10 Ways To Launch A SAP E-form

At SAP TechEd && d-code recently I heard a question at the IFbA Roadmap session about support for forms in SAPUI5. 

Since the ‘standard’ approach for on-line e-forms is to publish them via a custom Web Dynpro, there was an assumption that this was the only way to use SAP e-forms.  Not so: Here I describe ten different ways we see SAP e-forms being used, and none of them require any Web Dynpro development.  Instead, the form is delivered through a URL hyperlink that can be embedded in many different places.

[1] SAP Enterprise Portal

For organisations making use of the SAP Enterprise Portal, links can be added in any page to launch new e-forms, or to the e-forms inbox, or to forms previously saved as draft.

[2] HANA Cloud Portal

Similarly, where organisations are using the HANA Cloud Portal, e-forms can be easily embedded.

[3] Fiori LaunchPad

As companies start to embrace the Fiori LaunchPad as a work portal, tiles can be used to launch e-forms easily.

[4] ESS/MSS

Where Employee Self-Service is used this is an obvious place for launching and HR form.

[5] OrgPublisher

When third party products like OrgPublisher are used, this is often the best way to launch a form for a particular SAP object in order to pre-populate the form for a particular Employee, Position, Org Unit etc.

[6] Direct e-mail link

Embedded links within html e-mails are often used for work in progress.  Notification e-mails can contain the link to open up for form for approval, for example.

[7] SAP Universal Worklist

When the SAP Universal Worklist is already being used then it makes sense to use this inbox for e-forms in process.

[8] FLM Portal (SAPUI5)

The FLM Portal includes an e-forms inbox, new form launcher and a variety of other functions.

[9] Web transaction (e.g. BSP, SAPUI5, Web Dynpro)

E-forms can be launched from any web-based transaction.

[10] SAPGUI

Finally, you can even access e-forms through the SAPGUI.

E-forms remain an important tool for process automation and better usability, and as the number of options and technologies from SAP grows, the number of ways we can access e-forms increases.

Next year watch this space for E-forms integration with SAP Fiori!