Fiori in S/4HANA – Overview

In the last couple of years we’ve seen lots of innovations around SAP Fiori and with the release of S/4HANA there is no exception to this rule as Fiori is now a central part of the “Simplification Process” at SAP.

How does Fiori fit into the S/4HANA environment?

It all started with Fiori and the User Experience Renovation process in SAP. This change led to the innovation strategy, which is now transforming into the “simplification era” with S/4HANA. First, let’s think of S/4HANA not as a single component to be installed in the customers’ existing landscapes, but as a completely new product with a new vision on how customers make business and their underlying processes.

Once we have grasped this idea, we can start thinking on how to deploy this new solution.

Building Blocks in S/4HANA for the Frontend Server

The first step is to identify the required component versions and building blocks for the Frontend Server. With the previous versions of Suite on Hana (SoH) and Simple Finance we had some specific requirements, which differ from S/4HANA:

	SoH	SFIN 1.0 / SFIN 2.0	S/4HANA 1511	S/4HANA 1610	S/4HANA 1709
SAP Netweaver version	7.4 on AnyDB	7.4 on AnyDB	7.5 on HANA DB, MaxDB, ASE	7.51 on HANA DB, MaxDB, ASE	7.52 on HANA DB, MaxDB, ASE
Frontend Product(component version)	· SAP NW Gateway Foundation 7.40 · User Interface Technology 7.40 (UI 1.0) · UI for Central App NW740	· SAP NW Gateway Foundation 7.40 · User Interface Technology 7.40 (UI 1.0) · UI  for FIN NW740 · UI for Central App NW740	· SAP NW Gateway Foundation 7.50 · User Interface Technology 7.50 (UI 2.0) · UI for Basis Applications 100 · SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA 1511	· SAP NW Gateway Foundation 7.51 · User Interface Technology 7.51 (UI 2.0) · UI for Basis Applications 100 · SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA 1610	· SAP NW Gateway Foundation 7.52 · User Interface Technology 7.52 (UI 2.0) · UI for Basis Applications 100 · SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA 1709
SAP UI5 Version	1.28.x or lower	1.28.x or higher	1.30.x or higher	1.40.x or higher	1.40.x or higher
Hana Live for Analytical Apps

While the backend is only running on HANA DB, the frontend server supports also MaxDB and ASE as possible databases.

Maintenance Strategy/Minimum Versions for Frontend Server components in S/4 HANA

In general UI components can be patched independently by implementing notes or support packages, however, the duration of the maintenance period is 2 years from the first maintenance support package.Corrections for the UI add-on 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver are provided in Component Support Packages (CSP) as part of the Online Correction Support (OCS) and in accordance with the standard Support Packages and via SAP Notes.

You can find additional details about the general UI Maintenance Strategy in the following note 2217489 – Maintenance and Update Strategy for UI Add-On and User Interface Technology

Previous SAP Fiori product versions can be upgraded to the new UI 2.0 only if the required product version has been released to run on UI 2.0. You can find a detailed list on note 2200415 – Release of Fiori Product Versions for SAP UI Addon 2.0 / SAP_UI 7.50

Regarding Netweaver 7.5x there are restrictions for the required databases and minimal required versions:

• SAP HDB: The minimum required revision is 102.2. 2189824 – SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition 1511: Release Information Note
• SAP ASE/Sybase ASE:  The minimum required version is ASE 16 SP02 = ASE 16.0.02.01 2158828 – Minimal DB system platform requirements for SAP NetWeaver 7.5
• SAP MaxDB: The minimum required version is 7.9.08.35 2158828 – Minimal DB system platform requirements for SAP NetWeaver 7.5

Current Restrictions for Netweaver 7.5 can be found on note 2206460 – Release restrictions for SAP NetWeaver 7.5

Selecting a Frontend Server (FES) Deployment Option

With S/4 Hana the recommended deployment option is “Central Hub” because of the following reasons:

• Fiori UI software update cycles are decoupled from the backend system.
• FES is deployed as one instance, which can connect to several backend systems allowing the use of a centralized Fiori Launchpad.
• Routing mechanism is supported for several backend systems.
• FES can be implemented in segmented networks (e.g. DMZ) to serve security needs.

On the other hand, there are some considerations to be reviewed if you decide to go with this option:

• Additional NW ABAP System.
• User maintenance: User ID’s must be replicated from backend to frontend server.
• Network latency / response times.

Customers can choose between two network deployment models:

• Intranet Deployment – Customers use SAP Fiori apps in the intranet, meaning, inside their corporate network.
• Internet Facing Deployment – SAP Fiori apps are consumed from outside the corporate network requiring additional components.

Internet Facing Deployment Recommendations

SAP recommends using Web Application Firewall capabilities in SAP Web Dispatcher or using an additional Web Application Firewall as first line of defense, especially when consuming SAP Fiori analytical apps or search capabilities over the Internet.

For an internet-facing deployment of mobile devices, you can use the SAP Mobile Platform Server, by doing this you can create a secure, efficient, and easy-to-manage mobile environment for SAP Fiori.

SAP Mobile Platform/Hana Cloud Platform Integration

It is also possible to integrate S/4HANA with SAP’s Mobility Platform (SMP) to enable mobile scenarios embedding Fiori Apps on Kapsel/Cordova container or integrate S/4 Hana with Hana Cloud Platform mobile services (HCPms), which will enable enhancement scenarios.

UI Technology Troubleshooting

It is important to notice that during the process of testing Fiori apps end users or consultants may find errors while executing the applications. An important amount of errors can be related to the following components:

• Frontend UI Services
• Back-end UI Services
• SAPUI5 toolkit
• UI theme designer

Therefore, SAP strongly recommends installing the latest UI 2.0 support package available before raising a message for an encountered issue as mentioned in note 1971640 – UI add-on 2.0 & 1.0 for SAP NetWeaver: recommendation install the most recent support package stack available

Fiori Application Extensibility/Development

Currently SAP WebIDE (HCP) is the preferred tool to enhance or create new Fiori-like applications based on templates and SAP Best Practices, but support for Eclipse tools will continue. Just keep in mind that required UI libraries should be on version 1.30.x or higher.

Wrap-up

The journey into Fiori for S/4HANA seems promising and exciting, however reaching the goal might be challenging for many customers. Understanding the architecture, restrictions, and dependencies will prove to help obtaining a successful implementation.

Additional References

2196503 – User Interface Add-On 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver: Central Note

2194374 – UI add-on 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver : installation

2210123 – UI add-on 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver : planning of the installation and upgrade

2210122 – UI add-on 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver: support packages

2211016 – UI add-on 2.0 for SAP NetWeaver: support package stack mapping to SAP_UI 7.50 & UI5 / UI2 versions

2183948 – Smart Business for S/4Hana delivery

S/4HANA Cookbook:  http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-64980

FAQ:  http://bit.ly/1KdIaEh

Recommended:

SAP Fiori for S/4HANA – 10 Lessons Learned in S/4HANA 1511 projects

Fiori for S/4HANA – Getting started with documentation

SAP Fiori for S/4HANA – Basic Configuration with help of Task Lists

Fiori for S/4HANA – Adding Transactions to Fiori Launchpad

Fiori for S/4HANA – Wiki

Becoming a SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA guru

You’ll find much more on our SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA wiki

Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments section.

Thanks,

SAP S/4HANA RIG