Three Scenarios on How You Can Get Started on SAP Mobile Start

[shabeer_jameela]

Introduction

SAP Mobile Start, the newly released native entry point for SAP’s business applications and content, is now available for iPhone and iPad. You can learn more about SAP Mobile Start in this blog post.

To use SAP Mobile Start, there are two pre-requisites:

• You need to use iOS 14 or above


• You need to have a license for the SAP Launchpad service running on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP)

SAP Mobile Start can be downloaded for free from Apple App Store here or using the QR code given below.

In this blog post, I will explain the three scenarios to get you started on SAP Mobile Start. Which of the following applies best to your situation?

1. You want to explore the app features in a demo mode


2. You already have SAP Launchpad service license, have set up a site and would like to start using SAP Mobile Start


3. You don’t have SAP Launchpad service license yet, but would like to get it so you can start using it together with SAP Mobile Start

Scenario 1: Explore app features immediately in the demo mode

Have you downloaded the app from the Apple App Store; but don’t have an SAP Launchpad service license yet (or haven’t checked with your IT department whether it is available for your company)? No problem! With the built-in demo mode in SAP Mobile Start you can still start exploring the most important features right away. Simply choose the option “Try the Demo” when opening SAP Mobile Start on your device.

This blog post will help you get the most out of the demo feature. It guides you through the app, by putting you in the shoes of a project manager. By following the story of the day in a life of a project manager, you can experience how SAP Mobile Start uses native capabilities (e.g., widgets, notifications, search) to help a mobile user be more agile and improve their work flexibility and productivity.

Scenario 2: You already have SAP Launchpad service license, have set up a site and would like to start using SAP Mobile Start

If you already have SAP Launchpad service set up in your landscape and is already accessing content from an SAP Solution (for e.g. SAP S/4HANA, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Concur), you have done most of the work that is needed to use SAP Mobile Start.

Please check first, if SAP Mobile Start is already enabled in your landscape. To do so, access the SAP Launchpad service site and check if the “SAP Mobile Start Application” menu is showing under your user setting. If SAP Mobile Start is already enabled in your landscape, you will see a QR code like the one shown in the image below. Simply scan the code using the “Scan” button in the SAP Mobile Start app.

If you do not see the “SAP Mobile Start Application” menu when accessing the site settings, you can easily provision this by following the step given here.

Additional Content

SAP Mobile Start can also give you access to additional content (for e.g. native apps) and capabilities (for e.g. widget, native notifications) that is not available through the Safari browser.

For the latest on how to perform the steps required to make this work, please see the SAP Mobile Start community page.

Scenario 3: You don’t have SAP Launchpad service license yet, but would like to get it so you can start using it together with SAP Mobile Start

To use SAP Mobile Start you need to meet all the technical and content related pre-requisites. Few key steps are as described below.

• Set up a site on SAP Launchpad service. If you do not have SAP Launchpad service license yet, you can try it with an SAP BTP trial version, or use the free tier model.


• Access to an SAP Solution; for e.g. SAP S/4HANA, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Concur


• Defining content within the site; for e.g.
  
  
  
  • Federated content from SAP S/4HANA
  
  
  • Manual content for native apps
  
  
  • Additional content like news tiles, web links
  
  
  
  

For the latest on how to perform these steps please see the SAP Mobile Start community page.

Conclusion

I hope that the information mentioned here is useful for you to experience SAP Mobile Start app, and will guide you to the assets that are available to understand the topic better.

Stay up to date with latest news and post your questions or feedback about SAP Mobile Start in the Q&A area. Start by visiting your SAP Mobile Experience community page and click “follow”. We’ll be publishing more informative blog posts.

Want to be notified? Check your #communications to ensure you have your settings activated.

[Manish_Bhandari]

Dear Shabeer,

 

Thanks for sharing this. Its a very good start. Do we have any internal demo environments where we can connect the SAP Start and demonstrate it to our customer? If yes, please guide on how to access these?

Warm Regards,

Manish

[shabeer_jameela]

I will share with you the details of some internal systems. The info is available in the internal product jam page.

[Manish_Bhandari]

Dear Shabeer,

Thanks a lot for the quick feedback.

Warm Regards,

Manish

[markus_reich]

Hi, thx for your article. Is there the possibility of scenario 4, onPrem scenario with SAP Mobile Services?

 

Best Regards

Markus

[shabeer_jameela]

I would put this under sceario 3. Customer has got SAP S/4HANA on-prem but doesn't have SAP Launchpad service. Since this is a key pre-requisite and the mobile services required to run the app is bundled with SAP Launchpad service, the fact that customer already has got SAP mobile services is not relevant in the context of SAP Mobile Start. However customer can ofcourse use SAP Mobile Services, MDK etc and create their own custom apps which ofcourse can then be deployed and launched via SAP Mobile Start.

[LisaNemeth]

Hi Shabeer,

 

thanks for the helpful blog! Is there a way of creating an app configuration and distributing that via MDM? We'd like to preconfigure our launchpad url for our managed devices.

 

Thank you in advance and best regards,

Lisa

[shabeer_jameela]

not yet, but this is one of the top priority feature requests in our backlog. Ability for the config to be deployed via MDM, so that end users don't need to scan a QR code, but the app will already know which site content to load. So keep an eye out for the availability of this feature.

[LisaNemeth]

Thank you very much, then I'll be looking out for this feature!

[aditya_palekar]

Hi Shabeer,

Does SAP Mobile Start work with an SAP Business Suite backend (SAP ECC 6.0)?

Regards,

Aditya

[shabeer_jameela]

SAP Mobile Start is not certified to work with SAP ECC 6.0 even through SAP Launchpad service is https://help.sap.com/docs/Launchpad_Service/8c8e1958338140699bd4811b37b82ece/86bacc3e5bbe435d89a4ccf...

Pre-reqs for SAP Mobile Start is as per https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_MOBILE_START/07837beb26804d719fbc7efa3f634ee0/e5d7a82d035544b791e69c3d...

https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_MOBILE_START_ANDROID/3696b2af77034d2d85f18e207110589f/20d6d8bd8c9a4f72...

[Rakesh_Kr]

Hi Shabeer,

The feature seems to be available now as i can see in the below link.

https://help.sap.com/docs/SAP_MOBILE_START/07837beb26804d719fbc7efa3f634ee0/952cb9e5188f44158f7bb995...

 

Thanks,

Rakesh