approve” button is semantically green, meaning “go”, red/reject means “stop”, etc.

Compare that with today’s ME28 screen back in ERP:

This screen would require some training for the procurement manager.

The above is the sales order screen in the Fiori.  It is unrecognizable from today’s normal VA01/VA03 transactions:

In checking the material availability part of the tutorial (you can see we have 60 item shortage in red) some of the icons reminded me of SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio

Above Fiori screen shows I created a purchase order to fulfill the material shortage.  It is nice to see the graphic reflect that too.

The purchase order is approved in the above screen.  In the tutorial you then receive the items (MIGO) and create the invoice (MIRO).

The above Fiori screen shows the purchase order status – the invoice is blocked for payment.  It is an easy screen to read, and I wonder how many questions this screen would resolve in companies today – calls about “what is the status of my PO?  Where is the invoice?  Why haven’t I been paid”.

The next part of the tutorial takes us to the Goods Receipt / Invoice Receipt monitor.  As an accountant and having supported GRIR processes – all I can say is WOW.  I believe accountants will love this screen.  It looks so easy.

Here is what MR11/Maintain GR/IR clearing looks like today:

There are lots of tips/tricks to make things simple but still, it is not an easy screen to read.

Another part of the ERP on HANA tutorial takes you to SAP BusinessObjects Lumira Server (1.15) to read the profitability report:

Then you logon to the BI launchpad to run the BI reports (such as Crystal, Design Studio) against HANA Live views:

There is also a Production Planning part of the tutorial – I skipped that, since we are not using that module today.

It takes about 45 minutes to activate the instance, but then the tutorial is very easy to follow along and use.  I encourage you to check it out at SAP ERP powered by SAP HANA | Cross Industry | Aerospace & Defense | Industries | SAP HANA Marketplace

I like the way these cloud trials are set up – I am not a technical / BASIS / developer type, and I was able to easily follow the steps.  I see these trials as self-service trials, and it is a nice way to get your hands on things like Fiori, the GRIR cockpit, Lumira Server, and more.

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