There has been a strong need inside the SAP Procurement community for the need of #mobility in procurement, sourcing and contract management. This blog is an unquote of the #ASUG session by Ramin Bagheri -Solution Owner- SAP Procurement Solutions for On-Device Solutions for Procurement. Like me, the entire SAP Procurement community was thrilled to tune into this much awaited “spill the beans” show from the SAP Procurement shop.
In the recent past, I had blogged about how Genentech went about developing a custom app for their SAP SRM Shopping Cart creation and approval called gApprove, this was the same time when the Contract Approval process in SAP CLM was soon to be released to customers, all the buzz got around the “want of mobility platform in the SAP Procurement processes”, today’s webcast threw great light on what was in the making, all this time, the first look gave a vision of what a “different form factor” for carrying out SAP Procurement practices looked like and would look like in the future with subsequent roll-outs.
This is the first blog of a possible 4-5 part story, the blogs to follow, would focus on each of the use-cases in detail and the underlying business benefit and its target audience, please stay tuned.
Also, during the life-cycle of reading this blog, the 2 key messages that the reader needs to circle back are:
KEY MESSAGE for the advantages of Mobility driven SAP Procurement
Enable Target Users for Procurement (managers, end-users, buyers) to perform various SAP Procurement & Sourcing tasks & requests via mobile apps on Smart Phones or Tablet PC
High priority for broad range of industries & user groups
Every Use case that we would be talking would point to a tangible Business benefit for your enterprise
Jumping into the highlights of the session from Ramin, here are the artifacts
1.0 Device Categories (Selected for Deployment)
The element called form factor is key when applications from the enterprise are taken on-device, it’s a given that the user experience, the ease of use and the WYSIWYG factor, all need to be addressed with one hit, it forms an opinion for the target audience that would then, choose from a list of devices that is approved inside the respective enterprise.
In short, the category for roll-out would be for SMART PHONES & TABLET PC’s
As an Approver: I would love to approve on my Smart Phone or Tablet, and here’s why?
2.0 Understanding Form Factor Fitment with Use Case in SAP Procurement
What are the Key Enablers that help strategize the use case and put it on the right form factor?
- Based on the nature of the Business process in procurement, one can understand why was it chosen for a particular form factor
- A Shopping Cart approval would probably on-board a Smart Phone than a Tablet, as it would have minimal typing and more to do with information look-up, decide and approve schemas than actually collaborating with content
- On the other lines, filling up a Temp Labor Skill form or editing a Contract Document template before routing it back to the supplier would call for a tablet with a bigger screen for more informed decision making and collaboration.
This brings us to that part of the story, where we are referring to building the right use case for the right form factor (though you can have them available complimentary on both the platforms of choice in our discussion Smart Phone & Tablet PC’s
The picture below, is a sample illustrative of what a UI designer thinks when they collaborate with the typical SAP Procurement Customer and end-user community to brainstorm the fitment and scalability of the process functionality
3.0 USE CASE – By Priority
Though we will deal with each use case in detail, for now lets take a short de-tour and quick look at what is priority to the SAP Procurement community
From the time, I began my consulting spree with SAP Procurement Customers, the biggest requirement was to help streamline the lead-time for approvals of Shopping Carts / Purchase Requisitions or Purchase Orders, these transactions are high volume and any flaws to it, is a mere reflection to how mature the procurement process was crafted in an enterprise.
Industry wide highest expectations from End-users:“We need an accelerated approval process to help our managers reach our shopping carts and approve them with minimal effort”
The vision of this roll-out leans straight with an answer to that community : First, Address the painful story around accelerated forms of Shopping Cart approval
So the first use case that was developed on the SAP Mobile platform for Procurement is going to be “Shopping Cart approvals” in Oct 2011
There are typically about 11 Use cases that we would discuss in the blogs to follow, below are the descriptions of the use cases so that you stay connected with the entire story
| Sl No | Use Case | Use Case Description | Target User Groups | Priority Road-map for Mobile Scenarios |
| 1 | Shopping Cart Approval | Approve shopping carts created in SAP SRM on the Smart phone or tablet Approving or rejecting of shopping carts Display an overview of work items:
| Managers | Q4 – 2011 |
| 2 | Supplier Look-up | Enable procurement personnel to have quick and easy access to supplier contact and location information via mobile apps on Smart Phones or Tablet PC Showing available suppliers near by Browsing for suppliers in its available supplier list/map Displaying of the supplier contact information | Procurement personnel | 2012 |
| 3 | Purchase Request Approval (SAP ERP-MM) | Enable managers to approve purchase requests via mobile apps on Smart Phones or Tablet PC | Managers | 2012 |
| 4 | Shopping Cart Creation
| Enable users to create the shopping cart via mobile apps on Smart Phones or Tablet PC Real time creation of shopping cart Mini catalog enables to look up for items Display overview of shopping carts | Employees & Managers | 2012 |
Ramin had also sent the survey document to all the folks that attended the #ASUG webcast, for more follow-up information on your thoughts and impressions and what more to expect, you can contact ramin.bagheri@sap.com, the thought engaging event had approximately 200+ Procurement professionals tuned in.
I was tweeting the event with the hashtag #SAPSRM to help folks that have not tuned into the event, benefit from what stood out for customers, partners and the community that uses SAP Procurement solutions to run the show at their enterprise. You can find reminisces of the #ASUG webcast, when you click on this link http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23SAPSRM
Please follow @Sap_Procurement on twitter for the latest trends from the SAP Procurement portfolio of solutions, you can also follow my handle @tridipchakra for a dope of procurement xChanges in the SAP world (articles, blogs, whitepapers)
Focused hash-tags for SAP Procurement: #SAPSRM #SAPSourcing #SAPCLM #procurement #SAPSLM and there will be more in the making
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