SAP NetWeaver For Dummies

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Foolish Assumptions ......................................................................................1
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................2
Part I: Enterprise Software Basics .......................................................2
Part II: The Cast of Components ..........................................................2
Part III: A Nifty Development Toolkit ..................................................3
Part IV: SAP NetWeaver in Action ........................................................3
Part V: Rolling Out SAP NetWeaver .....................................................3
Part VI: The Part of Tens ......................................................................3
Appendix: About the CD .......................................................................4
What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................4
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................4
Feedback ..........................................................................................................5
Part I: Enterprise Software Basics ..................................7
Chapter 1: SAP NetWeaver: The New Foundation of IT . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Why Write a Book about SAP NetWeaver? .................................................10
A Technology Symphony .............................................................................10
SAP NetWeaver 101 .............................................................................11
What’s in it for me? .............................................................................12
Making music with Information Technology ....................................13
Bringing all the instruments together ...............................................13
IT: The Lay of the Land ................................................................................14
Everybody’s a specialist .....................................................................15
Who are the players in the world of IT? ...........................................15
So, What’s Next? ............................................................................................20
Chapter 2: Primordial Acronym Soup: The Origins of Enterprise . . . .21
Automation and Process: Perfect Partners ...............................................22
The (endless) cycle of innovation .....................................................23
Economies of scale: Technology gets fit ...........................................24
Enter the Enterprise Application Suite .......................................................25
The alphabet soup of TLAs (three letter acronyms, to you) .........26
TLA proliferation: The good news and the bad news .....................27
The Integration Challenge: Making It All Work Together .........................27
Silos and stovepipes ...........................................................................28
Differences in data ...............................................................................28
Brokering data: Not a panacea ...........................................................29
APIs: A view under the hood ..............................................................29
Missing the joke ...................................................................................30
Stovepipes can work ...........................................................................31
Integration toolkits ..............................................................................31
The Total Cost of Ownership Challenge: Putting Spending on a Diet ....31
What lurks behind TCO? ....................................................................32
Cutting TCO down to size ...................................................................33
Why Do You Need SAP NetWeaver, Anyway? ............................................33
Pre-packaged integration: Buying stovepipes off the shelf ............34
Innovation, at your service ................................................................37
Chapter 3: Meet SAP NetWeaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Giving SAP NetWeaver the Once-Over ........................................................42
The Fast-Moving Parts of SAP NetWeaver ..................................................43
It’s about a central access point: SAP Enterprise Portal ................45
SAP Mobile Infrastructure helps mobile devices talk .....................47
SAP Business Intelligence: There is intelligent life out there ........48
Building harmonies from information
with SAP Master Data Management ..............................................51
All aboard SAP Exchange Infrastructure ..........................................52
SAP Web Application Server ..............................................................53
Development Tools: The SAP NetWeaver Construction Set ....................55
SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio’s toolkit ......................................56
SAP Composite Application Framework ...........................................57
Solve your problems with SAP Solution Manager ...........................59
What Can SAP NetWeaver Do for You? ......................................................60
Introducing . . . SAP NetWeaver ’04 ...................................................60
Business Process Evolution: The better mousetrap
of competitive advantage ...............................................................62
Technology and data: The great equalizers .....................................62
SAP NetWeaver enables business process evolution .....................63
Chapter 4: The Birth of a Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
The Age-Old Problems of Application Development ................................66
Why are enterprise applications so darn hard to make? ...............67
Now wait a minute . . . .........................................................................67
Playing the business content game ...................................................68
The SAP Way: Abstract and Conquer .........................................................70
The Ancestors of SAP NetWeaver ...............................................................70
Which database is under there, anyway? .........................................70
It’s so abstract . . . ...............................................................................71
The New Kid on the Block: SAP NetWeaver ...............................................72
Open SQL becomes . . . Open SQL .....................................................73
ABAP and SAP Basis become SAP®
Web Application Server and Java ..................................................73
RFCs become Web services ...............................................................75
Dynpro and SAP GUI turn into . . . .....................................................75
ABAP Business Workflow becomes Workflow in many flavors .....76
ALE and IDocs become . . . ................................................................76
Report Writer and ABAP Query become
SAP Business Intelligence ...............................................................77
ABAP Workbench becomes SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio .....77
ABAP’s Life Cycle Management features
become SAP Solution Manager ......................................................78
Summing It Up: Transformation Themes ...................................................78
SAP NetWeaver: Modeling new frontiers .........................................78
Speaking a new language ....................................................................79
Web services make sense of things ...................................................79
Chapter 5: A Blueprint for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
A Simple View of the Big Picture .................................................................81
Enterprise evolution ...........................................................................82
The nature of the Enterprise Services Architecture beast ............82
Who Needs Enterprise Services Architecture? .........................................83
Web services rule! ...............................................................................83
How do Web services work? ..............................................................84
Is it safe? ...............................................................................................84
What Can Your Business Do with Web Services? ......................................85
Once upon a time . . . ..........................................................................85
Process optimization and a thing called “the hub” ........................87
What Will SAP Do with Web Services? ........................................................89
Shifting gears .......................................................................................89
Implementing a new vision ................................................................90
Where’s This Web Services Stuff Headed? .................................................90
Business objects replace applications .............................................91
A quick word on economics ...............................................................91
So How Does Enterprise Services Architecture Work? ............................92
Applications versus Enterprise Services .........................................92
The role of composite applications ..................................................93
Three families of composite applications ........................................94
Heterogeneous Integration (Easy for You to Say) .....................................96
Building a Better Interface ...........................................................................96
SAP NetWeaver lurks behind the interface ......................................96
A whole new way of programming ....................................................97
Incremental adoption: Taking it step by step ..................................98
Motor City Driven by Enterprise Services Architecture ........................100
Accelerating new vehicle development ..........................................100
The Bottom Line of Enterprise Services Architecture ...........................101
Chapter 6: The Evolution of mySAP Business Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
The Short Answer .......................................................................................103
The Starting Point .......................................................................................104
Brick by brick .....................................................................................104
For everything there is a time ..........................................................106
Is SAP NetWeaver only about the future? .......................................107
SAP NetWeaver Meets mySAP Business Suite .........................................107
SAP NetWeaver is already friends with mySAP Business Suite ...107
The imprtance of business content ..............................................108
Existing applications will become better acquainted
with SAP NetWeaver ......................................................................109
SAP NetWeaver: Adding tools to existing toolkits .........................109
Opportunity pounding on your door ..............................................111
mySAP Business Suite Applications Embrace
Composite Applications .........................................................................111
How things work now .......................................................................112
The future ...........................................................................................113
Composite applications snuggle up to mySAP Business Suite ....114
mySAP Business Suite of the Future .........................................................115
Chapter 7: Composite Applications and SAP xApps:
Flexible and Reusable Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
How Composite Applications Work ..........................................................118
Web services to the rescue ..............................................................118
Making a difference in your business .............................................119
Building Better Mousetraps .......................................................................121
Reusing what you’ve already invested in .......................................121
Saving money up front and all along the way ................................121
Increasing flexibility ..........................................................................121
Taking one from vendor A, one from vendor B . . . .......................122
Going to market, to market ..............................................................122
Zeroing in on your industry .............................................................122
Automating it .....................................................................................123
Using Modeling to Build Composite Applications ..................................123
Taking Composite Application off the Rack .............................................125
SAP xApps: Delivering on the Innovation Promise .................................127
SAP xApps bring benefits galore .....................................................128
SAP xPD: An SAP xApp wunderkind ................................................128
SAP xRPM: A portfolio of projects ...................................................130
The Future of Composite Applications ....................................................131
Part II: The Cast of Components .................................133
Chapter 8: SAP Enterprise Portal: Something for Everyone . . . . . . . .135
So, What’s a Portal? ....................................................................................135
The Purpose of the Portal ..........................................................................136
The Portal’s Job in SAP NetWeaver ..........................................................137
How the Portal Helps Your Business ........................................................139
Help yourself: Employee self service ..............................................139
Help your boss: Manager self service .............................................140
Making work flow ..............................................................................142
Knowledge is power ..........................................................................143
The Parts of the Portal ...............................................................................144
Parts for end users ............................................................................145
Parts for SAP knowledge management ...........................................147
Parts for everybody working together ...........................................148
The parts behind the scenes ..........................................................151
Creating Business Content for Portals .....................................................153
Your Portal Applications Toolkit ...............................................................153
Integrating the Portal with the Rest of SAP NetWeaver .........................154
Close buddies with mySAP Business Suite ...................................155
Presenting SAP Business Intelligence .............................................155
Sitting atop SAP Web Application Server .......................................155
SAP Exchange Infrastructure extends the reach ...........................155
The Future of the Portal .............................................................................155
Chapter 9: SAP Mobile Infrastructure:
Information Hits the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Why SAP MI? ................................................................................................158
The plus of open standards .............................................................158
What goes on? ....................................................................................159
What SAP MI does in SAP NetWeaver .............................................160
How SAP MI helps your business ....................................................162
The Three Pieces of SAP MI .......................................................................164
SAP MI at home on your mobile device ..........................................165
Parts of SAP MI on the server ..........................................................167
How Developers Do What They Do with SAP MI .....................................168
SAP MI in a kit ....................................................................................169
Polyhedrons for mobile types .........................................................169
The mobile in mobile infrastructure ...............................................170
How SAP MI Plays with Other SAP NetWeaver Kids ...............................171
mySAP Business Suite solutions ......................................................172
SAP® Business Intelligence ...............................................................172
Chapter 10: SAP Gives Business Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
First, What Is SAP BI? ..................................................................................174
What’s It Do? ................................................................................................174
The job of SAP BI in SAP NetWeaver ...............................................174
SAP BI and your business .................................................................176
SAP BI: How It Works ..................................................................................179
SAP BI: The Sum of Its Parts ......................................................................180
Parts for moving data around ..........................................................181
Parts for data analysis ......................................................................183
Parts for publishing ...........................................................................185
Parts for specific industries and functions ....................................187
Creating Analytic Applications with SAP BI .............................................187
Start with Business Content .............................................................188
Neat tools for building applications ...............................................189
SAP BI and All the Other Parts of SAP NetWeaver ..................................189
SAP® Enterprise Portal ......................................................................189
Following users wherever they go
with SAP® Mobile Infrastructure ..................................................190
Collecting data ...................................................................................190
SAP® Master Data Management .......................................................191
SAP® Web Application Server ..........................................................191
The Future of the SAP Business Intelligence ...........................................191
Chapter 11: Mastering SAP Master Data Management . . . . . . . . . . .193
SAP Master Data Management’s Purpose in Life ....................................194
Master data mistakes can cost you .................................................194
SAP® Master Data Management goes
to work for SAP NetWeaver ..........................................................195
SAP MDM to the rescue ....................................................................195
The Parts of SAP MDM ...............................................................................197
SAP MDM deployment: It’s an incremental thing ..........................198
How it all works .................................................................................203
Taking SAP MDM Out of the Box ...............................................................205
SAP MDM Plays Well with Others .............................................................205
The Future of SAP MDM .............................................................................205
Chapter 12: Exchanging Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207
What SAP XI Is All About ............................................................................207
SAP XI: The Data Highway ..........................................................................208
The need for a hub ............................................................................209
Processing business stuff .................................................................209
How Does SAP XI Fit into SAP NetWeaver? ..............................................211
SAP XI: Your Business’s Best Friend .........................................................211
Example 1: Cheaper integration through an integration hub ......211
Example 2: Business-to-business automation ................................212
Example 3: Building relationships with suppliers .........................213
The Various and Sundry Parts of SAP XI ..................................................213
Integration builder ............................................................................214
Integration repository .......................................................................218
Integration directory .........................................................................219
System landscape directory ............................................................220
Integration server ..............................................................................221
Central monitoring ............................................................................222
An engine for business process .......................................................222
Speaking with the adapter framework ............................................224
Parts for managing processes ..........................................................224
How Developers Create Applications with SAP XI ..................................225
A fine romance: Integration builder and adapter framework ......225
Instant business content ..................................................................226
SAP XI and other SAP NetWeaver Components ......................................227
Looking into the Future of SAP XI .............................................................227
Chapter 13: SAP Web Application Server: The Cornerstone
of SAP NetWeaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
How Impotant Is SAP Web AS? .................................................................229
The Heart and Soul of Web AS ...................................................................230
SAP Web AS reporting for duty ........................................................232
SAP Web AS helps your business ....................................................233
The Bits and Pieces of Web AS ..................................................................235
How it works ......................................................................................235
Speaking the language ......................................................................236
Here’s a part for users ......................................................................237
Parts to make applications logical ..................................................238
One part for integration and communication ................................238
Parts for storing and retrieving data ..............................................239
Parts that make a life cycle manageable ........................................239
How Developers Develop with SAP Web AS ............................................239
How SAP Web AS Works with Other SAP NetWeaver Components ......239
The Future of SAP Web AS .........................................................................240
Don’t Drown in All This Technology .........................................................240
Part III: A Nifty Development Toolkit..........................241
Chapter 14: SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
Why SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio? ..................................................243
Giving it away .....................................................................................244
Helping developers: Somebody’s got to do it ................................244
Developer Studio in Action ........................................................................245
Example 1: Java lives! ........................................................................245
Example 2: Facing up to user interfaces .........................................246
The Plumbing of Developer Studio ...........................................................248
Parts for writing code .......................................................................248
Parts for assembling applications ...................................................250
Parts for putting applications into production .............................252
The Future of the SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio ..............................252
Chapter 15: Visual Composer: Going Codeless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
So What Does This Composer Thing Compose? .....................................253
Visual Composer: What’s the Point? .........................................................254
Visual Composer’s Cozy Cubicle in SAP NetWeaver ...............................257
Content on demand ...........................................................................257
Content expert self service ..............................................................258
Business expert self service ............................................................258
No developer left behind ..................................................................259
The Parts of SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer Symphony ...................259
Fetching data .....................................................................................260
The UI: It’s a logical thing .................................................................260
The UI layout shortcut ......................................................................260
Step-by-Step: Designing Workflow ............................................................261
Basing Your Environment in a Browser ....................................................262
Inputs and outputs, interactors, and operators ............................262
Runtime ...............................................................................................262
Using Visual Composer in Concert with Other SAP NetWeaver Pieces....264
The Future of SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer .....................................264
Chapter 16: Composite Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265
The Anatomy of the SAP CAF ....................................................................266
The SAP CAF has goals, too .............................................................266
What’s in it for developers? .............................................................267
Three Unique Perspectives on Composite Applications .......................267
Okay, you’re the user ........................................................................268
Now you’re the builder .....................................................................269
Finally, you’re the developer ............................................................271
A Technical Perspective .............................................................................272
Patterns, models, and frameworks .................................................272
Getting back to patterns ...................................................................274
Here It Is: The SAP Composite Application Framework .........................274
Manipulative modelers .....................................................................275
Extending patterns and frameworks ...............................................275
Roles and processes .........................................................................277
Guiding you through .........................................................................280
Getting interactive with forms .........................................................281
Composite scenarios ........................................................................281
Services and objects .........................................................................281
Reposeful data ...................................................................................283
The Future of the SAP CAF .........................................................................283
Chapter 17: Tying It All Together: SAP Solution Manager . . . . . . . . .285
The Many Sides of SAP Solution Manager ...............................................285
Here’s the problem ............................................................................286
The wizardry of SAP Solution Manager ..........................................286
The Three Faces of SAP Solution Manager ..............................................288
Content directs the action ................................................................289
I spy: Tools keep an eye out .............................................................290
SAP Solution Manager to the rescue ...............................................291
How SAP Solution Manager Helps Your Business ...................................291
Putting SAP Solution Manager to Work ....................................................292
Example 1: Helping with the implementation two-step ................294
Example 2: Upgrade this! ..................................................................295
Example 3: Keeping the end user happy ........................................296
Example 4: Keeping an eye on your systems .................................296
How SAP Solution Manager Works with SAP NetWeaver .......................297
The Future of the SAP Solution Manager .................................................298
Part IV: SAP NetWeaver in Action ..............................299
Chapter 18: The World of Internal Portals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301
Start by Redefining Browser Technology .................................................301
Internal Portals: The Magic Bullet for Streamlining
Business Processes .................................................................................302
For example . . . ..................................................................................303
Reaping the benefits of portals .......................................................303
Maximum Overdrive: A Fully Actualized Portal ......................................304
Getting started on a budget .............................................................305
Beware invaders ................................................................................305
SAP NetWeaver: An Internal Portal’s Best Friend ..................................306
Portal Construction: A Staged Process ....................................................308
Setting the stage ................................................................................308
Building the framework: Portal construction 101 .........................310
Adding tons of information, and collaboration to boot ...............310
Delivering intelligence to the desktop ............................................311
Reaching out to the extended enterprise .......................................311
Looking Forward .........................................................................................312
Chapter 19: Deploying Web Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313
Wanted: Flexible Business Systems ..........................................................313
The good news . . . .............................................................................314
Okay, but what can I do with it? ......................................................314
Business User Wish List .............................................................................314
You ought to be in pictures . . . ........................................................315
More than a pretty inter-face ...........................................................315
Start with what you have .................................................................315
What’ll We Do about IT? .............................................................................316
SAP Gets Its Arms around Web Services .................................................317
Enterprise Services Architecture ....................................................317
Three key ingredients .......................................................................319
SAP NetWeaver: Time for a change ................................................319
A staged approach via Web services ..............................................321
Chapter 20: SAP R/3 and Then Some . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323
The Flexible, Extensible Rag .....................................................................323
The Integration Two-Step ...........................................................................324
Making the choice .............................................................................324
Wait a minute, it’s not that easy . . . ................................................325
The Envelope, Please: It’s SAP NetWeaver (You Peeked!) ......................326
Each piece plays a role .....................................................................327
Hitting the highlights ........................................................................328
Software Integration: It’s a Staged Process ..............................................329
Step 1: Turning on R/3 functionality ...............................................330
Step 2: Moving toward the overall solution ...................................330
Step 3: Building on a framework ......................................................331
Where Is SAP NetWeaver Taking R/3? .......................................................331
Chapter 21: Making Sense of Data: Analytics and Reporting . . . . . .333
Business Drivers ..........................................................................................334
What would an analytics and reporting solution look like? .........334
Using what you get ............................................................................335
SAP NetWeaver-based Solution .................................................................336
Running down the features ..............................................................337
Wow! How does it do all this stuff? .................................................337
Solution evolution .............................................................................338
Reports .........................................................................................................339
Bringing Information Where It’s Needed ..................................................340
Getting Along with Others: Collaboration ................................................340
Getting Your Data When You Actually Need It ........................................341
So, What’s the Future? ................................................................................341
Chapter 22: Doing the Application-to-Application Thing . . . . . . . . . .343
Why Applications Should Get Along ........................................................343
Making Integrated Software a Must ..........................................................344
Finding an integration needle in a stack .........................................344
Introducing . . . which applications? ...............................................345
SAP NetWeaver Meets A2A Integration ....................................................346
Lining Up the Components ........................................................................348
A2A Integration: A Staged Process ...........................................................348
Step 1: Data integration ....................................................................349
Step 2: One-way process integration ..............................................349
Step 3: Interactive process integration ...........................................350
Step 4: Business process management ...........................................351
Chapter 23: Custom Made: Composite Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . .353
Custom Processes, Custom Applications ................................................353
The Eternal Need to Customize .................................................................354
Where did we come from? ................................................................355
Where are we now? ...........................................................................356
Where are we going? .........................................................................356
Bringing Composite Applications to Life .................................................357
A whole new thing .............................................................................357
Capable composites ..........................................................................358
Who can use this thing? ...................................................................360
Taking It in Stages .......................................................................................360
Information aggregation ...................................................................361
Turning transactions into Web services .........................................361
Deploying SAP xApps that fit the bill ..............................................363
Developing an end-to-end process ..................................................363
Looking Forward .........................................................................................364
Part V: Rolling Out SAP NetWeaver ...........................365
Chapter 24: Plans and People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .367
Planning for Success ...................................................................................367
People Make It Happen ...............................................................................368
The quarterbacks: SAP account executives ..................................369
Technical players: Solution engineers ............................................369
Getting engaged: Customer engagement managers ......................370
Building solutions: Technical solution architects .........................370
SAP consultants and third-party system integrators ...................371
Teacher’s pet: SAP education ..........................................................371
Tutti-frutti: SAP Custom Development ...........................................372
Unexpected help: Colleagues and SAP customers ........................372
Analyze this! .......................................................................................373
Eye-ess-vee (ISV, to you) ...................................................................374
So glad you came: SAP hosting ........................................................374
Calling Dr. SAP Support ....................................................................375
Chapter 25: Information Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377
It’s Portable, It’s Yellow . . . ........................................................................377
The SAP Web Site ........................................................................................377
SAP Developer Network .............................................................................378
SAP Service Marketplace ...........................................................................379
Online Support System and SAP Notes ....................................................379
Using User Groups ......................................................................................380
Books and Trade Publications ...................................................................380
Events ...........................................................................................................381
Chapter 26: Nifty Implementation Processes
and Swell Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .383
SAP Solution Manager ................................................................................383
ASAP Methodology .....................................................................................384
Solutions in a Box ........................................................................................385
Jumpstarting with Partner Implementation Packages ...........................385
Hurry Up! Accelerated Implementation Packages ..................................386
Get a Product Road Map ............................................................................386
Ramp Up .......................................................................................................387
Solution Review: Giving Your Project the Once-Over .............................387
How it works ......................................................................................388
SAP xApps™ ........................................................................................388
Part VI: The Part of Tens ...........................................391
Chapter 27: Ten (or so) Ways to Get Started
with SAP NetWeaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393
Upgrade Your SAP R/3® System to mySAP ERP .......................................393
Buy Just One mySAP Business Suite Application ...................................394
Build Your Next Custom Application in the SAP Web
Application Server ...................................................................................394
Let Your Employees Do It Themselves .....................................................394
Keep AP from Going Ape ............................................................................395
Start Using Some Simple Web Services ....................................................395
Give Your CEO a Birthday Present ............................................................395
Set Up Manager Self-Service ......................................................................396
Clean Up Your Master Data Act .................................................................396
Mobile-Enable Your Applications ..............................................................396
Integrate Multiple Applications .................................................................396
Appendix: About the CD ............................................397
System Requirements .................................................................................397
Using the CD with Microsoft® Windows ...................................................398
What You’ll Find ..........................................................................................398
SAP NetWeaver product details .......................................................398
SAP NetWeaver customer success stories .....................................398
SAP NetWeaver demos ......................................................................399
More SAP NetWeaver information ...................................................399
Index........................................................................401

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