ASUG Webcast on SAP Fiori roadmap - questions, answers, and replay

[PeterSpielvogel]

In April 2023, ASUG sponsored a webcast on the roadmap for SAP’s Fiori user experience, presented by Dr. Thomas Reiss. In the 1-hour session, he covered multiple topics related to recent and planned user experience innovations, including three live demos:

• The new Horizon visual theme


• New central entry point


• My Home, the new entry page for SAP S/4HANA Cloud


• Microsoft Teams integration


• UX Innovations in applications


• UX Innovations in development tools and technology

This post will answer questions that attendees asked during the session. You can also download the slides and watch the replay.

 

SAP Fiori includes the design system, tools and technologies, along with apps that run across the SAP solution portfolio.

 

There were dozens of questions from the audience of almost 200 people. Here are some answers, grouped by topic and edited for clarity.

 

Central Entry Point

Question	Answer
Will the central entry point provide a single, centralized logon for SAP GUI for HTML (classic apps), SAP Fiori apps, as well as applications from products such as SuccessFactors, Fieldglass, Ariba?	The central entry points are designed to provide a single entry to the apps you mentioned.
If SAP Build Work Zone and SAP Mobile Start are the entry points. which of them is the entry for the other?	SAP Build Work Zone is for desktops, SAP Mobile Start is for phones and tablets.
Can I use SAP Start if my SAP S/4HANA system is on prem?	SAP Start is planned to provide a central entry point across SAP’s public cloud solutions. SAP Build Work Zone is your option for integrating to on-premise and/or cloud products. If you are only using SAP S/4HANA on-premise, you can use its SAP Fiori launchpad. The new My Home  start page for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition is currently planned to become available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and SAP S/4HANA (on-premise ), most likely later this year (but please note that our plans are subject to change).
Insights - open sales orders allows you to drill down into each sales order?	Correct. From the My Home page, you can see insights and drill down into list reports or object pages – in this case the list of sales orders and individual sales orders.
We are a heavy SAP Enable Now user. Would you recommend SAP Build Work Zone, advanced edition?	SAP Build Work Zone, advanced edition will provide the most flexibility.
Is SAP Build Work Zone more like SharePoint within SAP?	I would not compare SAP Build Work Zone to SharePoint, but both products allow you to aggregate content on the screen for various user roles. SAP Build Work Zone has a specific focus on providing great integration with SAP applications.
Is it possible to host SAP Build Apps in Work Zone? Do you have collaboration between SAP Fiori freestyle and SAP Build Apps? Is it possible?	We are working on improving the integrations between SAP Build Apps and other SAP solutions.
Can you have multiple pages open and tiled in the screen at the same time?	You would need to have multiple browser windows open and tile them to fit your needs.

Learn more:

SAP Build Work Zone: https://www.sap.com/products/technology-platform/workzone.html

Community page: https://community.sap.com/topics/work-zone

SAP Mobile Start: https://community.sap.com/topics/mobile-experience/start

SAP Mobile Start provides a native entry point to SAP’s cloud-based applications.

 

SAP Fiori applications

Question	Answer
SAP Fiori classic apps use the SAP GUI for HTML (Web GUI) for interactions, Is there any roadmap to improve the functionality of the Web GUI so it can be a true beneficial transition for on-prem users as they transition to SAP Fiori?	Yes, we are working on improvements to SAP GUI for HTML, but most of our innovation efforts are on creating new SAP Fiori apps to replace classic apps. SAP Screen Personas <LINK> allows you to simplify classic apps to provide an SAP Fiori experience. This is now embedded into SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, so all customers can adapt classic UIs as well as UI5-based SAP Fiori apps to fit their needs.
What about variant management like we have in ALV. The key users should be able to save variant and share with other users. Any improvement in this area?	Yes, this is possible since SAP S/4HANA 2021. This is explained briefly in this blog post: https://blogs.sap.com/2021/10/13/sap-fiori-3-whats-new-with-sap-s-4hana-2021-on-premise/
Building blocks in the flexible programming model are available for custom pages and object pages. Are there plans to add building blocks for analytical list page?	Building blocks are part of the flexible programming model, which is only available for OData V4 floorplans. We are planning to add building blocks for the analytical list page. More info:  https://sapui5.hana.ondemand.com/test-resources/sap/fe/core/fpmExplorer/index.html
Any possibilities of changing the SAPUI5 framework from MVC (model view controller) to latest one's like Vue? Though we have Web Components, I just wanted to know if we have any plans of changing the framework at all?	We constantly work on the modernization and improvement of SAPUI5 (UI5 Evolution, Web Component Enablement, Typescript, UI5 Tooling, …). However, with regards to the removal of the MVC pattern, there is currently no activity planned or ready to be put into the roadmap. You can use Vue together with UI5 Web Components for dedicated projects to achieve UX consistency with SAPUI5 apps.

Learn more:

SAP Fiori application library: https://fioriappslibrary.hana.ondemand.com/sap/fix/externalViewer/

 

Find the latest apps in the SAP Fiori app reference library – or build your own with SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori elements.

 

Developing SAP Fiori applications

Question	Answer
I see ABAP programmers afraid to use SAP Fiori elements in projects, so as not to run the risk of starting an application and then receiving a new requirement that SAP Fiori elements does not support.	The new flexible programming model reduces this risk. This video series explains more: https://blogs.sap.com/2022/12/08/video-series-on-flexible-programming-model-for-sap-fiori-elements/
Are any of the tools shown in the big picture low or no code tools or is it heavy coding?	SAP Build Apps is our low-code / no-code solution. SAP Business Application Studio, along with SAPUI5, SAP Fiori elements, is our pro-code solution for the web. Note though that SAP Fiori elements requires no or very little front-end JavaScript code. The mobile development kit and iOS and Android SDKs are our pro-code solution for native mobile apps.
Why should developers learn SAPUI5 when we have SAP Build Apps?	Professional developers generally prefer the flexibility of SAPUI5. If a business analyst lacks development skills, then SAP Build Apps will let them create apps for their group.
Does SAP Build Apps compete with SAPUI5 in SAP S/4HANA projects? Can SAP Build Apps replace SAPUI5?	These approaches are complementary. SAP Build Apps does not replace SAPUI5. Developers can do much more with SAPUI5, but it takes more time. Best to choose the right tool for the task.

Learn more:

Pro-Code https://www.sap.com/products/technology-platform/developer-tools.html

SAPUI5: https://community.sap.com/topics/ui5, https://sapui5.hana.ondemand.com/

SAP Fiori elements: https://community.sap.com/topics/fiori-elements

SAP Fiori tools: https://community.sap.com/topics/fiori-tools

Low-Code / No-Code

SAP Build Apps: https://www.sap.com/products/technology-platform/low-code.html

 

UX differences between cloud and on-prem versions

Question	Answer
For on-prem, do customers have to update SAP Fiori to get latest theme or is it automatic?	With SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, you automatically receive all the latest updates, including themes. For private edition and on-prem, you control the pace of innovation and update apps and themes when it fits your schedule.
What, if any of what was presented applies to on-prem?	Innovations generally appear in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition first. Most are currently planned to become available for private cloud and on-prem later.
From your opinion, if we use theme builder do we lose out on innovations from Horizon?	It depends on what you do, but if you use theme builder on top of the Horizon theme, then you should benefit from updates to Horizon on theme parameters which you have not adapted yourself.
Can Spaces/Page designed for on prem environments be ported to BTP?	For each role, the spaces and pages can be automatically pushed up from SAP S/4HANA to SAP Build Work Zone, standard edition running on BTP.
is there an inventory of what is available in SAP S/4HANA 2022?	Have a look at this blog post: https://blogs.sap.com/2022/10/12/sap-fiori-whats-new-for-sap-s-4hana-2022-on-premise-and-private-clo... At the end, it links you to the What's New viewer, with all the new UX items.

Learn more:

SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition: https://www.sap.com/products/erp/s4hana.html

Grow with SAP: https://www.sap.com/products/erp/grow.html

SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition: https://www.sap.com/products/erp/s4hana-private-edition.html

RISE with SAP: https://www.sap.com/products/rise.html

 

Artificial Intelligence

Question	Answer
Will SAP’s digital assistant use Chat GPT to create answers?	We are evaluating several AI engines, including Chat GPT.
Is SAP CoPilot a product anymore?	SAP CoPilot is included with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. However, the human-to-human functionality is planned to be replaced by the SAP Collaboration Manager, and the embedded SAP Digital Assistant is planned to provide a chatbot conversational user experience.

Learn more:

Artificial intelligence at SAP: https://www.sap.com/products/artificial-intelligence.html

 

Miscellaneous

Question	Answer
Will the Microsoft Teams integration work if we have an SAP Fiori app that points to an SAC Story?	No, at the moment the Microsoft Teams integration provided by SAP S/4HANA Cloud is for SAP Fiori elements based apps only.
Is Mobile Experience being release for SAP Fiori on Premise?	You can run certain SAP Fiori apps in the browser on your phone. To find out which of these web apps are release for smart phones, go to the SAP Fiori Apps Reference Library and filter your selection using the filter “Device Type(s)” and the option “Smartphone”. At the time of writing SAP S/4HANA has 1737 smartphone enabled apps. There are also these native mobile apps available for selected business use cases.

 

I encourage you to watch the replay to see the full SAP Fiori roadmap webcast and understand the context for many of the questions. You can also download the slides.

 

On behalf of SAP Core Design and SAP UX Engineering, thomas.reiss and peter.spielvogel.