SAP C4C Overview

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Coming to myself Darwin Working as a senior software engineer in Mindtree.

Introduction:

Who can learn SAP C4C?

Pre sales (marketing) /Sales/Post-Sales (services) domain knowledge is an added advantage to learn SAP C4C.

To understand best business process offered by SAP for various industries (not only configuration).

Introduction:

What is CRM?

Customer relationship management is standard business process by which your client will handle its end customers. How efficiently your client will handle your customers are divine by standard best practices business process offered by SAP CRM.

 

Why CRM is needed in the customer place?

Seamless integration of business process and efficient process to handle the end customers of the organization.

Standardization of processes across departments and locations.

Efficient and easy integration of the CRM system to the back end R/3 system through middle ware.

For overall control of organizations (it has over control of the organizations business processes end data).

Better controlling of different business processes.

Better reporting system.

Better utilization of resources i.e., Man, Material, Machines.

 

CRM Products in the Market:

SAP CRM

Sibel CRM

Clarify CRM

Vantive CRM

Sales Force

Are the few standard packages..

 

Introduction to SAP CRM:

SAP Customer Relationship management (SAP CRM) is a comprehensive solution for managing your customer relationships.

It supports all customer focused business areas, from marketing to sales and service, as well as customer integration channels such as the interaction center, and the internet, and the mobile clients.

SAP CRM is one of the modules of SAP R/3 business suite.

 

SAP CRM Architecture.

SAP CRM Sub modules:

Sales

Services

Marketing

Interaction Center

Middleware

Web UI

 

SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C)

SAP C4C sub Modules:

SAP Cloud for Sales

SAP Cloud for Service

SAP Cloud for Social Engagement

SAP Clod for Customer Engagement

 

SAP C4C system landscape:

We have only one SAP C4C test tenant : Which would be used for configuration of business process and doing the UIT and kind of testing and once the all the testing is passed through and done with the configuration you request SAP to create the Production Tenant.

Subscriptions and Tenants:

As a customer to implement C4C, they would approach the SAP for licenses and user credentials. For this the SAP would grand them space in there central sever and that Space is referred to as TENANT.

So the organization would place a Subscription for that particular SPACE in the server of SAP. So this particular process of requesting space is called SUBSCRIPTION.

When an org approaches SAP for a production tenant SAP would give a test tenant by a free of cost. If you need additional test tenant, you need to purchase additionally.

 

SAP C4C Landscape:

How does SAP C4C landscape runs to manage this tenants across the globe, because we are going to access C4C on a browser?

SAP is having its data centers in 3 locations in the Globe:-

Germany

Australia

US

This Data centers would have individual systems and each system would have many tenants.

Types of tenants:

Public tenant: If you take a space allocation from SAP, that space would be big enough to getter the need of other organizations also, i.e., the same tenant is given to you is given to other organizations also but enough measures to take of the data security.

Data would not be misplaced between the organizations but the tenants would be shared.

But In this case the development you want to do minimized because the control will be lies with SAP.

Private tenant: the tenant the you have placed subscription for would be completely used for your organization and that space would not be given to any other organization that is called Private tenant.

In which case you have more flexibility to customize and develop enhancements on C4C Tenant.

 

Test Vs Production Tenants:

C4C tenant lies in a system and the System lies in the data center and when an org places subscription for a production tenant, SAP provides a free test tenant.

This test tenant and production tenant would not sit in the same system, they would sit in the same data center but under different system.

 

 

C4C Tenant Variants:

SAP C4C has two variants as its UI

HTML5 tenant

Sliverlight tenant

 

Role of SAP C4C consultant:

A functional consultant would adapt the role of an administration for C4C application after the Go-live.

 

 

How do we access C4C application?

For access C4C we have an URL,  https://myXXXXXX.crm.ondemand.com, user name and password.

For every purchase of a tenant from SAP, it provide a unique tenant id of six digits XXXXXX. If a customer buys three tenants there will be 3 unique tenant ids for the customer.

So the URL to log in C4C App is http://my125863.crm.ondemand.com

The six digit number is the id assigned the tenant space procedure by the client from SAP

Supposed browsers for accessing C4C:

Internet Explorer 6.0 and above.

Mozilla Firefox

Google chrome

Brower would open the login page with the user inputs for following three parameters:

User ID

Password

Language

Once you login to the SAP C4C:

SAP C4C offers the two types of variants for the front user interface.

HTML variant

Silverlight Variant

In the right most corner of the initial screen, we have few links, this links are called system links.

Then we have a set of options like FEED, CUSTOMER, PEOPLE, SALES, ACTIVITIES, etc., are called work centers.

Inside each work center we have different views this are called as work center views.

In the extreme left side we have set of buttons, this buttons are called as navigation buttons.

In the right hand side we have a set of buttons this buttons are called as pares.

We can configure work centers and views inside the work center as per the business role or as per the business user but we cannot configure the navigation tool bar or the pares.

How to differentiate HTML variant screen and Sliver light screen?

When you right click on HTML Screen, you will get a pop up window same like a pop you get when you right click on conventional browser or website, that indicates it is a HTML Variant screen.

When you right click on Silver light Screen, you will get a pop up with only one small pop up with one option Silverlight.

 

System links:

First is user name who have logged in

Second is personalize à used to personalize user session it don’t allow you to personalize for all the users.

Third is adapt àwhere you can go and add new features on and add new fields, changes the labels of the existing fields and do customization and changes done through adapt are visible to all the set of users.

This adapt button is visible for the admin login but not for the general user login.

Fourth is Go to SAP Store à through this we can navigate to SAP Store where we can purchase the other products or licenses etc.,

Fifth is Downloads à this option is used to download the tools of SAP. Eg: while working on C4C we need some additional plugins to use Microsoft office tools like excel, outlook etc., we might need additional tools like adobe life cycle to design the smart forms and various types. By clicking the download option it will be taken to page where we can download plugins.

Sixth is Help à it is used to take the help of SAP on the C4C application.

The Last button à Log off button turn off the session.

 

Work Centers:

A work center is a collection of work center views.

How the work centers are displayed in the HTML Tenant Variant screen and Silver light screen

In the HTML Variant Screen, when we click on the Work center all the views are displayed in the form of TABS.

In the Silver light Screen, when we click on the Work center a drop down pop up is displayed with the available views and the initial view is displayed on the screen.

Navigation Toolbar:

On the left side you have a complete list of navigation tool bar, which helps us to navigate to that particular page irrespective of where ever you are in the application. For Eg:

The first option takes to the home screen which has a custom set of reports.

The Second option is for search.

The third option is for notification, If the user logins to the application and if he gets any notifications is highlighted in this option and the number is highlighted.

The fourth one is install base

The fifth is to create a registered product directly

The sixth is New Account, new contact, individual customer, send an email, Create lead, and create opportunity, sales lead.

 

Pants:

Filed: it will tell you the different changes that have been done in the application

We can get the Quick view of employee, product etc.,

Help Center

Feed

 

Why two variants are required they are providing the same functionality?

Silver light variant screen are used for admin purpose. We cannot use HTML variant screen for admin purpose. HTML Screen are used by the people who are on the fields, sales, and marketing. Admin clients are basically used by the people who are going to do configure the application or administer the application completely. This is the main reason why SAP came up with the two different two UI concepts.

Customer data appear In C4C application

On the left hand side we will have the header data

On the top we have few tabs like overview, feed, recent orders, chats, activities, account team, sales territories.

Each Tab provides a different information related to one area under the custom master data.

 

C4C project Scoping

To create administrator’s in C4C using initial credentials:

Once the SAP Provide the Tenant Id and the user name and password, the admin can log in the C4C and go ahead to create a service agent role in the C4C who would have complete control on the application.

That service agent user is used to create other admin role users and to block the initial admin role user, remember that the initial role user which is blocked cannot be revoke back or we cannot active the initial user name and password back again.

To create administrator in C4C using initial username credentials

At the time of license purchase from SAP, the customer/client is provided with the URL and initial username and password.

Key steps to be performed while accessing the application for the first time.

To login to the application with initial username and password.

Create service agent in the system

Log out from the application and again login with the service agent credentials and create administrator in the application with complete access control of the application.

Lock the initial username and password in the application provided by the SAP.

The above activities need to be done by admin initially at once for each tenant

Steps to do the above in C4C system:

Login in C4C system with Admin credentials

Navigate to business configuration work center à Implementation projects view

Select the project u where working up on and click on edit project scope

Once the edit project scope is done we move back to our previous window and click open activity list

In the open activity list screen, in the prepare phase there is an activity called Define administration project team à click on the activity à there are some sub activities.

Create Service Agent

Lock initial user

Assign contact to contact type

 

The process of mapping the client’s business processes into pre-defined solution capabilities of C4C application is called scoping.

The types of setting you make on scoping are as follows

Countries and localizations

Which business process will be implemented?

Which integrations will be implemented?

How scoping works in turning on and off certain features of SAP cloud for customers during the scoping process?

Once this functionality completely is chosen, formulated and done, the system will generate 3 important documents

1 solution proposal in brief

2 solution proposal in detail

3 Activity list à this activity list will contain all the needed configuration details of the activities that need to be performed in the C4C application and it is built on the scoping that we have performed.

The option you chosen during the scoping phase of your implementation project are used by the system to generate an activity list that you need to complete to go live.

Steps to do the above in C4C system:

Navigate to business configuration work center à Implementation projects view

Select the project u where working up on and click on edit project scope

Decide to which country u need to do configuration à nextà project implementation focusàSelect Cloud for customer ànextàgo to complete scoping which is under various heads

Here we can see on the right side overview of the scoping elements.

Eg of scoping elements are Marketing, Sales,Service,Industry solution, business performance management, administration, general business data, compliance, expand location and information, Build in service and support, partner channel management etc.,

In the process of scoping where in the functional consultants would choose the pre packed business solutions as needed to meet the client’s business processes.

The functional consultant would select the appropriate check boxes which should include in the solution template of C4C application.

The complete list of available C4C functionalities are grouped under different headings of the application like Sales, Service, Marketing Etc.,

It is not that one you completed and frozen that u cannot edit it once again, until the project goes go live we can edit the scoping as and when required.

Functionalities:

The complete available functionalities of C4C are

Marketing
Sales
Service
Industry solution
Business performance management
Communication and information exchange
Administration
compliance
General business data
Build in service and support
Partner channel management etc.,

Once we completed the activity of identifying the individual functionality as needed by the business process by the customer the system would pull all the selected functionality to another section with in the scoping that section is called as Questionnaire.

For each of the functionality that we have chosen, SAP would come up with predefined questions which we need to read understand and select the check box against the question based on the relevance of the business process.

This set up of questions that we answer is called as questionnaire.

Under some business process or functionalities there are some questions which we don’t have an answer or which we might have missed.

For the questions which we don’t have the answer we can put the questions in layman terms back to the client and ask him what he wants and if he not able or if you missed to answer the questions, SAP would identify an answer for that based on best practices.

 

After completing the scoping (process of mapping client’s business requirements to the pre-packed solutions of C4C) the functional consultant is moved for questionnaires section of the scoping process.

Questionnaire: All the functionalities included the scoping section would have questions under the questionnaire section.

Each of this questions are read and either included in the section or rejected based on the client’s business process.

Based on the scoping performed and based on the answers given to complete questions in the questionnaire section, system would generate an activity list which would guide the functional consultant and the administrator on the next configuration process.

 

Based on the scoping and the questionnaire done, system would generate the solution proposal (brief and detailed) and activity list would be generated and maintained in the system as a result of scoping and questionnaire process.

Activity list would be the guide to complete all the needed configuration and data migration activities for the solution to be read for deployment.

The activities in the activity list can be grouped under the following 5 categories

Prepare -> during start of project

Fine-tune -> to perform configuration activities

Integrate and extend -> for integration master loads

Test ->for testing the built solution

Go live -> final go live activity

The Activities list table have the following fields:

Status: the status is opened and once the task is performed, the status is set to complete.

Name: the description of the activity

Activity Type: to specify if the activity is for configuration/instruction/data migration/project activity

In project: Based on the Scoping and questionnaire, the activities are automatically added to the project by the application. If any more activities need to be added, the activity is selected and clicked on the button ‘add to the project’ till the activity is added to the project the task would be read only mode, no configuration is performed.

Owner: To delegate an owner for the project

Note: to specify any customer notes for the activity

Pre requisites: Would specify a yes if there are any pre requisites for executing the activity.

Repetition Required: Would specify a yes, if this configuration change cannot me moved automatically to other tenant system.

Each of this activities would be default in- detail in the respective business process.

 

SAP C4C Launch Methodology:

When we have any on premise system like SAP ECC or SAP CRM where we do implementation the methodology we follow is ASAP methodology. But we come to on demand solution like C4C that methodology we follow for implementation is called as Launch Methodology.

The conventional stages of the ASAP Methodology like blue printing, development all those terminologies are not seen in launch methodology. It has its own terminology.

There would be a situation where we are going to implement both C4C, on-demand solutions and on premise solution like ECC or CRM in which case need to follow a methodology which a joint venture of both ASAP and Launch methodology and that method is called the hybrid methodology.

We can look at Launch methodology which specks about the different phases of the methodology and under each phase what are the key activities that need to be performed, all those details are represented under this pictorial diagram.

 

The launch methodology consists of four phases

Prepare: As the name itself suggests the prepare phase is the initial phase of the methodology at the start of the project and which would have the activities related to the project starting i.e, at the initial stage of the project.

Realize: wherein we do the actual configuration of the needed business process in the C4C application

Verify: where the client would do testing of the application to check of if business processes are covered    any other third party vendor system and the data would be transferred from the back end system to the C4C system.

The different kinds of testing like  unit testing, integration testing or the user acceptance testing or the  regression testing all this type of testing are done in the verify phase where in the system will be tested thoroughly for the execution.

Launch: Actual go live of the application would happen.

 

Individual activity that needs to be performed under each phase:

Prepare:

Project management:  the project management is the activity that starts at the start of the project and that will be there still we final the go live of application or the solution. So project management activity spans through all phases of the methodology.

Business process confirmation: we heard about scoping process where in all the blue print of the business processes of the client will be mapped to the C4C application, So that process of mapping the complete requirement and taking the signoff from the core business owner is the business process confirmation

Integration readiness:  By this we mean that, we have to clearly decide that C4C application should be integrated to back end to what systems i.e., either ECC, CRM or BW or whether follow certificate base authentication or a user base authentication, all those details should be finalized, and that is the integration readiness.

Custom Content Specification:   Custom Content Specification refers to the custom reports that the user require from the C4C application and the custom data that customer what to maintain in the C4C application.

 

Realize:

Solution configuration: During which we do the solution configuration in terms of the activity list. Take each activity, try to do the configuration related to that activity and mark the activity as completed, in this way we complete all the activities of the activity list and that is how our solution configuration will be completed.

Cloud Integration:  We would set up an integration between the C4C application and the Back end system. Though we will have a detailed look on the integration just to put a word to you, the integration of C4C to the Back end systems will happen through two technologies

One we can use HANA cloud Integration HCI

The second one is Process Integration PI

Either by using PI or HCI we can set up the integration between C4C and Backend systems.

Solution Walkthrough: Once this integration is done, we would download limited set of master data like customer master, product master and then the solution wake through could be done by the process owner.

He would thoroughly check the application if the key business processes are covered as per the C4C solution or not.

Verify:

Key user enablement:  We need to activate the core business process users or the owners who has to actually test the application in the system.

Data Migration: Where we download the data from any backend systems like ECC, CRM to the C4C system.

Custom Content Development: in the Prepare phase, we decide up on the custom content specification, some custom reports, and custom data that the user wants to maintain in the C4C application, We design specification for that, During this phase of verify that custom content specification development  is done during this verify phase.

Solution Testing: The different kinds of testing such as unit testing, integration testing performance testing, regression testing acceptance testing are performed on this test tenant, this phase of methodology is called as the verify phase. After this successfully testing is done without any issues than move to the cutover planning activity.

Cutover Planning:  Our solution application C4C has been thoroughly tested bug freely we have delivered the solution to the client. Now this solution is maintained in the test tenant, we have to move this changes to the production tenant and for that purpose we need to do cutover activities to list the what are all activities need to be performed, whether need to be transported from the test tenant only, We need to re perform in the production tenant, what kind of data to be loaded into production tenant. So this kind of high level planning of Go-live is called as cutover planning.

Production System set up: We would initiate a request to sap to create for them a production tenant system for our client with the same configuration which we maintained for the test tenant which include all our business configuration

Launch:

Change Management and End User Training: Change management here refers to after the go live has happened, if there is any new request coming up or any new changes are needed than how are customers or the administrators of the application are going to handle that. How are they going to train the end users of the business to use the C4C application?

Cutover execution -> go live

Note:  Every phase of the methodology, all the four phases of the methodology have a quality gate also called Q-gate i.e., a quality check which ensures that particular phase has been completed successfully. It is key milestone in every phase to achieve the quality acceptance gate as a clearance.

In the prepare phase we have a scope verification as a quality gate: in the prepare phase we did the blueprint in terms of the C4C terminology called as scoping and questionnaire where we map the business process requirements of the client to the C4C application. That mapping is done successfully and covering all the business scenarios is thoroughly checked by the business and they give the scope verification clearance.

In the next phase Realize we have the Q-gate as the solution acceptance, during this phase we did the solution configuration, just loading the minimal data in the application and set up the integration. We consultant with the business process owner to showcase help that the basic solution of the complete business process is ready and client would have a walkthrough of that and give a clearance of that particular phase is called the solution acceptance phase.

The third phase where we have the verify phase of the methodology we have the readiness acceptance, after completing all the testing C4C application, the application is now ready for Go live that is where the core business process owners of the client would give a quality acceptance clearance i.e., the queue get cleared called as readiness acceptance i.e., the 3^rd Q-gate.

Final in the last phase i.e., launch phase all the activities are completed and production go live is successfully completed that is where we get q-gate acceptance like as the go-live.

This are the four q-gates that are associated with the each phase of the launch methodology.

 

The Launch methodology has four phases:

Prepare Phase

Realize phase

Verify phase

Launch phase

Each of this phases have set of deliverables for the project and each phase is governed by a quality gate(Q-Gate)

The four Q-Gates at the end of each phase are

Scope verification

Solution acceptance

Readiness acceptance

Go-live

 

C4C Organization Structure

Master data: Master data consumes of few things. One of the important concept of master data is Organizational structure. This master data organizational structure is the back bone of the entire built C4C application and any flow in building this application or building this org structure would not have our C4C application working as desired.

So the key focus should be on how efficient we are represent the company’s entire org chat into out C4C org structure.

 

Organization structure: As said for successful imp and use of C4C application it is imp that customer’s organization is correctly mapped and created in C4C solution.

This defines the structure of the company and provides a single consistent view of the organization.

The org structure is comprised of org units that represent departments or divisions and provides a unified graphical representation of the org data.

Org structure is also used for setting work distribution rules (assign some rules in a system where in work can be distributed among different employees of the org structure).

The org structure appears in the C4C application as follows

It is represented in the form of a table (which represents various data)

The first column is Id of the id of the org unit

The second one is the name given to that unit

The third and fourth are the validity period of the org unit wherein we can define that a particular department should valid only for a limited time bound period. That time bound period we can give here in 3^rd and 4^th columns.

If my org unit is under any other org unit or it is under the parent company than the parent id would be the hierarchal structure one level high above the current org unit. Automatically by giving the parent id name, the parent id name also will be displayed.

We had the manger column which seems that who is authorized the approval for that particular org unit i.e., the manager column.

The key elements of C4C org structure are as follows:

Root node /Parent company: The org structure built in C4C would have only one root node/company. The root node would be the root of org structure.

Org Units: The Other divisions or departments or the company are represented as org units under the root node.

The distribution channel or the division are maintained in a separate activity under fine-tune activities of the application.

 

Below are the key elements or attributes of org unit in C4C application:

Header Data: the data block on the left hand side of the screen is the header data block of the org unit and typical information contained are validity period, name, company name, addresses, parent org and sales functions associated.

General Data: This tab contains the parent information address details of the org unit.

Functions: The tab describes the different functions the org structure can perform. The function include company, sales, sales org, and service, service org, marketing and reporting line , currency details.

Employees: this tab of details contain the information on employees assigned to the org unit.

In the system where do we define the distribution channels and divisions? As the not linked to the C4C application’s Org structure. As we seen the fine-tune activities, under this fine-tune activities we had two activities

Distribution channel

Division

So when they not directly linked to the org structure why are we covering them in this topic, Any transaction like sales order once we determine the sales org data and we have to dropdown the distribution channel and division for the org, the combination of the sales org data, distribution channel and division forms the sales area data. That sales area data replication to the back end system is very imp for further processing of the transaction.

For that reason, we are covering distribution channels and divisions.

The two key activities for the configuration are

• Distribution channel


• Division

Note: Org structure can be configured only in the silver light tenant variant. As previously discussed HTML5 variant is used for End user application which cannot be used for administration purposes and Silver-light variant is used by administration and functional consultant who would be doing all configurations in the silver-light variant.

 

Once we login to the silver-light variantà under the Administration work center à under the company àwe have org structure -> click on the org structure.

It navigates to org structure à we can see list of org units à when we click on selected org unit it navigates to that particular org unit

Note: for the parent id there is no parent unit id and parent unit name.

When we want to create an org unit àselect the parent unit row àthere is new button to create org unit àselect the create unit à new org unit is created under the parent unit in a hierarchy structure

If we go the details the org unit

There we can see the

In the left hand side we will have the current data, and in the right hand side under general tab we will have the parent unit data and address data, when we go functions tab, we will be having options like,

In the functions tab,

Company: if the org unit is under a parent company and we select this check box it will through an error because one company cannot be the represented under another company.

Sales :

Sales org

Service

Service org

Marketing

Reporting line: that this particular org unit is having a manager whose is responsible for this org unit. That is the meaning of the reporting line.

Currency

 

In the employees tab,

We will be having the details of the manger assigned to the org unit and the employees assigned to the org unit.

What are the different ways to create an org structure?

There are two different ways to create an org structure:

• By seeing the built in org structure of the back end like ECC,CRM system we can have this org structure or complete structure built manually in C4C.


• We can download the org structure from ECC to C4C directly.

When we cover the data integration part we can see how to download the org structure.

Now we can see how to configure the distribution channels and the divisions

Go business configuration work centerà implementation projects à go to current project à click on the button open activity list à click on fine tune activities à under this show( select all activities) àfind (distribution channel) à click on go

Click on the distribution channel

It navigates to the distribution channel which we configure and which will appear in the transactions like quotation or opportunity and all under the drop down.

When we talk about the transaction details, we see this parameter also over there, whatever the distribution channels that are maintained in the back end system i.e., ECC, CRM system those values have to be maintained manually in the C4C system.

Having seen the distribution channel we have one more activity Division. Search for the activity Division,

Under  in process column it is shown No which means this activity is not added to our project and that is why we will be not able to do any editing activity in this particular division, once we click on the button add to project the in process  is changed to yes and we will be able to edit this activity.