User Experience Insights
SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA – Creating your custom business roles – the end-to-end process and video playlist
This blog post is applicable to both SAP S/4HANA on-premise and SAP S/4HANA, private cloud edition.
Creating your own custom business roles is an essential skill for any team deploying SAP S/4HANA or just looking to drive more value from your existing SAP S/4HANA system.
Latest Updates:
- January 2022 – From SAP S/4HANA 2022, the Launchpad App Manager now has an Adaptation Mode so that simple title/icon/keyword etc. changes can be made directly on SAP delivered technical catalogs. This significantly reduces the need to copy tiles/target mappings to custom technical catalogs, which in turn reduces the overall effort of creating custom business roles. Refer to: SAP Fiori Launchpad: New Fast and Easy Option to Adapt SAP-delivered Launchpad Content (for On-Premise and Cloud, Private Edition)
SAP delivers more than 500 business roles based on real-world jobs, with all relevant SAP Fiori apps and classic UIs available as SAP Fiori launchpad content. Most organizations will want to tailor the delivered business roles to your own needs. For example:
- To focus attention on your preferred apps/UIs that best suit your processes
- To pace the change from older classic UIs to new SAP Fiori apps over time
- To reduce the content to something more manageable for your users
- Some SAP Business Roles such as General Ledger Accountant and Purchaser already deliver a choice of over 150 apps and UIs!
- To add your own custom content, such as new custom apps, navigation to Cloud apps, or custom classic UIs inherited during system conversion from SAP Business Suite
The good news is SAP Fiori implementation tools and accelerators for SAP S/4HANA keep getting better and better. The latest improvements in SAP S/4HANA 2020 FPS01 and higher make crafting your custom business roles easy.
You can now access an end-to-end video playlist showing you how to craft your own custom business roles using the latest tools and accelerators at openSAP microlearning. Keep reading to find a summary of the process, the related videos and what they cover.
So now the hardest part of crafting your own business roles is just deciding what you want to use!
The Process for Creating Custom Business Roles
There are 2 approaches:
- Basic Scenario – Use SAP content as delivered
- You want to refine your custom business role from the SAP delivered launchpad content
- Advanced Scenario – Adapt SAP Template content and add your own content
- You want to add your own custom content (or override existing SAP content) into your custom business role, alongside the content delivered from SAP
- The advanced scenario extends the basic scenario
You will find an overview diagram for each scenario and the related videos.
Basic Scenario: Use SAP delivered content only to create your custom business roles
Overview of the Basic Scenario:
- Gather content into reusable business catalogs
- This includes activating your desired content, if needed
- Define the basic layout structure for the role
- Assign business catalogs to roles
- Organize content into your desired layout
Basic Scenario for creating a custom business role and the related tools
In Refining Business Roles with SAP Fiori Launchpad Content Manager [11:47]
You will learn:
- Prerequisites for using the SAP Fiori launchpad content manager
- How to copy a SAP Business Role to your own custom business role
- How to remove unwanted content and layouts from your custom business role
- How to test your role using a test user
In Activating SAP Fiori Content in Custom Business Roles [11:59]
You will learn:
- How to recognize activation issues in the launchpad
- How to check if your custom business roles need to be activated
- How to mass activate the content in your custom business role using the task list SAP_FIORI_FCM_CONTENT_ACTIVATION
In Creating SAP Fiori launchpad layouts for custom business roles [12:00]
You will learn:
- Understanding launchpad content vs layouts
- Prerequisites for spaces and pages
- How to create layouts using SAP Fiori apps Manage Launchpad Spaces and Manage Launchpad Pages
- How to assign the layout to your custom busines role
- How to adjust layouts
Advanced scenario: Add your own launchpad content and/or override SAP delivered content with your adaptations or extensions
The Advanced Scenario extends the Basic Scenario with one additional pre-step.
- Add your own content and/or override SAP content settings
- Gather content into reusable business catalogs
- This includes activating your desired content, if needed
- Define the basic layout structure for the role
- Assign business catalogs to roles
- Organize content into your desired layout
Advanced Scenario for creating custom business roles and related tools
For example, you can create new launchpad content by:
- creating App Variants of existing apps using Adapt UI
- creating new KPIs using SAP Fiori apps Manage KPIs and Reports
- add SAP Screen Personas flavors to classic GUI transactions and WebDynpro ABAP applications
- adding your own custom Fiori apps
- adding your inherited custom classic UIs, such as Z transactions
- adding URL tiles and links
- overriding texts and icons of SAP delivered content
In addition to the Basic Scenario, the following microlearnings are recommended.
Creating Launchpad Content with the SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager [12:00]
You will learn:
- Understand how launchpad content is added to a business role
- Prerequisites for launchpad app manager
- How to create a custom technical catalog
- How to add content to your technical catalog
- How to copy content from other technical catalogs
- How to reference technical catalog content to your custom business catalog which is assigned to your custom business role
IMPORTANT: From SAP S/4HANA 2022, the Launchpad App Manager now has an Adaptation Mode so that simple title/icon/keyword etc. changes can be made directly on SAP delivered technical catalogs. This significantly reduces the need to copy tiles/target mappings to custom technical catalogs, which in turn reduces the overall effort of creating custom business roles. Refer to: SAP Fiori Launchpad: New Fast and Easy Option to Adapt SAP-delivered Launchpad Content (for On-Premise and Cloud, Private Edition)
Adapting the UI of List Report Apps [10:59]
You will learn:
- How to use Adapt UI to adjust SAP delivered content
- How to save your adaptations as an App Variant
- You can assign this content as new launchpad content in your custom business role
Even more useful microlearnings available now for SAP S/4HANA
You might also like to look at these videos.
For your business users
Personalizing SAP Fiori Launchpad Basics
How to Search for a SAP GUI Transaction in SAP Fiori
Using Enterprise Search for Reporting in SAP Fiori
Using Default Values and Variants in SAP Fiori Apps
Creating Bookmarks in SAP Fiori Launchpad
For your functional team
In Finding Available SAP Fiori Apps you learn how to find available SAP Business Roles and their apps for your SAP S/4HANA release.
You will also find microlearnings on SAP S/4HANA line of business areas including Finance, Manufacturing, Service, Sourcing & Procurement, and Supply Chain
For your technical team
Activating Fiori Apps Via Rapid Activation shows how to rapidly activate SAP Business Roles for exploration using the Rapid Activation task list SAP_FIORI_CONTENT_ACTIVATION
How to Patch SAP Fiori (SAPUI5) and Why helps you avoid rediscovering known and already resolved issues by patching your SAPUI5 version to the latest releases
You will also find microlearnings on SAP S/4HANA for Technology Topics and Cross Topics (such as Predictive Scenarios).
Becoming a SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA guru
You can find more microlearnings in the SAP S/4HANA User Experience Playlist.
If you have ideas for more microlearnings you would like to see – please let us know!
If you want to delve deeper into business roles, you might like to refer to the blog series: Understanding SAP Business Roles.
You can find more announcements about the latest SAP Fiori features in SAP S/4HANA 2020 SP01 in Check out the improvements in SAP Fiori launchpad content administration and operations with SP01 of SAP Fiori front-end server 2020
You can also find out more about SAP User Experience and Design in 3 Tips to Stay Informed About User Experience & Design Topics at SAP
You’ll find much more on the community topic page for SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
Other helpful links in the SAP Community:
- Follow our tag SAP S/4HANA RIG for more from the SAP S/4HANA Customer Care and RIG
- See all questions and answers about SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
- Follow SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA for more blogs and updates
- Ask a Question about SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
Brought to you by the SAP S/4HANA Customer Care and RIG.
Amazing information.....
Great Blog.Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for sharing such useful information. It is crisp and self-explanatory.
SAP Fiori is part of SAP S/4HANA, SAP Integrated Business Planning, SAP Customer Experience solutions, and SAP SuccessFactors solutions, and is planned to be introduced into other SAP products in the future.
Thanks for sharing the useful information. Very informative
Great post and one I will be sharing with my consulting colleagues!
One topic I would appreciate you addressing (perhaps as a logical extension of this blog or in a follow on blog) is the actual provisioning of userids. As documented in 2570961 - Simplification item S4TWL - Business User Management Fiori deployment and enablement not only requires that a business role be assigned to a userid, but in many cases (PM, SD) a Business Partner of type Person and BP Role Employee must be created and linked to the userid as a technical requirement of the Fiori Apps. This is an area of contention with our security team, who are accustomed to using SU01 solely, and hits home particularly when HR is "out of scope" for a project... how can a Security resource minimally create a personnel record to fulfil the requirements of Fiori so that the userid they provision is actually able to execute the apps assigned via the role? Would love to see this documented in your process and hear how others are addressing this...
Hi Sean, Thanks for that thought! The quickest way to resolve that is to use the SAP Fiori app F2288A Maintain Employees (or the predecessor app F2288 as explained in SAP Note 2570961.
App F2288A does exactly what you are looking for - minimal creation of an employee record when HCM integration is not in scope. I find it quite straightforward to use.
This is yet another example of an app where the configuration for SAP Fiori is actually done in SAP Fiori as explained more generally in Yes you need SAP Fiori to Configure, Adapt and Extend SAP S/4HANA
I'll add it to our list of ideas for future content.
Jocelyn Dart , As always a very helpful blog and embedded videos.
I was looking at MicroLearning video Adapting the UI of List Report Apps
Surely it is an easy way to adapt the app and then add it to Custom Catalog and Role.
One question though, that if we "hide" a button through App variant, does it also reduce user's authorization or is it only a visual appearance change. My understanding is that it is only a visual change. If user knew the oData service behind the "hidden" button, they could theoretically still perform that action.
if we need to make it tighter from Security perspective and also visually make button appear based on security authorization for that action, what would be the best approach for a standard app like one in MicroLearning example ?
Do we need a Fiori Developer or ABAP+CDS developer or both to achieve it ?
In essence, customers often request these type of changes that appear minor requests to them. And while they want it very secure, it is sometimes hard for them to see that it could possibly need a Fiori Developer + ABAP/CDS Developer + BASIS effort to achieve this change.
HI Mukesh It's a visual change but of course you should also adjust their authorizations to prevent the action as well just via your usual auth objects. Usually just need the security person involved.
Hi Jocelyn,
Thanks for sharing.
I have two questions
Note: Role design happens based on business process definition. Business process owner is basically designing the roles in my clients. UX consultant designs spaces/pages based on workshop with business users and submits the design to project team. My question is about creating business catalog/space/pages in the system based on approved design
Below doc tells catalog creation as basis /security responsibility
The Basis Expert Role in UX for SAP S/4HANA
Also BootCamp material is describing catalog/space/page creation under security
Security team is doing these activities in few clients. So we need more info on Content admin role (Purpose, advantage/disadvantage, required skills)
Thanks
Thava