The need for a common and aligned framework Over the course of time, we have seen as Enterprise Architects in SAP Business Transformation Services, both SAP internal as well in the interaction with customers and partners, that different methodologies, artifacts, and approaches are used in architecture engagements. With the creation of a reference architecture the need for a common Enterprise Architecture Framework at SAP was obvious as different departments within the SAP organization produce and consume the content of the reference architecture. Only one common “language” and approach would ensure that information can be leveraged in an efficient and effective way both inside and outside the organization. ... View more

 Hello, I have compiled the SAP EA key terminologies, artifacts and definitions in the mind map format. This was created as a prep notes for my certification exam.  Hope this helps you too for easier understanding of the SAP EA framework. I hope to improvise this mind map and enrich with new contents. If anyone is interested to collaborate, then drop me a message. I will share the xMind invite link for collaboration. URL for Mind Map : https://xmind.works/share/equwBDaK Thanks, Vivek https://www.linkedin.com/in/vhegde1/   ... View more

With the completion of the acquisition of LeanIX we want to give with this blog a first insights on how LeanIX EAM will feature the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework. Independent and prior to SAP announcement of the intention to acquire LeanIX back in September 2023, a small working group was formed to pilot the modelling of key artifacts of the SAP Enterprise Architecture Methodology in combination with our best practices and approaches. This work was motived by: Keeping the promise to deliver what we have planned on our SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework roadmap. The need we saw in the market to further professionalize the way we run enterprise architecture engagements within and beyond SAP (incl. partners and customers) The enormous potential to accelerate transformation programs by leveraging the SAP Reference Architecture in a sophisticated modelling environment. Our passion to spread the thought around the value enterprise architecture can bring to your organization. In the next paragraphs we would like to provide you a first insight on how LeanIX EAM will feature various artifacts and more important the approach on how we foresee the tool to be used accelerate and further professionalize enterprise architecture engagement. Important note: Please see this as a first lab preview and further adjustment will certainly be applied. SAP Reference Business and Solution Architecture in LeanIX EAM While the SAP Reference Architecture is one of the corner stones of the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework, we have imported the content into LeanIX EAM. Furthermore, we have built a set of reports to feature our methodology while leveraging the LeanIX EAM meta model V4 in combination with a set of tag groups. The following screen shot demonstrates how the reference Business Capabilities look like in Signavio Process Explorer and LeanIX EAM:   While the generic E2E Business Processes look as following   Business Capability driven approach As a first use case we want to demonstrate how the Business Capability driven approach will look like. The following steps will be performed to derive a target architecture and roadmap: Scoping of Business Capabilities on Level 1-3 based on the SAP Business Reference Architecture Identification of required Solution Capabilities and Solution Components based on the previous Business Capability scoping Identification of Deployment Types Lifecycle Planning of Solution Components Creation of an Application Architecture Roadmap     The following demonstration is based on our IEA10 training case study in which a fictive company is moving away from product sales to service sales (pay per use model) while resolving known issues (pain points) with customer experience. This context (identified within the Architecture Vision phase) is relevant for the heat mapping but will not be further detailed out. Focus of this blog is on the approach and the modelling in LeanIX. Following artifacts will be covered as part of the use case: Starting point is the scoping of the Business Capabilities from level 1-3 (Business Domain, Business Area, Business Capability), leveraging the SAP Business Reference Architecture: Once the Business Domains (L1) are scoped the relevant Business Areas (L2) can be selected/scoped: In a third step the relevant Business Capabilities (L3) are selected/scoped: With the identified Business Capabilities (L3) scope, we can now select the relevant Solution Capabilities (based on the SAP Reference Solution Architecture): In a next step, we select/scope the identified Solution Component (Application): The selected Applications can be reviewed in a consolidated view. In addition, we want to understand if an application will run on public cloud vs. private cloud vs. on premise. This information is retrieved by the deployment type of the SAP Solution Reference Architecture: With the information about the deployment type, we can derive the Software Distribution Diagram: Another interesting view is the visualization of our applications in combination with the Solution Capabilities the applications are supporting: In preparation of our roadmap, we can also define the life cycle information of the applications in scope (plan, phase in, active etc.):   Finally, we want to see our Application Roadmap. In this case we classified by scope type and application and added the deployment type in addition to the lifecycle information: We hope that you have enjoyed this first lab preview! Moving forward, you will also have the chance to experience the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework featured by LeanIX EAM as part of new learning offerings, demo workspaces and content we are planning to deliver in Q1/2024. Therefore, please stay tuned (we will share more details via the SAP Enterprise Community) or proactively reach out to us. I would also like to express at this stage my appreciation towards @Stefan_Fassmann co-author of this article and partner in crime ... View more

Some of the largest challenges that enterprises face today, are: Becoming Agile Globalization and digitalization Increasing complexity of systems Product-type development Market competition Beside other reasons, these challenges force enterprises to modernize their IT landscapes. As SAP ERP systems are in many cases mission critical for the most important processes, many companies start their journey to SAP S/4HANA with a clean core, supported by SAP BTP and SAP industry cloud. These projects are typically very complex with a lot of stakeholders, requirements and a long project duration. To tackle this complexity, it makes a lot of sense to introduce agile approaches. ... View more

Do you urge to become a SAP-certified professional – SAP Enterprise Architect? Here you find some tips for your prepration. ... View more

Hi Friends, I cleared the "SAP Enterprise Architect" certification on July 23rd.  My reflections on this exam were that it's well designed and on the harder side. Pay attention to the published pdf guide including the knowledge base articles that are included in it.  Follow the below 1) Understand the SAP Framework - Since it's based on Togaf, reading a book or watching some online videos (Knotion Togaf 9 training video part 1 of 10 - YouTube)  would be handy. After that, read the SAP EA methodology blog with the visual.   2) Artifacts and their applicability to business scenarios - EA is about aligning IT investments to business. EA would  focus, initially, on understanding the vision, drivers, external context and changing business model. They extract the ABB (conceptual architecture building blocks) required to enable business imperative and then map them to the technology specific/aware SBB(Solution Architecture Building Blocks). This is where the SAP Business and Solution Reference architectures comes in very handy. 3) SAP Reference architectures including its content meta-model (Capability, Process, Data, Role), and an understanding of SAP's ADM.  4.) SAP Tech Strategies/Direction alignment - Understand and apply Clear Core, BTP, Extension approach  concepts around the "One unified Office principle" which includes guidance around how do create space for business model innovation by keeping core clean and building apps, extensions, integrations using the BTP platform. If you are curious, my background was in EA and have been using  ADM(Architecture Development Methodology)/business architecture since 2013.  Thanks Update - Based on community feedback received  Hi  If there is enough interest, I could capture my lessons and 10 plus years of Enterprise architecture experience in a YouTube channel. If we have15-20 people who voted yes, I would be happy to spend time sharing my skills for the broader benefit of EA community in SAP. Quick community  survey https://forms.gle/TyUkQ8yaZnTZbMdc9 ... View more

Disclaimer: Information provided in this blog serves only as a general overview and does not replace any legal agreements between SAP and its contractual parties. As this blog may not be updated regularly, please refer to your assigned SAP Account or Partner Manager for up-to-date information, especially regarding roadmaps, licensing and pricing models. The blog post SAP EA Framework Presentation at the TOGAF® Standard 10th Edition – Launch Event [1] presented the SAP Enterprise Architecture Methodology, which aims to align Business Architecture Domain with IT Solution Architecture Domain. Figure 1 – SAP Enterprise Architecture Methodology – Linking Business and IT Based on the SAP Enterprise Architecture Methodology, the standardized SAP Reference Architecture Content provides a harmonized Business and Solution Architecture Reference content which customers can leverage to accelerate their business transformation. The content aims to align business and IT by mapping business capabilities and processes with IT solutions. As such, it is composed of 2 parts: SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) describes the scope and undertaking of any enterprise, in a business-centric and product-agnostic way. SAP Reference Solution Architecture (RSA) explores how SAP addresses a customer’s business challenge with its unique product portfolio. In this blog, we will take a closer look at the SAP Reference Business Architecture Content – what it is and how it is structured. A closer look at the SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) The SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) is based on SAP’s 50 years of industry experience and is aligned with best practices and standards, such as APQC [2]. It is comprised of the following core elements: Figure 2 – SAP Reference Business Architecture – Core Elements The enterprise through the lens of business capabilities… From a functional-perspective, the SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) describes an enterprise using 4 Enterprise Domains: Products & Services Developing and managing products and services. Supply Fulfilling the demand for products and services. Customer Generating the demand for products and services. Corporate Planning and managing the enterprise. These Enterprise Domains can be decomposed into Business Domains and Business Areas, which group Business Capabilities. A Business Capability defines the “what” the enterprise does, constituting a particular ability that an enterprise may possess, which is needed to deliver value or achieve a specific outcome. The enterprise through the lens of business processes… From a process-perspective, the SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) describes an enterprise based on 8 generic End-to-End Business Process: Idea to Market Managing the lifecycle of products and services, such as managing the product portfolio and investments, identifying new products and services, finalizing the design, managing intellectual property, and product compliance. Source to Pay Managing the comprehensive sourcing and procurement of products and services, such as the procurement planning and managing spend, sourcing and supplier selection, negotiating and managing supplier contracts, and preparing and executing operational procurement. Plan to Fulfill Planning, production, delivery, and fulfillment of products or services as well as tracking and tracing, data management, and sustainable manufacturing operations. Lead to Cash Marketing and selling of products and services, managing sales orders and their fulfillment, providing after-sales related services, invoicing customers, managing accounts receivable and collecting payment. Recruit to Retire Managing the overall lifecycle of employees, including HR strategizing, planning, and budgeting. Acquire to Decommission Managing the overall lifecycle, including planning asset strategy and investments, defining asset maintenance strategies, acquiring or building assets, onboarding assets, planning and executing asset maintenance, as well as offboarding and decommissioning assets. Governance Covering all business activities related to internal operations, such as developing and managing enterprise strategy and plans, managing portfolio and projects, managing global trade and tax, and managing risk and compliance. Finance Covering all business activities related to financial operations, such as optimizing financials, managing account receivables and payables, accounting and financial close, and managing treasury The generic end-to-end business processes are foundational templates, which contain all the business activities required in a respective context. As such, the generic business process may have different variations, which contain the actual executable business process that addresses specific use cases, industries and other contexts. As an example - the following are variations of the generic Lead to Cash (to name only a few): Lead to Cash for Business-to-Business Marketing and selling tangible products and one-time services to B2B customers. Business-to-Consumer Omni-channel Commerce, Physical Products Marketing and selling tangible products to B2C customers. Subscription and Usage Business Selling, delivering and invoicing subscription-based services and usage to B2B and B2C customers. Customers with subscription-based services have recurring charges during their subscription period. For usage-based customers, the use of resources is monitored, and customers are charged only when they use a certain product or service. … and more At a more granular level, a business process can be decomposed into different Business Activities, which describes how value is generated by using certain Business Capabilities. What’s next? As previously mentioned, the SAP Reference Architecture Content helps align Business and IT by mapping business challenges with IT solutions. It is composed of 2 parts: SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA) describes the scope and undertaking of any enterprise, in a business-centric and product-agnostic way. SAP Reference Solution Architecture (RSA) explores how SAP addresses a customer’s business challenge with its unique product portfolio. In the next blog, we will take a closer look at the SAP Reference Solution Architecture (RSA) and how it complements the SAP Reference Business Architecture (RBA). Do you want access to the SAP Reference Architecture Content? As part of the Beta program, the SAP Reference Architecture Content is available on SAP Signavio. Check the blog Success for the One Process Acceleration Layer Beta Program, underway with over 120 users [3] to learn more. References: [1] SAP EA Framework Presentation at the TOGAF® Standard 10th Edition – Launch Event https://groups.community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-architecture-blog/sap-ea-framework-presentation-at-the-togaf-standard-10th-edition/ba-p/4289 [2] AQPC Website https://www.apqc.org/ [3] Success for the One Process Acceleration Layer Beta Program, underway with over 120 users https://blogs.sap.com/2022/07/21/success-for-the-one-process-acceleration-layer-beta-program-underway-with-over-120-users/   ... View more

Install SAP GUI for Windows 8.00 64Bit/32Bit with sapscript legacy text editor & Adobe LiveCycle Designer Download SAP GUI for Windows 8.00 64Bit/32Bit   Login with Super user https://launchpad.support.sap.com/login.html Select: Download Type in search:  “50160634_2”       Download:     Installation  SAP_GUI_for_Windows_8.00 Extract the zip file Open as Administrator. Path:  “SAP_GUI_for_Windows_8.00_Comp._1_\PRES1\GUI\Windows”   If you want to install 64 bit, uninstall the 32 bit version first       Change configuration for Smartforms (Editor in Smartforms)   Go to se38   Run Program   “RSCPSETEDITOR”     Desactive SAPscript and Smart Form boxes   And click in Activate button.   This will bring the message to enable/disable the MSWord     Other Option The steps to turn off MS Word as Sapscript editor are:   Transaction I18N -> I18N Customizing -> MSWord as Editor.   Here you should first check the flag settings for 'Sapscript' and 'Smartforms'   Then click on 'Activate'.   Then you should then uncheck the flag settings for 'Sapscript' and 'Smartforms'. Again click on 'Activate'.   After this the MS Word editor should be deactivated. For ECC, this is activated by default and you have to follow the steps above to disable it.   Update sapscript legacy text editor Download : “SAPSLTESP00_0-70001053.EXE”   Update Adobe form (Adobe LiveCycle Designer )   Refer sap Note : To download and install or update the Adobe LiveCycle Designer, follow the instructions in SAP note 2187332     (download and installation of version 11.0). Download : “ALD110P_21-80000927.EXE”     ... View more

Exceptional enterprise architecture artifacts lay the foundation for innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness in business transformation projects. Architecture artifacts that are visually appealing will improve understanding and hence lead to better decision-making. Artifacts should be easy to understand, they should provide insights and are aesthetically pleasing. This blog provides guidelines on how various visual attributes, like hierarchy, layout, colour, form, graphics, etc. can contribute to the readability of diagrams/models. ... View more

Summary In this article, I describe characteristics and boundary conditions of SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics and decision criteria when to use it, but also when not to use it and instead using SAP Business Technology Platform  (SAP BTP) or other adequate non-SAP solutions for data warehouse & analytic purposes. Business Requirements  Business operations users, business users responsible for the business processes or BI analysts require (real-time) analytics and reporting capabilities for data originating from SAP S/4HANA. The data / information needs to be provided depending on the use case in various formats such as SAP Fiori applications, SAP Analytics Cloud dashboards and applications or via APIs for self-service BI. Solution Options  SAP provides the following strategic solutions:  SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics  SAP Business Technology Platform (for analytics&data warehouse purposes) Characterization of the Solution Options  SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics  SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics is an integrated analytics solution, which comes out-of-the box with SAP S/4HANA (on-premise, private or public Cloud) without additional license or subscription costs. It is based on core data services (CDS) as part of the SAP S/4HANA data model. From a business user perspective, these core data services can be consumed via (predefined) SAP Fiori applications, via SAP Analytics Cloud (live or import connection) and via OData services or analytical queries for various kind of SAP or Non-SAP consumption tools . With the latest SAP S/4HANA release more than 1000 predefined analytical SAP Fiori Applications are delivered with SAP S/4HANA out of the box. SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics provides by nature real-time access to the operational data in SAP S/4HANA and can be flexibly extended based on specific customer needs. For further information, please take a look to the OpenSAP Class: SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics SAP Business Technology Platform  In case SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics is not capable to fulfill the analytic requirements (more details are provided in next two chapters), SAP Business Technology platform (BTP) can be used for handling these scenarios. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud (software as a service) and SAP BW/4HANA (on-premise or private cloud) as part of SAP BTP are the two strategic directions from SAP for enterprise data warehousing. Alternatively or additionally SAP HANA Cloud (including native storage extension and data lake) as Database as a Service solution serves nicely to build up or extend your self-defined and self-modeled data warehouse solution. All three components are capable of extracting or federating data from SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA systems, as well as from other SAP or non-SAP data sources  and building the foundation of an enterprise-wide single point of truth for various data needs, such as analytics, planning or other data mesh or data fabrique purposes. As mentioned before they are well integrated with each other and thus provide the opportunity to take the best out of the different component for building up a hybrid data and analytics platform Operational systems like SAP S/4HANA or SAP SuccessFactors provide preconfigured extractor frameworks for replication or data loading into SAP Data Warehouse solutions. Using SAP BW/4HANA or SAP HANA Cloud is typically an IT-driven modeling approach whereas SAP Data Warehouse Cloud is also very strong for a self-service, business-driven modeling approach.  For the large community of SAP BW customers it possible to run a hybrid set up with a tight integration of SAP Data Warehouse Cloud with SAP BW as a temporary set up but also for long term purpose if desired (see picture below). For further information, please take a look to  New Learning Journey: Discover SAP Business Technology Platform Criteria to determine the most suitable target solution  These are the questions / criteria which are maintained in the Evaluation Excel that is referred to in the next section: here   Question  SAP BTP SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics  Do you need integration of reporting into transactional applications? (Process Integration)      The real-time data from the SAP S/4HANA database is required without any delay for e.g. for applications where data is updated and in parallel the results need to be reported instantaneously. This is a typical operational reporting requirement and the usage of SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics.  SAP delivers already several pre-defined SAP Fiori applications for such inside-to-action scenarios, which can be found in the SAP Fiori Apps Reference Library 0  +++  Do you need real-time data for your analytics?      SAP BW/4HANA, SAP Data Warehouse Cloud or SAP HANA Cloud provide federation approaches, which means that data can be virtually accessed in the source system. However the more elegant way is leveraging the virtual data model (CDS Views) and the embedded analytics framework within SAP S/4HANA with real-time access by design.   +  +++  Do you need consolidation of data from multiple sources? (Cross-system Analytics)      Loading data from multiple source systems usually yields high data volumes and requires (complex) consolidation logic that contributes to workload. This is a typical SAP BTP / Data Warehouse use case. +++  ---  Do you often need to take data “snapshots” to freeze data views? (time slices, day-end results)      Snapshots can be realized best in data warehouses by using data models with operational datastores. In SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics it is not possible to capture data snapshots, because especially master data objects in SAP S/4HANA do not track the history.  +++  -  Do you need time-dependent master data? (Historization)      In SAP S/4HANA master data typically does not have time stamp information in their data objects and thus versioning or tracking the change history is not provided. As SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics is building on the same data model and therefore analysis of historical master data views in many cases is not possible. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud or SAP BW/4HANA as solutions within SAP BTP provide time-dependency features for master data to track the change history and ultimately provide key-day based data access.  +++  0  Do you perform long term trend analysis? (Data Retention)      Long term data analysis requires long retention periods that are usually beyond the standard retention times for the transactional data in an SAP S/4HANA system. SAP BTP allows to keep historical data cost-efficiently for a long period of time, utilizing features like data-tiering, aggregation or nearline storage. +++  0  Do you need to clean up, harmonize, transform, or enhance the data before reporting?      Harmonization and transformation are classical data warehouse tasks requiring the creation of staging layers +++  -  Do you work with complex hierarchies?      SAP S/4HANA Embedded Analytics provides standard hierarchies, e.g., for cost center reporting. However enhanced features and custom-built hierarchies e.g., with time-dependencies are typical data warehouse specific use cases.   +++  + Do you need to integrate data from 3rd -party solutions?       The persistence of data from 3rd party solutions requires the definition of a data model outside of SAP S/4HANA and can be efficiently achived with SAP BTP, which comes along with a big variety of data source adapters. SAP BTP provides capabilities for virtual access to data from various 3rd party sources. +++  ---  Are you using inventory management scenarios?     SAP BTP, in particular SAP DWC or SAP BW, provide comprehensive functionalities to analyze inventory management scenarios. However basic inventory management reporting can be also done directly in SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics.  +++  0    Decision Tree     Conclusion  You have received an overview about SAP analyics solutions for operational SAP S/4HANA data. First choice should be SAP S/4HANA embedded analytics specifically for light-weight real-time data models. Alternatively SAP Business Technology Platform (incl. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud, SAP HANA Cloud, SAP BW/4HANA) is the place for complex, heavy weight data modeling for (near) real-time data and analytics requirements, but also traditionally data warehouse scenarios. ... View more