SAP ONE Support Launchpad Blog Series: A Revolutionary New Way to Access Support
*UPDATED June 14, 2016*
As of April 20, 2016, the SAP ONE Support Launchpad and redesigned applications are the default method of accessing SAP Support online. To learn more about the Launchpad, please enjoy the blog article series below and visit the Launchpad information page in the Support Portal.
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The Launchpad is an integrated single access point to support resources from within the SAP Support Portal (support.sap.com). It provides you with a seamless support experience – whether you’re using SAP on-premise solutions, cloud products, or a combination of the two. With consolidated access to support resources into a single customized and intuitive interface, the Launchpad enables you to accomplish support-related tasks for any combination of SAP products and solutions with ease and efficiency.
Previously, if you administered multiple products across both SAP on-premise and cloud solutions, you often had to manage incidents and access support through multiple entry points. By utilizing customizable role profiles, customers will access a Launchpad that is tailored to display only relevant, task-focused applications and at-a-glance data and insights to ensure the most efficient and user-friendly experience possible. Depending on your role permissions, you may be able to manage your support incidents and users, system analytics, help articles, and product documentation for all of your SAP solutions. See at-a-glance system statistics, manage software keys and updates, and more with the Launchpad’s easy-to-use, tile-based interface.
The Launchpad was designed, not only with you in mind, but through conversations with and regular feedback from customers like you. With your voice, we’ve developed a user-friendly platform to help make your support experience as simple and streamlined as possible.
Read more about the Launchpad in this blog series:
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Important Browser Support Information
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Sneak Preview – License Key Application
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Sneak Preview – User Management
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: SAP Passport
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Built on Award-Winning SAP Fiori Technology
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Personalization
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Incident Management Application
SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Password Self-Service for Support Users
Get Faster Answers to Your Support Questions with Expert Chat
Ready to learn more? Click here to visit the Launchpad information page in the Support Portal to view additional resources.
Hey Jamie,
I'm using the new launchpad for quite some time allready and I do like it a lot.
One thing I'm wondering, though: how do I easily switch between languages?
I started a discussion about that here: launchpad.support.sap.com - &sap-language ignored?
Best
Joachim
Hi Joachim,
Thanks for your comment and I am replying directly to your other thread.
Best,
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
to me the new Support Applications are a big step back, since in almost every application i need more Clicks to achieve the same result as before. To use a tablet oriented user interface on the desktop is not a good idea.
Best Regards,
Axel
Hi Axel,
I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. We designed the Launchpad to integrate many previously separate systems to achieve less clicks for each application, so it's disappointing to hear you feel it is the opposite. I will pass along your comments to the Launchpad team. If you have any further details to add, please do use the Feedback button in the bottom left of the Launchpad screen to reach that team directly.
Best,
Jamie
I use SSCR daily to register dev keys or object keys. For about a month now, I've had a lot of problems with SSCR:
Deleting an object key or dev key is not possible in Firefox, Chrome or IE. Select the item you'd like to delete from the my company's registrations screen, then hit the delete button and confirm the popup that you do really want to perform the delete. Message that is returned says nothing was selected (it was!) and nothing was deleted. Please fix this.
Same view, my company's registrations. The 'select all' icon/button does nothing, no selection at all. I would like to be able to use the 'download to PC' function, but cannot select all the rows to do that. Selecting rows individually, I can get the download button to work, the resulting file contains only column headings, no data. So even when I can get something to download, it's of no use.
Registering a dev key. I used to be able to put multiple userids in the input box on the dev key registration screen and then select 1 or more installations, hit the register button and have all the keys generated in one step. No more! One userid and one installation at a time...that's the only way the new SSCR will work. The instructions on this screen explicitly state multiple requests are allowed, and this used to be the case.
Please either fix these rather significant problems or tell me how best to report this same information to get them fixed. I'm spending a lot more time on SSCR than I should have to, more time than before. Not a good set of improvements in that regard.
Hi Carolyn,
I've passed along your comments to the Launchpad team. In the future, please use the Feedback button (bottom left of the LP screen) to submit comments about your LP experience directly to that team. The Feedback submissions are reviewed weekly by the LP team and contribute to decisions about upcoming fixes and enhancements.
Best,
Jamie
Hi Jamie!
I've submitted via the Feedback button on the tool itself 3 times now, the first time about a month ago. I haven't gotten any indication that anybody saw that feedback, so knowing that you've forwarded my comments along directly to that team is heartening.
Appreciate the quick response, too.
Thank you, Carolyn
No problem! It can be frustrating not to get an acknowledgement when you've taken the time to submit feedback, but that team is so flooded with comments and feedback that they simply cannot respond to every single submission. That said, they DO review every single one and hold regular steering calls to determine which items should be included in upcoming development releases, so please know that while you might not get an individual response, your comments are being heard!
Best,
Jamie
Hey Jamie,
is there a public list of topics the team is currently working on?
I think it would be interesting to see.
best
Joachim
Hi Joachim,
You can view the known issues, temporary limitations and planned enhancements on the Application Overview pages in the Portal. From the home page, click the Launchpad Application Overviews under the "New to Support?" menu in the right hand nav menu. From here, you'll be able to view each application with the information I mentioned above.
Best,
Jamie
Also, the What's New page in the Launchpad (the window that pops up when there's something new there) is where you will find information about the most recent release (enhancements, bug fixes, etc.). Just an FYI for you and anyone else who is interested!
Best,
Jamie
And it will keep on reminding you, long after you selected for it not to.
Hi Joachim,
we do have dedicated rollout / feedback sessions in which we present all new functionality available since the last release, give an outlook / insight on what we are working on, present information around the SAP ONE Support Launchpad and collect/discuss feedback/ideas with the participants.
Sessions are held every 6-8 weeks. All engaged and interested customers/partners can participate. There are no obligations. The only prerequisite is a valid Feedback agreement with SAP (which you already have in case you are a member of DSAG).
Please send me your email address, S-User and Company Name by a Direct SCN Message. You will be then invited to all future sessions.
Kind regards, Arno
Hi Carolyn,
I've heard back some information on this issue that I want to share with you. It sounds like this is a known issue and the development team is working on fixing it. In the meantime, they've asked that you use the legacy application until they can provide a solution. My apologies for the inconvenience and frustration.
Best Regards,
Jamie
Hello Jaime,
Thanks for taking the time to put these blogs together. Like previously stated, since we don't always get replies back from the feedback options within the portal, it is nice to know that there are other means of at least getting confirmation things are being reviewed.
On a separate note, I know that SAP gave a reason as to why super administrators no longer had the ability to reset passwords in the new portal (I forget what it was and where I saw it, something about how things interface with the cloud products), however due to the numerous inconveniences to customers, plus the huge security risk SAP is assuming in not allowing a Super Administrator to not change a password, in the case of a terminated employee for example, are there plans to reinstate this functionality?
Thanks,
Randy
Hi Randy,
I do not believe there is any plan to reinstate super user-managed passwords, as it is more technically secure to have users manage their own passwords. For a terminated employee, the super user can delete the terminated employee's user ID or remove their authorizations, so the password itself should not create any additional security risk to the company.
I will ask the responsible team if they have anything additional they'd like to add on this topic.
Best,
Jamie
I also do not like the new launchpad and think its a step backwards.
I also did not like the last changes to the SAP Support Portals especially for Notes Searching or just looking up a Note when already know the Note Number.
I found it very difficult to obtain copy of SAP license and to renew maintenance certs.
And of course the great new tool has the same old issues having to re-login many many times for every visit even with sap passport, almost every link requires authorization.
It would be better to stop playing around with the tool and fix the constant nagging need to re-login, its this constant need to re-login that makes me only want to use the site a a last resort.
Also fix the annoy pop-up stating the the "user session is terminated" when one closes a tab or a link, whats the point of that when one is logged in. Once one goes on note search all know that you will end up with many notes open and having this pop up on each close is irritating. Also if one shutdown the browser when many 'SAP' tabs opened .. the the browser has to open again for each tab that was opened with the "user session is terminated".
Also it would be better to have a separate site type for mobile users than desktop users.
And before you say to use the feedback, I have given much feedback over the years and never get any response.
I wish I could like your post about 5-6 times. Thank you for taking time and pointing this out. Hopefully our voices will be heard.
Hi Derek,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your comments. Information you provide in the Feedback link in the Launchpad is reviewed each week by the development team and contributes to the development of bug fixes and enhancements. You're right, most feedback submissions will not receive a direct response. However, be assured that we are listening and your comments drive every development cycle. I will be sure that the team receives your comments here, as well.
Best,
Jamie
Hi Jamie. Thank you for providing a transparent debate. I have worked with SAP for over15 years now, and I do like, promote and sell the SAP Product. But I have never liked the SAP Support Site in any of its various guises over the years, from constantly moving web adresses, that negate bookmarking, to the last major changes pre Launchpad, introducing Tiles and windows inside windows inside windows
My single biggest gripe that if was fixed would probable make amends of all other annoyances would be to fix the constant need to re-authorizes for any simple procedure.
To do a simple OSS Note Check, even when one knows the number takes multiple steps and mulitlpe re-authorizing whether via UID and password or via SAP Passport pop-up's.
Add multiple S-User ID's to this and it just compounds and multiplies the issues.
At times I have had to use up to 10 Internet Browser and Version combinations to allow to use multiple SAP Passports
I think that now in the new area of openness that SAP should be more open in the development and provide public forums for genuine debate on changes and not driven by what 'Developer' believe and think and imho there is always a huge divide between developers and end-users and its certainly same in my own company.
The PR speak for the new tool says its driven by Customer requests, I wonder what this actually means, as all my customers are currently complaining about the new Launchpad lately and they are getting forced to use it due to the leagcy applications being removed soon.
I read the info in SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Sneak Preview - License Key Application add I have the following isuses / questions.
To Renew Maintenance Cert, does one select a maintenance cert and then select the E-Mail License Key ?
Why not have a button similar to 'Renew Maintenance Certs' ?
Why does the search not have an option to search via SAP SID ?
Why does the 'new' tool still contain old maintenance certs ?
There is no 'Display License Key' Button as was via old tool in the Maintaining System Data options, can this be added ? .On many occasions one would like to copy the license text manually to a text for various reasons.
Also the process is not very ergonomic via a Server/PC or Laptop, one is having to move from bottom to top of screen to complete various steps and this is cumbersome when using large monitors, it may be easier for Mobile Users, but one is not going to carry out much real work via Mobile, maybe for checking status's or minor tasks, but not for downloading software/licenses. I have found the same for most of the tasks I need to perform via this new Tool optimized for mobile with what seems little consideration for non-mobile users.
Hi Derek,
The multiple authorizations issue is certainly on our radar, so we are aware this is not an ideal scenario and are working to better align the authentication process. Let me see if I can find some answers to your other questions, as I'm not personally an expert on all of the individual applications, but I'm happy to ask the team to give me some more insight to share.
Best,
Jamie
Thank you Jamie. I appreciate there is always some 'reason' for changes etc, but sometimes these 'reasons' do not reflect the 'real' world application outside for example developers working in perfect scenarios looking at one aspect of any tool or step rather than the overall.
But the multiple authorizations issue is around for years and maybe that radar needs to be checked :-).
For example, to login into support now one comes to the new site ...
But now we also need to hit the login button at top to call the UID or SAP passport.
Previously once site opened, the passport would be called and opened.
Now we have to call site, hit the login button, accept the SAP passport, get a pop-up about Cloud Identifying and then we are only logged in.
Then we have to accept the SAP passport, get a pop-up about Cloud Identifying, for nearly all other activity, and get a 'End User Session' when closing any of these albeit still logged into the site and now then you are also kicked out of site after some time of in-activity.
It seems that site is designed to keep you out rather than in.
Hello Derek,
To answer at least one of the complaints, instead of going to Support.sap.com, you can go directly to https://launchpad.support.sap.com/
I do agree that the popups for signing on do get old fast though. As a VAR partner, I definitely agree with the multiple S-User part, although not sure there is an easy fix for that. I usually either use different browsers (IE / Firefox / Chrome) for when I am needing to check with more than 1 user, but even that approach limits it to 3 🙂 Hence why I usually just completely close out of one when I need to work as someone else.
@Jamie - Thanks for taking the time to moderate this and work on getting answers to our questions!!!!!!!!!
Thank you but I am already aware of that.
I did not want to use the launchpad, but should have stated in that last post I was talking about pre launchpad and currently using legacy applications.
I also find the launchpad slow and don't like the Mobile touch designed based UI on a laptop/pc, I have not tried via mobile as I don't use mobile and have not a need as of yet.
I stated previously that I use up to 10 combinations of Browsers and different browser versions.
Of course one has to close out one before working on another, its tedious enough working on one, not logging out of one will only lead to issues if multiple sap passports stored in browser as inevitably at some point the wrong one is auto selected and can introduce you to a world of hurt, thankfully I have not got caught out with this but some of my colleagues have been. An yes while this is not the sites issue per say, and due to the difficulties in managing multiple customer/UIDs, but many Companies also now have multiple SAP S-Numbers.
But in all cases the constant need to re-authorise compounds this
Thanks Randy,
but when I use your link to the Launchpad, I will get this: "landing page has failed to load", there it is offered to contact SAP, but when you do, the page stays blank .... No comment.
Also the performance is very bad. To me it seems we are the beta-testers for the developer's ideas - a playground.
Overall the Launchpad is not very supportive and because of that I really really appreciate this thread.
So thanks to all your comments
Matthias
Hello Matthias,
The link definitely should work. I know yesterday I was having some issues getting in also.
Randy
Hi Randy,
thx a lot. I can confirm the link is working fine now.
Matthias
I was hoping that after more use of the Launchpad that it would become more user friendly, but I am coming across more issues.
All these are when using Internet Explorer
Re incident Management
Everytime I need to use check this, I have to change the default search filters and there seems to be no way to set these permanently.
When trying to copy text like Note numbers or urls specified by support, at times and in certain places, the Incident auto-scrolls to to top not allowing me to copy a simple piece of text.
Also if I want to copy more that's shown on screen, it will not allow, when it allows, to copy more than whats shown on screen, one cannot make it scroll down.
When I try to download an attachment from incident, I get the normal IE download pop-up, but the file opens on screen and does not save to download location, you have to manually save the file.
Re the general UI.
The Tiles are far to large for PC/Desktop users and waste of real estate, all off this could be shown in one screen if these Tiles were smaller, or at least give an option to change this.
There needs to some some visual indicator for when a Tile is selected.
The timeout if far to low, and it should not time out when one already has other SAP stuff open like SCN or Notes, please for the sake of sanity increase this to at least 30 mins, to allow people to actual check the Notes specified by Support,
Hello Derek,
Thank you for your feedback here. I have raised each of your issues with development. If we need more details, perhaps specific steps to reproduce some of the issues, I will be in touch with you.
Like Jamie said, we do look at feedback that comes in via the Feedback button too.
Thank you.
Chirag
Thanks Chirag & Jamie for your help and contacts.. the response to my feedback has been great and a great example of collaboration.
Hello,
Its not possible for an administrator to add profiles for other S-Users, so every user has to change it by himself.
Best Regards,
Winfried
Hi Winfried,
Could you elborate here please? You are correct that S-Users must manage their passwords on their own now (not done by the administrator any longer, for privacy reasons). However, are you refering to something else that isn't possible for the administrator to do?
I can then pass this on to the team as feedback.
Thanks for sharing your feedback.
Chirag
Hi Chirag,
Yes, it isn't possible for the admistrator to add profiles. The users must do it themself.
The new launchpad is just awful und such a user unfriendly piece of crap, sorry !
e.g. it is not possible to mark text and do copy paste. thats is IT basics and i ask myself how SAP can realease this without having this function checked ???
furthermore the whole launchpad had bad performance, throws strange error messages, etc....
Hello Martin,
Sorry to hear that.
1) We are aware of the copy/paste issue and have addressed it in the Note/KBA interface for now. You should be able to copy text from a Note or a KBA. We agree that it needs to be added to all other apps as well, and are working on it.
2) We do apologize for the performance issues, and there is a team who does a root-cause analysis after every issue that we experience.
Please know that we appreciate all feedback we get, and are working on improvements based on that feedback.
Thanks
Chirag
Hello Chirag,
thank you for your response. What about copy/paste in OSS notes ? How long it will take until this is fixed. I needed this very often the last days and was not able to do it.
br Martin
right now I am in close contact with SAP about an issue we need to solve.
The launch pad is not available. I don't know the reason and I am pretty sure SAP is very hard working to solve this, but this unavailability started showing up with the usage of the launch pad. Even though I can say exactly I connect these two things together.
so let's wait until it is back again.
this is not satisfying at all.
Matthias
why SAP is not able to serve an alternative access to the main used applications,
most of the legacy (old) application links also try to call at first the launchpad, which is not available right now.
good, valuable professional customer Support is something different
Hi Christoph,
we faced infrastructure issues on Friday morning which also affected the SAP ONE Support Launchpad. We would like to apologize for that. However, Operation is back to normal since Friday noon.
I share your experience Matthias, the stability and response time is far away from being good, it is even a bad publicity for HANA.
Luckily the old way is still around: https://service.sap.com/~form/handler?_APP=00200682500000001952&_EVENT=CREATE_SEA
Quite ironic that you have to confirm a pop-up "I am a ware about the restrictions" if you use the old way.
This pop-up should come if you make use of the new application.
I'm not a huge fan of Launchpad either but the old SAP Marketplace went down quite a few times. Maybe not as much (I don't remember the days when it was still new) but it's not entirely "without sin", to be fair.
Hi Matthias, We do apologize for the performance issues. You are correct that we are working hard to address and prevent them from occuring. Thanks Chirag
Hi Jamie
Thanks for your informative blogs. I do appreciate your effort.
I'm not exactly a fan of the Launchpad. Please allow me to raise a few issues here - the list could be much longer, but I will stick to my biggest gripes (NB: I've previously submitted feedback, but unfortunately never got any sort of response).
I'd suggest to split this fields into 'identifier' and 'description' so that users can customize their layout under Personalization.
Jan
Hello Jan,
Thank you for your specific feedback here. While we cannot respond to every feedback sent in via the "Feedback" button, we do read it all, and very much appreciate your time sending that to us.
To address your concerns specificially:
1) The performance issues with the Launchpad are being looked into and infrastructure changes and updates are being done to address them.
2) I will pass on your feedback about the "Last 5 years" filter being pre-selected to the team responsible. However, they have added a one-click to remove the filter. If you click on the blue bar, the filter will be removed. However, I can understand if you'd rather have the filter not there by default.
3) Thank you for the feedback about the incident inbox. Perhaps you have done this already, but you can remove any columns you don't wish to have, via the 'gear' icon at the top-right of the table. This doesn't address the issues for the 5 columns you mention, but perhaps there are other columns you would like to remove and therefore declutter the screen.
Thank you again for your time.
Chirag
Hi, Jan,
i aggree to 2) sap-note-search
the search with sap-Tools (is it really TREX behind that ??) mostly does not deliver any helpful result.
i usually do a Google-search with "site:sap.com search-item" and mostly get a valuable result-list, which is according to the search term.
to 3) incident list and personalisation
i tried to fit that with personalisation - but after logout and logon again, These personalisation Settings are lost ? is there no persistenz of that personalisation in user-profile?
regards
Christoph
I tried Note&KBA search shortly after it launched, found the FIORI concept less efficient, compared to how I use the legacy site, and decided to wait until it gets better. This week I revisited it (after 15.08. this will be the only option) and unfortunately, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
1. When I search in the FIORI app I get a lot of results not directly related to my criteria with a higher score. For example, OFF_NUMBER_LOCAL_ASSIGN_IN produces 54 results in the new app, no filtering, sorted by score, descending and the first 6 results have nothing to do with India. Yes, I know that I can filter by component, but this won't help me in cases when I don't know in which component I need to look at.
As a comparison, the legacy site produces just 9 results without any filtering, but all are relevant for India localization (which makes sense, the function module is only used there). How is this ranking score calculated in the FIORI app and is somebody already working on improving that?
2. Open in new tab from the result list - I use this functionality a lot, unfortunately in the new app the note is not loaded automatically and I have to go to the tab and reload the page. This is not browser- or addon-related, I have the same problem in IE11 (fully updated) and Firefox (latest version), which are officially supported. This is probably not hard to fix, but if you read 30-40 notes/day, the user experience is not great.
3. Timeouts. I know this was mentioned before, but I am hoping that asking for that again could buff up its priority. Please? I have 10+ tabs open with different SAP notes at the same time (we are performing an upgrade) and I am also checking things in the system. When I get a timeout from the main page, re-logon does not work (I get some message that a file could not be retrieved and I have to reload the page). I have to do the same for every single tab with a SAP note open and I had to do that several times today. This is becomes tedious at some point - do we really need this functionality? At least some way to set a timeout manually for the current session? A script (a.k.a. bot), that performs auto-refresh on page load and at predefined intervals could solve issue 2. and 3. at the same time, but this is not nice.
4. There are some mild annoyances, like wasted screen estate and not really helpful additional information for the note result list, harder to read code changes compared to the legacy (blue-grayish background, black font for code, start/end of deletion with the same font and color), incorrect URLs in PDF export, but they are not serious problems compared to 1.-3. (except maybe the lack of high-contrast color scheme for people with bad eyesight).
Jan Buchmann - as a workaround for pre-filtered content, you can create a custom search engine for Note&KBA search without filters and use it directly in your browser. They use GET for the URL, so this should work even in Internet Explorer.
Hello Veselina,
Thank you so much for the detailed feedback you've provided here. Please allow me to address your points below.
1) I will pass on this specific example of the search relevancy to the team. Thank you.
2) Functionality to open in a new tab was working in the past, but isn't now - I have raised this with the development team as well.
3) I understand your frustration with the timeouts. We have passed that feedback to the appropriate team.
4) Some of the issues you raise here are to do with the FIORI design guidelines but I will let the team know of your concerns here too.
Thank you again, we appreciate your time in sending this to us.
Chirag
A wrong click forced me today to use the launchpad, I tried a search for an error message number: 06220
And I had to wait, to wait, to wait
I then opened another tab and called the old search. And I had a result of 20 notes within a few seconds.
The first tab with the launchpad was still in search mode. I let it run.
Later I came back to the launchpad and it had an expired session, through the mil glass pane it could be seen that there was not yet anything found.
I re-animated this session and it started searching again after I refreshed the browser page. It did again not stop searching.
In the third attempt I had a result:
0 SAP Notes (instead of 20 with the old search)
4 in SCN forums
1 new since yesterday
0 notes found
610 results
217 English
152 German
20 Japanese
and after clicking the blue bar that told me about 610 it just returned 1
and this is what is shown in via the old way:
Hi Juergen
Your findings coincide with mine 100%.
SAP,
Call me counter-revolutionary, but I will stick to the "legacy search" as long as I can. Merely 2.5 weeks remaining... 😥
Call me Don Quixote, but I think it is time for SAP big shots to realize that it is absolutely mandatory to keep legacy OSS search up and running past Aug.15. Otherwise many customers as myself will be frustrated.
Thanks for posting your issue.
To report bugs, the proposed channel are customer tickets. Please use the Component XX-SER-SAPSMP-LAUNCH.
Your specific issue – no results with error code 06220 – has been fixed in the meantime. Please be aware that the search is using ‘exact search’ for numbers (and not fuzzy as for text).
So when comparing to the legacy application, please select ‘Exact Search’ as Search Behavior.
Kind regards, Arno
where exactly do we select Exact search as Search Behavior?
I just tried but did not find a place or button or check box
I tried then Google-like with "06220"
and this is result
Exact search option is in the legacy:
I haven't found a way to influence the search behavior in the new app.
thanks, but I do not see any sense to change my search in the legacy app just to have the same nothing as in the launchpad.
Hi Juergen,
please search using 06220 in the new search. "06220" will be handled as text phrase, and fuzzy search is used.
The switch i mentioned is in the legacy Application.
Kind regards, Arno
Arno, I opened one incident today for what clearly seemed like a bug (see ).
I feel there is a need for a simpler incident submission for the Launchpad issues. E.g. like with all other incidents I had to start with the customer #, then also pick installation and "affected system". None of this information is relevant to the Launchpad issues. When I logged in with S user I should be able to simply report an issue with Launchpad by describing it and possibly adding an attachment.
Hi Jelena,
thanks for the Feedback. We received a similar feedback in the German speaking Feedback Sessions (we offer one for German speaking and one for non-German speaking customers). It makes absolutely sense to provide a simple way to submit SAP ONE Support Launchpad related incidents. We are currently internally discussing the best solution for this use case.
In addition we will release with the next release of the SAP ONE Support Launchpad the updated Incident Form – in which you select a system, not an installation. We already presented a preview in the outlook section of our Feedback / Roll out Sessions.
Kind regards Arno
Can't say I've experienced major performance issues with Launchpad. Wondering if it has something to do with geography, maybe we're hitting different servers/networks or something like that? The timeout is uber-annoying though.
I was actually not a big fan of the idea of Launchpad searching other sources than Notes/KBA. If I want to search on SCN, I'll go to Google that is a lot faster and smarter. I did not object actively to this idea on the promise that the search will be very fast. But it's not, so I really regret letting this slide. Even for me with no big performance issues there is noticeable delay. And I'm utterly confused why is "Sybase..." even there.
If for some reason it's impossible to deliver the promised speed of search then at least just search in the notes only. That's what majority of Launchpad users would likely want (we can have a poll on SCN). This whole business with adding SCN search and trying to blend SCN into the whole support structure is very misguided IMHO.
OK, stand corrected. Now it does not work for me either. Entered the note number and it just went to la-la land ("Searching in Sybase"). Was able to open the note text using the direct link to the note, but can't get anywhere from there either.
This needs to be fixed ASAP.
Hi Jürgen,
100% agree according the search.
I ask myself how can SAP go live with such a crap ? WHO and HOW this was tested inside SAP ? This is quality management sub zero ! shame on SAP, really !
I have no problem with adding a new app to search and have the community do the test, since you can only search you can't really break or mess anything. I only have an issue with removing the current app that was okay and is still better than the new app.
I guess they suffer on the same things as we, 90% is administration and 10% development and test. At times when the product brought success and growth to the company it was probably the other way around.
The way something like this should run is: SAP has to choose e.g. 100 or 200 customers (selected by survey,etc.....) as test pilot group. they should test the whole thing BEFORE it is available for all others.
So maybe from SAP can answer the question why testing was not done that way ? It is a great method as almost ALL problems can be regognized BEFORE go live.
The blog states that the launchpad was built based on customers' feedback, so it seems, some feedback was collected.
There is a problem with the suggestion for pilot customers to test this solution. A company pays me to keep the lights on and add improvements to their systems and processes, why will the business (it is them, who pay the bills in the end) agree to allocate budget for my fee/salary and re-prioritize changes, so that I can assume the role of a beta tester for an initiative that they never asked for and which does not add business value?
Well, to me it looks like they asked some customers for their opinion, but only the Management of the customers, who were naturally very excited about the "modern" tablet interface. Unfortunately they forgot to ask the people who, in the end, had to WORK with it.
to ask "management" is a very poor way 😆
this has to be organized more professional
Hi
Thank you very much for the feedback. A few words about the Collaboration and Feedback.
Collaboration with Users:
we are collaborating with engaged and interested customers right from the beginning of the SAP ONE Support Launchpad.
In our piloting program, we do have dedicated rollout / feedback sessions in which we present all new functionality available since the last release, give an outlook / insight on what we are currently working on, present information around the SAP ONE Support Launchpad, and collect/discuss feedback/ideas with the participants. Those Sessions are held every 6-8 weeks. All interested customers / partners can participate. There are no obligations. The only prerequisite is a valid Feedback Agreement with SAP (which you already have in case you are a member of DSAG).
Even though this program is available to everybody, we are especially interested in having a large number of participants who are using our applications to perform their daily service and support related tasks. In case you would like to be invited to all future sessions, simple send me a direct message via SCN with your name, S-User, e-mail address, and name of your company.
Feedback Channels:
In addition to the Feedback received in the Piloting Program, our current Feedback Channels are:
For some of those channels (e.g. Piloting Program, Social Media, and Direct Feedback) we offer direct replies. For some of the channels, e.g. the Feedback Application, we do not offer a direct reply for each and every feedback. To make this transparent, it is mentioned on the Feedback Form. However, we take a look at all of the feedback from every channel. Prioritization is based on the frequency, a specific feedback has been submitted and the impact.
The majority of items which are currently part of our releases are based on the Feedback received. In the Rollout / Feedback Sessions of the piloting program we present the those item. In addition they are described in the Release Notes document. With the delivery of every release, the content of the Release Notes is summarized in the ‘What’s New’ Pop up. This Popup also contains a link to the Release Notes document.
To increase transparency, we plan in the future to publish dedicated information on the Support Portal, to inform about our current activities with respect to the Feedback received.
Kind regards, Arno
Thanks for all that Information, Arno!
That "piloting program" sounds very interesting, this is the first time I ever read about it (couldn't it have been mentioned in one of the blogs?)
Please note that you probably should provide another way (e.g. an e-mail address) to contact you about it, as only the people you follow on SNC can send you direct messages!
best
Joachim
Hi Joachim,
thanks for the hint. Anybody interested can now find my e-mail address in my SCN Profil and use this for conatcting me.
Kind regards, Arno
been there, done that so often with non-sap products. i don't understand your arguments, sorry.
My arguments are mostly from the employer's perspective.
As many external consultants do, I submit my time entries (in hours) allocated to specific projects (CAPEX). These projects are planned and budgeted by the business and prioritized together with IT.
If I spend my working time doing non-project related work (like SAP One Support Launchpad testing), this is probably OPEX.
Managers generally do not like to see much OPEX reported, and still, the same company will pay for my time, not SAP. And, of course, it will be plain wrong to allocate that time to an unrelated project.
I can test some new SAP functionality in my spare time after work, but this is a voluntarily exercise, and there is no guarantee that a volunteer will spend a lot of time with that and test thoroughly. Volunteer beta-testers are not a full replacement for a dedicated QA team. Most game developing companies are aware of volunteer testing limitations, if not - they release multiple patches in a short time and/or go out of business. 😎
This will not happen with SAP, for sure, there is still some time left to address the most serious issues, I am just getting a bit concerned, picturing a day without a well-functioning SAP notes access during an upgrade project.
The best thing about SAP (so far), is, that it gives different options for customers to achieve a certain goal. The problem with a FIORI app is, that it cannot target all possible use cases, which can lead to over-simplification and/or lack of features for a part of the user base.
We do have some FIORI apps in our company, but we actively support also the SAPGUI option, because, really, 'one size does not fit all'. If we tried to force everybody to use FIORI, our power users and the consultants will cry out how terrible this idea is (despite that our apps are more visually pleasing and without critical issues when they reach QA).
I can understand, that the company wishes to promote new concepts, but issuing these apps prematurely from alfa may have the opposite effect.
I am concerned, that there are a lot more bugs to be discovered - after the launchpad becomes the only option, because currently people still use the legacy access (it just works).
One possible reason why some do not like the new mobile UI touch and continue to the legacy site, is, that typically you search for notes, because you need a solution to a specific problem. This means, that you have at least a couple of sessions open to your system to check if it could apply to your case, maybe even write some code or change setup. I find it hard to believe that many would do such tasks on a small screen, without a keyboard and a pointing device and not lose sanity.
I hope that SAP has a fallback plan if things don't turn out well in August. Are there any prospects to extend the legacy support in case the search functionality and the performance issues cannot be resolved until the communicated deadlines?
15 August starts my last holiday week: I hope that when I come back to work I'll not have to waste hours looking for a Note\KBA... :\
maybe you should start during your holidays 😛 *sarcasm mode off*
being the only tech referent here, i closed all the pending isses yestarday so next week (the last one of work) will be reserved to urgencies and rework.
So i cannot forecast which notes i've to search.
Maybe i'll give a shot with Nostradamus' profecies to identify them! 😀
Would you please please get rid of the annoying Whats New Pop-Up - August Feedback that appears on almost every screen no matter how many times one clicks on the 'Close until next Release'. Its extremely irritating especially when one is already annoyed and frustrated with this new LaunchPad !!
With all the new links in pages or views or whatever they are called now, could Note Numbers mentioned in Notes be links also, instead of having to copy the note number and scroll back up to top to get back the view to enter another Note number. Its a very cumbersome process now especially when opening the next note is so slow as all the launchpad stuff have to load instead of the old way when it was just a webpage. Every SAP Note leads to many many others.
Increase the Auto Time out too, its a ridiculous short time considering the pain most users have in already having to re-authorize multiple times to perform simple functions, surely that dose not need a major change to implement !
Hi Derek,
Thanks a lot for your feedback.
The Popup should not occur again, after you clicked on ‘Don’t show again until the next SAP ONE Support Launchpad Release’. Please send me an e-mail (you can find my address in my profile) with your S-User. We will then look, why you still see the Popup.
The Timeout overlay should appear after 20 minutes, the warning after 15 minutes. We will remove the Tim out for reading SAP Notes with the next release,
Please make sure that your Browser is configured correctly. We provide some information at Tips and Tricks SAP ONE Support Launchpad: Browser Compatibility and Cookies
Kind regards, Arno
Hi Arno
Thanks for you contact and apologies for delay on responding, I was not using the site for a while.
I still have the issue with the Whats new Pop-Up .. today I had to look at approx 11 OSS Notes and on opening each note in a new tab I had to wait a few secs on each tab and close the Pop-Up as it also does not close on first select, it seems that the Pop-Up needs to load fully. By the time I had read the 11 OSS Note the First one had timed out and I had to relogin/refresh to view that note and also got the Whats New Pop-Up, I then had to repeat that process for each of the remaining Notes as they timed out.
I will try and find you email and send my S-User
BTW - Could there be a time-out be placed on that Whats new Pop-Up, as it also stops Notes loading when I have them loaded in advance.
HI Arno
I cannot locate your email from your profile, there is an “@ arno.helmling” under your name which just links to the same profile page and the Send Message Tile/Button sent me first to re-register for some reason and then just goes into what looks like a general Chat, which incidentally has more pop-up asking to allow notification’s each time, I will try and send S-User there.
Under the old system, we used to be able to subscribe to SAP notes. This was the recommended way of being notified of new patch releases:
New: Information about planned and delivered patches related to SAP Business One
Under the new system, we cannot subscribe to a note, so there is no way to be notified of new patch releases. We frequently have support incidents that are listed as resolved in the next patch level, so these notifications are essential. Please could you tell me the plan for implementing these notifications?
There is an option to mark the note as favorite and then there is a tile that shows changes in favorites:
It's not the same as getting an email but, unfortunately, this seems to be a general trend these days that the websites want you to visit them instead of getting email notifications. But either way since it's mentioned in the notes then either the notes should be updated or the functionality needs to be added.
Personally I never got the emails for the subscribed notes anyway, so I'm happy to have the favorite option. But others may feel otherwise. The right way to point this out is to use Feedback button in the portal.
Thanks for the info. I have already marked that note as a favourite, but I cannot see that tile anywhere, where exactly is it?
I also cannot see a feedback button anywhere, where is that? I was directed to comment on this thread by SAP support!
LOL. Oh dear, must be some communication issue there (CC Arno Helmling )
The tile was in my default layout, I think, but if you don't see it then check Personalize button (the one with 3 stripes in the top left corner). The tile is under 'On Premise'. There is also a blog on personalization, see the link in the blog above.
'Share your Feedback' should be in the bottom left corner on home page and most other pages. If you don't have it then post a screenshot. Just to make sure - this is all in the Launchpad ( https://launchpad.support.sap.com/ ), not in the old portal.
Thanks! I have found it all now. I have been using the links from the partneredge portal to access all the components, and they must bypass the page that you have given.
Thanks for your help!
Hello,
Are there plans on making the note search an AND search instead of an OR search? Putting in the option to search on a phrase would also be appreciated.
Current method of searching is alot worse for being able to choose than the old method. Not able to narrow the search initially on a high level, or specific component is frustrating also.
I understand work is already being done to improve the note search results, so that your search pulls in all of the appropriate notes, so that will also help when we can be more confident with the result list, so thank you for your work on that front!
Thanks,
Randy
I think it is possible to define a custom search with filters by component. This is how the search string looks like (I selected RV_INVOICE_CREATE without filter by date and filtered by SD-BIL-IV and SD-BIL-GF):
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/solutions/notes/?q=rv_invoice_create&sortBy=score&sortOrder=desc&filters=%255B%255B%257B%2522attribute%2522:%2522themk%2522,%2522operator%2522:%2522EQ%2522,%2522value%2522:%2522SD-BIL-IV%2522%257D,%257B%2522attribute%2522:%2522themk%2522,%2522operator%2522:%2522EQ%2522,%2522value%2522:%2522SD-BIL-GF%2522%257D%255D%255D&lang=E
It is very far from user-friendly, but I have seen worse, so I am not complaining about that.
The biggest problem is, that you get a lot of garbage results and you will potentially miss some 'good' ones if you start filtering.
Fun fact - with the old search for RV_INVOICE_CREATE you get 66 hits without any filters, with the new one and no filters - 1797, with these two filters (I chose them at random to illustrate search strings) - 103.
I cannot say that I see a significant improvement in the new search.
Hello Veselina,
Yes, I am aware you can filter based on component after you get your results list. What I was talking about was in the old portal, as one of your search criteria, you could say that you only wanted to see notes under component SD*. I do agree with you that you want to be careful about filtering so that you do not miss the note that will resolve your issue, but I also don't think it is reasonable to have to go through 1000 notes trying to find yours either 🙂
And yes, the differences in the overall result list between old portal and new for the number of notes was something that the developers had already indicated they were working on, so I was trying to minimize that part of the result as the issue since I knew from previous replies that it was already a huge focus for them.
I also know that no search tool is going to be perfect, but I would like to see more flexibility with this one to at least allow the same types of searches as previous, and where the tool is seen as a true enhancement instead of diminishing things.
Randy
I meant that you can filter the results before you run the search - if you know the right parameters: for example if I want to search for off_number_local_numbering_in with component xx-csc-in-sd, I will type the following in the browser (I use notepad to write it):
https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/solutions/notes/?q=off_number_local_numbering_in&sortBy=score&sortOrder=desc&filters=%255B%255B%257B%2522attribute%2522:%2522themk%2522,%2522operator%2522:%2522EQ%2522,%2522value%2522:%2522XX-CSC-IN-SD%2522%257D%255D%255D&lang=E
This is why I said that it is not very user-friendly. If SAP manage to deliver a better search relevance, but no option to filter before searching, I would try to make a simple script to compose the url and will just paste it in the browser or even make some fancy stuff with greasemonkey.
Right now I see no reason to spend time on that, because the product is far from finished and they can change some concepts.
I would be most happy if we can get the old search capabilities in the new app, but is seems very unlikely.
Hi
As nifty as Veselina's search string trick is, I do not consider it a usable alternative. Think about it: the old search had all the options to define a proper custom search. SAP took this away. And the alternative is a 500 character URL? Uhm...no.
I agree with Randy: the search needs to be much more flexible than what it currently is. Or SAP should offer an additional advanced/custom/expert search option. What bothers me is the 'one size fits all' approach assuming that you doesn't 'really' know what you are searching for and where you firstly search, and then filter. I think this is wrong. SAP should recognize that there are consultants out there that are sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to build a custom search, for example by using AND/OR and by restricting by application component before searching.
While I am on the filter topic: I know I am repeating myself (sorry), but the preset filter 'Release Date (Last 5 years)' should be removed. This leads to numerous consulting and FAQ notes not being shown initially, even though they are still perfectly valid.
Jan
Thanks a lot for all your comments.
Currently we are offering two searches for two different use cases:
Now what will be changed in a short term:
Hi Arno,
i appreciate you trying to help and your patience in answering our questions, but i am very sorry to say that almost every answer is raising my frustration with the new Launchpad even more.
First, why do i have to add the Tile "My SAP Notes & KBAs" to my launchpad myself? Why isn't it there in the first place? I mean the Title of the Tile begins with "MY..." so it should be there from the start.
Second, without reading the help you provided, i would never have guessed how to add that search option to my launchpad, and i also would probably only by chance have found out which button would lead me to customizing my launchpad (the one with the three horizontal stripes in the upper left corner) at all. And when i finished that task i took a while for me to guess how to return to my homepage (same button in the upper left corner, but now a different icon).
And trust me, i really haven't started to list all the elements and User Interface issues i am having with the new Support Launchpad, that would probably fill a very thick book 🙂
What good is a support website for which i need extensive training before i can use it properly (And no, i will not read ALL the helppages!)?
To cut it short, i constantly feel like using a tablet emulator within a desktop computer and this UI is increasingly annoying me more every single day. SAP has never been a forerunner in developing user friendly interfaces, but this time to me they really have reached the pinnacle of user unfriendliness.
Whats most frustrating to me is that i think that SAP will never revert it back nor develop something useable in the near future.
And i can not stress this enough: Please dont take it personally, i really really appreciate your help.
Axel
Hi Axel,
thanks for your direct feedback.
The tile is by default part of the Group ‘System Operations and Maintenance’. So it should be on your homepage. To reset the groups to their initial state, go to the tile catalog (Hamburger Icon upper left corner) and within the catalog click on reset (button lower right corner)
If you would like to put this tile into the spotlight, go to the catalog, click on the tile and assign it to the Home Group (see also: http://scn.sap.com/community/software-support-and-maintenance/blog/2016/08/12/tips-and-tricks-sap-one-support-launchpad-optimize-your-launchpad-part-2--personalization)
Yes, there has been quite some change in the new applications.
That is why we always offer a dedicate release document, describing the new features. The document is accessible via the’ Whats New?’ popup. A brief summary of the new features are available in the popup itself. We re-enable this popup after every release.
If a user by accident clicked on ‘Do not show again until the next SAP ONE Support Launchpad release’, it can be opened any time via the menu under the user name.
In addition we published a series of tips and tricks on SCN (http://scn.sap.com/community/software-support-and-maintenance/blog/2016/08/12/tips-and-tricks-for-sap-one-support-launchpad-now-available)
E.g. The Global Search vs. Attribute Search is described at: http://scn.sap.com/community/software-support-and-maintenance/blog/2016/08/03/tips-and-tricks--sap-one-support-launchpad-search .
A dedicate article on the Attribute Search will follow.
If a user wants to be very closely connected and / engaged, we recommend to join our Piloting Program, See: http://scn.sap.com/community/software-support-and-maintenance/blog/2016/08/17/tips-and-tricks-sap-one-support-launchpad-how-to-best-interact-with-sap section ‘Piloting Program for the SAP ONE Support Launchpad’.
In any case, we are interested in your feedback. Especially with respect to User Interaction and to the use cases, which can not be performed or optimized by the new applications. So sending your feedback to me directly by e-mail would be appreciated.
Kind regards, Arno
Hello Arno,
Unless I am missing something, when you are performing the component search, it doesn't allow you to do that in conjunction with a text search the way the legacy search worked. Are there plans (or does applying that filter work for when you search up top) to allow a text field to also be included?
Thanks,
Randy
Hi Randy,
thanks for your question.
Yes, it is planned to make the Input field to enter search terms within the Attribute Search available with the next release.
Participants of the Piloting Program can already use it in an early Hands-On.
Kind regards, Arno
There seem to be an issue with email notifications in the Support dashboard.
If you log an incident against a customer you are given an email notification when SAP hand over the ticket to your side.
But this is not the case when the ticket is logged on you own company (Example Ticket: 325783 / 2016)... It never give any email notifications.
Can this be changed please. As an SSP I can't log generic bugs for the customer as it is not my customer. So only option is to log it on our own install. I've this for years and got notifications in the old system.
Hi Rasmus,
I spoke with my local product expert at SAP about this and they got back to me to say that the development team are working on a fix for this. It is planned for release Q4. I will be keeping a close eye on this functionality too!
Hi,
In the old search tool for OSS notes, you could enter advanced search criteria where it was possible to select your system. Because of this the search result contained only OSS notes that could be implemented on the selected system.
How do you do this kind of search with the new SAP One Support Launchpad?
Best regards, Jos
this hole BS is not working again today: notes are empty, etc............. this is so awful, shame on SAP !
And again, like so many times in the last weeks, Service Marketplace is unusable, Availability almost not existant. I have a very strong urge to become sarcastic, but still resisting ... for now.
Again and Again and again Portal unavailable even to view KBAs. How long will we have to deal with that mess ? sn't it time to take a decision about this damned Launchpad ?
just to continue this blog post and agree with the latest posts:
again and again and again.... launchpad is not available / not working.
And again, after a Long battle simply to log in to SMP, if i try to open a note from the search list in a new tab, the new tab stays empty. Even better, also the rest of the Tabs habe gone wonky and i have to shut down IE and begin again.
UNUSABLE!!!
Hi,
First I have to say that the Launchpad is a nice improvement to the support portal. Grate job there.
But I have one issue:
When I'm reading notes in, IE 11 on a Windows 10 PC, the application scrolls to the top every 2 min.
Am I the only one having this problem?
KindlyT
Please explain, what do you mean!
” the application scrolls to the top every 2 min” – ???
Note text?
List of found notes?
P.S. Unable to confirm!