Latest Update: July 2, 2020 – added section clarifying how to use the Readiness Check results for SAP Fiori, and added the list of business roles that should always be included.

Latest Update: August 22, 2019 – added link back to the main blogs for Readiness Check 2.0 – i.e. SAP S/4HANA: How ready are you? and SAP Readiness Check 2.0 for SAP S/4HANA – FAQ & What’s New in Releases

Last Updated: July 14, 2019 – rewording/reformatting update for clarity & refined suggestions on initial numbers of business roles

This blog provides an overview of benefits of SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA and how to implement the recommendations in  SAP Readiness Check.

You can find out more about the general topic of SAP Readiness Check 2.0 in these blogs:

SAP S/4HANA: How ready are you?

SAP Readiness Check 2.0 for SAP S/4HANA – FAQ & What’s New in Releases

Business value of SAP Fiori

SAP Fiori is how business users consume SAP S/4HANA innovations

Fiori launchpad is the single entry point with role based access for SAP Fiori apps, as well as classic UIs (SAP GUI, Web Dynpro for ABAP ) which also have Fiori Visual Theme applied for a uniform look and feel.

All business users using the Fiori launchpad also profit from the following benefits as demonstrated in The SAP Fiori User Experience for SAP S/4HANA:

• Enterprise Search – Find objects by keyword (e.g. a document number, or a customer reference, or a full/partial id or name​) & launch related apps immediately as demonstrated in Find things quickly and easily using the SAP Fiori launchpad
• Notifications – Take immediate action on workflows, CoPilot chats, or Smart Business Alerts​
• SAP CoPilot – Digital assistant for enterprise​ (collaborate, create quick drafts, learn & get help)
• Me area – e.g. App Finder, Recently and frequently used apps, Settings
• Personalization and User Assistance – Simplify your work by e.g. setting your default values, default search filters, reorganize your home page, hide/show cards in Overview Pages, etc.

SAP Fiori apps provide a flexible navigation approach that supports enterprise work 

Tiles & links on the Fiori launchpad are the entry point to tasks.  These entry points provide domain-specific information and action providing insight to action. 

Insight to action – Get an overview of what needs attention with overview pages, list reports, and work lists.  Trigger quick actions or drill down to the next level of detail to explore in depth and act.

Explore in depth and act via seamless navigation to a variety of app types & technologies:

• Reimagined and role-based SAP Fiori apps (analytical, transactional, object pages) for faster execution with fewer clicks (as demonstrated in Experience Transformation with SAP Fiori UX) ; with intelligent enterprise features built-in (as demonstrated in Manage Project Resource Utilization Quickly and Easily (SAP Fiori UX for SAP S/4HANA)), including the high-value SAP Fiori Lighthouse apps​
• Classic UI applications (SAP GUI transactions, Web Dynpro for ABAP applications) in the browser with SAP Fiori visual theme
• URLs, e.g. links to SAP Cloud solution apps, 3rd party apps, and other web-accessible corporate sites

SAP Fiori provides native and flexible navigation tailored to your device from app-to-app, and from app-to-classic UIs. Business roles are delivered as a holistic set of related apps. Business roles are adjustable via configuration & authorizations.

What analysis is done by SAP Readiness Check 2.0

SAP Readiness Check takes your existing SAP ERP Transaction usage as a basis for SAP Fiori app recommendations. These recommendations can be introduced in phases for managing the pace of organizational change, as explained further in the section Implementation Recommendation of this blog.

SAP Readiness Check will automatically recommend relevant Business Roles and related SAP Fiori apps likely to be of most interest.

Selecting the tile will take you into the full details. At the top you will see a graphical summary of what’s available. This acts as a visual filter, e.g. if you want to focus on a particular business role select the role in the bar chart, or select the application type Lighthouse SAP Fiori to assess the recommended Fiori lighthouse apps first.

Underneath the graphical summary you will find the details of the business roles and the recommended apps within those roles.

From that  list you can use the hyperlinks on the business role and app names to jump to the related Fiori Apps Library entry to find out more about the SAP Fiori app itself and browse through implementation and configuration information.

Out of all SAP Fiori Apps that are relevant for you, you will find highlighted highest innovation value Lighthouse apps. These are the recommended starting point for organizing your internal discussions with your business stakeholders.  As you hold those discussions you can refine your initial target list of Business Roles by marking those in/out of scope; & mark as Favorites the related apps of highest interest that you want to explore first in your S/4HANA system.

You will need to:

• Discuss the list of selected Business Roles with your stakeholders
• Adjust which Business Roles are in scope
• Activate and deploy the selected Business Roles and their related apps for deeper exploration, e.g. using Fiori Rapid Content Activation

Note: If you already have a Fiori implementation, you may need to migrate existing apps to SAP S/4HANA. Please see the Additional Information section of this blog for advice.

How to use the SAP Readiness Check 2.0 results for SAP Fiori app selection

SAP Readiness Check 2.0 provides the SAP Fiori app selection list in the online tool. You can also  download a separate spreadsheet for offline use.

The online tool offers the advantage of accessing the SAP Fiori apps reference Library from the Fiori tile within the SAP Readiness Check, with the apps list already focussed on your selected scope. 

For example in SAP Readiness Check you can click on the link of the role names shown in your Fiori tile.

If you make use of this clever little trick, the SAP Fiori apps reference library only displays the content you actually use in your company. The content you use most is marked in the Relevance column with blue (rather than grey) checker boxes.

Tip: If you want to see the technical role id that you will need to activate this role in your system, use the Settings icon to add the Leading Business Role to the list.

You will then see the technical id added to the display.

Some good suggestions for quickly evaluating the SAP Fiori app suggestion list include:

• Look first at the top five(5) business roles displaying most of the high relevance SAP Fiori Apps (blue checker boxes)
  • Take a quick look at all of the SAP Fiori apps in that business role – there may be new opportunities you have not considered

• Include some lighthouse SAP Fiori apps
  • These apps offer the best new business value compared to SAP Business Suite, and provided
  • These lighthouse apps help you bring in the latest innovations, such as Situation Handling, Machine Learning, and Robotic Process Automation
• Consider how many users you have working in that role in your organization
  • The more users the bigger the impact on your workforce
  • The more users the bigger the opportunity to bring new business value
  • Roles with less users may provide good pilot groups for introducing new innovations
• Consider the preferences and needs of users you have in that business role in your organization
  • Which users already use mobile devices as part of their day-to-day work?
  • Which desktop-only users can benefit most from moving to mobile devices?
  • Are there any hardcore SAP GUI fans among them?
  • How much custom coding have you done in that business area in the past?

Adjust your shortlist by toggling the in/out of scope flags in SAP Readiness Check.

Business Roles that you should always include in your shortlist

There are certain business roles that contain the SAP Fiori apps that configure, adapt, and extend other SAP Fiori apps – and in some cases even other classic User Interfaces such as GUI transactions.  Yes that’s correct!  Configuration happens in SAP Fiori apps themselves – not just in the traditional SAP Implementation Guide (IMG, i.e. transaction SPRO).

These are the business roles to include whether or not they are suggested by the SAP Fiori app selection:

• Administrator SAP_BR_ADMINISTRATOR
  • This contains a wide range of apps such as F1481 Custom Fields and Logic – which is essential for adding your own custom fields to apps, F2058 Application Job Templates for job scheduling,  F1306 Maintain Email Templates, F2761 Manage Logos,  and F2587 Extensibility Inventory – which lets you monitor which business context scenarios have been extended.
• Analytics Specialist SAP_BR_ANALYTICS_SPECIALIST
  • This role contains apps such as F2814 Manage KPIs and Reports to adjust thresholds and target values for Smart Business KPIs and other embedded analytics reports
  • It also includes F1572 Custom Analytical Queries for creating your own ad hoc reports
• Business Process Specialist SAP_BR_BUS_PROC_SPEC
  • This role contains apps needed for using SAP S/4HANA flexible workflow, such as F2190 Manage Workflows and F2412 Manage Teams and Responsibilities 
• Configuration Expert – Business Process Configuration SAP_BR_BPC_EXPERT
  • This role contains apps to configure and manage the latest new business processes and innovations in SAP S/4HANA, such as Group Reporting, Central Procurement, Manage Workflows for flexible workflow, and F3264 Monitor Situations for Situation Handling

Implementation Recommendation

The SAP Fiori launchpad and SAP Fiori in SAP S/4HANA content can be introduced using a wide range of approaches for managing the pace of organizational change.

A typical SAP S/4HANA project has multiple phases.  In the initial phase the Fiori launchpad is established as the single entry point, with at least one showcase business role to actively demonstrate the new business value of SAP S/4HANA innovations. In subsequent phases, the value of SAP S/4HANA is increased by introducing more SAP S/4HANA innovations via SAP Fiori.

For example:

Phase 1 – Provide benefits for all users & showcase selected innovations

Provide a Single Entry point – Implement SAP Fiori Launchpad and realise the generic benefits it provides.

Activate key SAP business user roles selected from the Fiori Apps Library:

• Focus on at least one high priority business role as your showcase of S/4HANA innovation. Recommendation is to aim for 2-5 roles to cover all roles in an end-to-end business process (e.g. Requestor + Approver; Requestor + Reviewer + Approver + Processor + Responsible Owner).
• In addition, make sure you implement the 3 special business roles (as a minimum in your development environment) for your S/4HANA project team to customize and extend other SAP Fiori apps: Administrator, Analytics Specialist, and Business Process Specialist
• All apps for your chosen roles can be activated using Fiori Rapid Content Activation

Explore the SAP business role on your sandbox to understand how apps are intended to work together to complete a business user’s daily tasks

• Understand the key SAP Fiori apps for that business user role; especially the SAP Fiori Lighthouse apps​ that bring high-value S/4HANA innovations
• Discuss & confirm the fit with your stakeholders

Follow the approach below if standard business roles are not an exact fit:

• Copy the SAP business role to refine the list of which apps you want to use
• Supplement them with additional Fiori apps from the Fiori Apps library for your chosen LoB/Industry
• Supplement them with your own custom-built Fiori apps
• Supplement them with classic UI apps from Fiori Apps reference library that you deem “must retain” for your users or specific business process
• If needed, adjust app-to-app and app-to-classic UI navigation (identify this requirement during fit-gap)

Remember activated Fiori apps may need to be customized to reflect any business process enhancements you might have:

Maximize user adoption by reviewing and fine-tuning for each business role:

• Home page content – should contain the most frequent & most important apps for the business role, organized in a way that makes sense for the business user.
• Personalization defaults

Phase 2 – Broaden the scope of SAP Fiori coverage

Add additional business roles to include more of your user base

Additionally use SAP Fiori Client to deploy apps onto mobile devices.

Implement SAP CoPilot (please check subscription pre-requisites)

Additional information – Migrating existing Fiori apps from Business Suite or Suite on HANA

You may need to migrate existing SAP Fiori apps delivered by SAP, and/or existing custom Fiori apps created by your own developers or your partners.

Many SAP Fiori apps provided for the Business Suite are replaced by successor apps in SAP S/4HANA 

• The content and behavior of successor apps can be significantly different than predecessor versions. Perform fit-gap for successor apps as you would for any new Fiori app.
• You can use the Fiori Apps reference library & the Maintenance Planner to confirm which apps are supported in S/4HANA, and to identify successor apps.
• For Add-Ons, you can use the Product Availability Matrix to check if the related software components are supported on your SAP FIORI FOR S/4HANA version.

Migrating existing custom Fiori apps is usually possible

Some adjustments may be required:

• Check the Fiori 2.0 welcome pack SAP Fiori 2.0 – What you need to know for guidance on how to adjust Fiori 1.0 apps to Fiori 2.0 design.
• Check the SAP S/4HANA Simplification List for changes to database tables used by your custom apps.
  • Note: You must make changes if your custom app writes to database tables and those tables have been replaced or changed in SAP S/4HANA.

Which other services and tools does SAP offer to support you

Fiori Apps Library

Explore, plan and implement SAP Fiori, the latest user experience from SAP including all relevant content for the SAP Fiori launchpad. For SAP S/4HANA the main filters are:

• SAP Fiori apps for SAP S/4HANA
• All Apps for SAP S/4HANA – this includes Classic UIs that can also be launched from the SAP Fiori launchpad
• SAP Fiori Lighthouse apps – all the apps mentioned in the SAP Fiori Lighthouse apps​ document

Fiori Apps Recommendation Report

Discover which SAP Fiori Apps fit to your situation. Take just five minutes to request your personalized, free SAP Fiori Apps Recommendations Report within five business days.

You will need to submit your latest productive ERP or SAP S/4HANA system
data and your month’s transaction workload (ST03N).

Fiori Lighthouse Scenarios