(This is Part 2 -- if you missed Part 1, you can find it here.)

Provisions of FSMA

FSMA is a complex piece of legislation, and there are a great many regulations that make up the final requirements.  Perhaps the best place to find details in on the FDA website under FSMA Frequently Asked Questions. For the purposes of this article, though, we will zero in on particular areas that SAP customers have asked about since the passage of the act, to be followed by specific recommended solutions and timelines.  But as a first step, let’s look at a fundamental change in regulatory philosophy that drives FSMA, and how that change affects the practical steps that you must take to be in full compliance with the law.

Under the regulations in effect prior to 2011, the FDA had very limited powers to enforce food safety.  For example, the FDA could not order a recall of product – all recalls were voluntary, no matter how egregious the problems.  This meant that very often, a necessary recall did not happen, or was delayed and ineffective.  FSMA changed that – the FDA can now mandate a recall if the company involved does not voluntarily comply with recommendations, and can levy fines and other penalties for non-compliance, including criminal penalties in some cases.

In addition, the FDA now has the power of administrative detention, that is, they may quarantine products at any point in the food chain.  This is to ensure that a suspect lot of food does not get to the consumer even after it has been flagged as problematic.  And in severe cases, the FDA can withdraw registration, effectively shutting down a manufacturing plant or other facility.  Furthermore, the FDA can require the production of records on 24-hour notice, particularly lot tracking and tracing records.

But the FDA has said repeatedly that they expect drastic orders to be rare, and that a well-regulated food safety system must rely on the active cooperation of all parties involved, including both federal and state agencies.  Workers in the food chain must be the first line of defense, and must be proactively seeking to keep the food supply safe and wholesome. This is an important change in regulatory philosophy – the FDA is now trying to prevent incidents from happening in the first place, rather than cleaning up afterwards.  That in turn means that an FDA inspection will normally focus on the implementation and execution of adequate food safety plans, specifically Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventve Controls, which supplement the older HACCP plans.

Five Key FSMA Rules

At SAP and Deloitte, we have identified five important areas where software can be especially helpful in meeting FSMA requirements:

• Traceability and Recall Execution – integrate your documents and processes to enhance traceability – real-time traceability backward and forward through the supply chain – this is a critical requirement for any food safety program.
• Records access – you are now required not just to keep records, but to produce them on 24 hours notice.  Although these records can be paper-based, it is difficult to see how most companies can fulfill this requirement without digitizing most or all of their records.
• Hazard analysis, risk-based preventive controls, and corrective action – perform risk assessment, create CAPAs, document results, and manage policies, procedures, and related content. 
• Food defense – perform risk assessment, document results, and manage policies, procedures, and related content, including both structured and unstructured data.
• Foreign supplier verification – support audits of 3^rd party suppliers and internal facilities.

Timeline

The clock isn’t just ticking, the alarm has gone off, several times in fact.  Some of the provisions mentioned above have been in effect for years, and the FDA will expect to see compliance, or at least a compliance plan, very soon.  A quick look at the FSMA compliance timeline:

2011Mandatory Recall Execution Final Rule:  Requires mandatory review of current recall and replacement strategies to ensure removal of recalled product from commerce expeditiously; provides FDA broader authority to execute a mandatory recall; FDA can order a recall of a product if the company refuses to execute a voluntary recall.  Effective date: January, 2011.

2014  Record keeping and document management Final Rule:  Gives FDA broad authority to review company records; documents related to Food safety need to be accessed rapidly (must be provided within 24 hours); requires 2-year retention period for required documents.  Effective date:  April, 2014. [i]

2016  Preventive Controls Final Rule: Requires companies to implement a written Food Safety plan that includes Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls; records must document corrective actions, monitoring, verification/validation of process preventive controls and training; records must be accessible within 24 hours of request for official review.  Effective date:  9/17/2016 (General Compliance).  [ii]

2017  Sanitary Transportation Final Rule:  Requires companies to have Information Exchange procedures about prior cargos, cleaning, temperature control as appropriate to the shipping situation; require companies to have documented carrier personnel training; applicable to shippers, carriers and receivers by motor/rail, not by air/ship transportation.  Effective date:  31March, 2017.  [iii]

2017  Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Final Rule:  Requires importers to perform certain risk-based activities, to verify that food imported into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards; requires companies to determine for which of their suppliers they are the FSVP importer; require companies to verify that foreign supplier facilities meet FDA FSMA Preventative Controls and Produce Safety Rules, to verify food safety activities and maintain records. Effective date:  1 May, 2017.  [iv]

2017  Accreditation of 3^rd Party Certification Final Rule:  Third-party certification bodies accredited under this program are required to perform unannounced facility audits, and auditors must notify FDA upon discovering a condition that could cause or contribute to a serious risk to public health.  Effective date:  31 May, 2017.  [v]

2017  Food Defense – Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration Proposed Rule: Requires companies to prepare and implement a written food defense plan that addresses potentially significant vulnerabilities in a food operation; personnel and supervisors assigned to the actionable process steps are to be trained in food defense awareness and in their responsibilities for implementing focused mitigation strategies.  Effective date:  31 May, 2017.  [vi]

2017  Standards for Produce Safety Final Rule:  Requires farm or produce growers to ensure agricultural water quality; document biological soil amendments; record domestic and wild animal interaction; detail growing, harvesting, packing and holding data; and maintain equipment, tools and building records, worker training, health and hygiene records.  Effective date: 31 October, 2017.  [vii]

Food Fraud

In addition, there are implicit and explicit requirements of FSMA regarding food fraud. Of course, food  and other FDA-regulated products must be properly labeled – if the package says “beef”, the contents should be beef and not horse meat. It has long been difficult or impossible to determine the identity of many food ingredients quickly enough to be able to pull them from the food chain before they reach the consumer.  In part, this is due to the acceleration of the movement of goods in the supply chain, especially when the good are perishable.  DNA testing has been available for some time, but is not generally fast enough to be helpful.  But new faster tests are now available, and the FDA has said that they will require more stringent identity testing in the near future.  Rapid DNA testing of incoming raw materials, for example, is now available from Tru-ID, and is especially important for expensive materials like coffee, cocoa and olive oil, which are all frequent targets of fraudulent substitution.

Next Up

In the third and final part of this blog, we will have a look at solutions that SAP and our partners have developed to help you deal with these FSMA requirements. Remember, some provisions are already in effect, and many more are coming into effect in the near future. Be sure you are in compliance!

(This is Part 2 -- to read Part 3, click here.)

Join us at our upcoming Consumer Products Best Practices event in Chicago, 3-5 October, where we will discussing and demonstrating our Food Safety software.  You can register here.

[i] Record Keeping Final Rule, FDA:  https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/04/04/2014-07550/establishment-maintenance-and-availability-of-records-amendment-to-record-availability-requirements

[ii] Preventive Controls Final Rule, FDA:  http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm334115.htm

[iii] Sanitary Transportation Final Rule, FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm383763.htm

[iv] Foreign Supplier Verification Final Rule, FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm361902.htm

[v] Third Party Certification Final rule, FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm361903.htm

[vi] Intentional Adulteration Final Rule, FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm378628.htm

[vii] Product Safety Final Rule, FDA:  http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm334114.htm

Hello.

Hope you are all having a nice day.

If you made some Code List Restrictions but they are not being applied, maybe this information can help you.

CLR will only be applied on:

• Quick Create view.

• TI header.

CLR will not be applide on:

• Inside TI tabs.

If you see a different behavior, can you please let me know?

Thanks!

Hello Everyone, When I was trying to learn HANA scripted calculation view. I had to spend lot of time in creating tables, views and data records in order to get my hands dirty and learn how the scripted calculation views works. What I am trying to do here is gather all of these information in this blog so that one can create their own tables, data and finally scripted calculation Views in the following ways.

We will Discuss Calculation View using.

1. SQL Script - Using CE Functions

2. Table Functions

3. Procedure

There is a basic creation of graphical calculation view shown here in saphanatutorial.com. Please use this link to build the tables REGION, SALES and PRODUCT. Also create records into these tables using the same link. This is a wonderful site to learn HANA from. Here is an overview of how the graphical calculation view will look like.

Please note here we will not learn how to create the above shown graphical view but learn how to create this calcualtion view using SQL script.

1. SQL Script - Using CE Functions

Step1: Create a new calculation view of the type script as shown below.

Step 2: Here start writing the SQL script code. We will use CE functions here. I will not spend time in explaining what each CE function does. It has been wonderfully described here. Please refer that. I will show below how the code looks like. Also make sure you have created Columns on the right hand side for the VAR_OUT to export the tabular data. Please see below.

Please find the code below to try it yourself.

/********* Begin Procedure Script ************/

BEGIN

   region = CE_COLUMN_TABLE("HANA_TUTORIAL"."REGION",

             [      "REGION_ID" ,

                           "REGION_NAME" ,

                           "SUB_REGION_NAME"]);

   sales =  CE_COLUMN_TABLE("HANA_TUTORIAL"."SALES",

               [    "REGION_ID",                       

                             "PRODUCT_ID",

                             "SALES_AMOUNT" ]);

   product = CE_COLUMN_TABLE("HANA_TUTORIAL"."PRODUCT",                                        

             [  "PRODUCT_ID",

                         "PRODUCT_NAME" ]);

   join1 = CE_JOIN(:region, :sales,

           ["REGION_ID"],

           ["REGION_ID",

                      "SUB_REGION_NAME",

                      "PRODUCT_ID",

                      "SALES_AMOUNT" ]);

   join2 = CE_JOIN(:join1, :product,

           ["PRODUCT_ID"],

           ["PRODUCT_ID",

                      "PRODUCT_NAME",

                      "REGION_ID",

                      "SUB_REGION_NAME",

                      "SALES_AMOUNT"]);

   p_out = CE_PROJECTION(:join2,

           ["PRODUCT_ID",

                      "PRODUCT_NAME",

                      "REGION_ID",

                      "SUB_REGION_NAME",

                      "SALES_AMOUNT",

            CE_CALC('"SALES_AMOUNT"*0.3',DOUBLE) as"MARGIN" ]);                   

END;

/********* End Procedure Script ************/

2. SQL Script - Using Table Functions

Step 1: Please go to developement Perspective first. Choose the tab 'Repository' and right click on the content package and 'Import remote workspace'.

Step 2: Rightclick on the package 'New->Other' Search for and choose 'Table Function'. Click next and Put the name as shown below

Step 3: Write your code.

Code:

FUNCTION"SYSTEM"."P1942191456::TBF_GET_SALES_DATA" ( )

       RETURNSTABLE (

        "PRODUCT_ID"int,

        "PRODUCT_NAME"varchar(100),

        "REGION_ID"int,

        "SUB_REGION_NAME"varchar(100),

"SALES_AMOUNT"double, "MARGIN"double )

       LANGUAGESQLSCRIPT

       SQLSECURITYINVOKERAS

BEGIN

/*****************************

       Write your function logic

*****************************/

RETURNselectb."PRODUCT_ID", c."PRODUCT_NAME", a."REGION_ID", a."SUB_REGION_NAME",   b."SALES_AMOUNT",

get_margin(b."SALES_AMOUNT") as"MARGIN"

from

"HANA_TUTORIAL"."REGION"asa

innerjoin

"HANA_TUTORIAL"."SALES"asb

ona."REGION_ID" =  b."REGION_ID"

innerJoin"HANA_TUTORIAL"."PRODUCT"asc

onb."PRODUCT_ID" = c."PRODUCT_ID";

END;

I have added a scaler user defined function called 'GET_MARGIN' in the above code. You can refer to how to build a scaler user defined functions in this wonderful blog written by Rich Heilman here. Please find the code below.

/* Begin of Code

createfunction get_margin(im_var1 double)

returns result double

language SQLSCRIPT

SQL SECURITY INVOKER as

BEGIN

result := :im_var1 * 0.3;

end;

/* End of Code

Step 4: Now create a claculation view of the type graphical. Put the name and description. Keep everything as default and in the 'Aggregation' node click in add an object as you normally do. Here you will find the Table function you have just created as a table. Please see below

You have now added the table function like you do for tables or views. Add the fields to output and in the 'Semantics' you can choose 'SALES_AMOUNT' and 'MARGIN' as measures and rest as attributes.

3. SQL Script - Procedure

Step 1: Create a procedure similarly as we did in SQL script using CE Functions in the biginning of this blog. Under Catalogue->your_schema->procedure, right click and create a new procedure. Also create the output parameters, let's say P_OUT and make sure it has all the fields you would want in the final CE_PROJECTION function. In turn structure of P_OUT should be equivalent to structure of VAR_OUT in the final scripted calculation view. This will get clearer in the next step.

The above code is an exact copy as shown in 'SQL Script - Using CE Functions' above

Step 2: Create a new Calculation View of the type script. And in the script area put the code as shown below. Also donot forget to create the output structure.  It is shown in the below image on the right hand side under Output. This structure is the 'Var_Out' structure and is equivalent to the P_OUT we had created in the above step in the procedure. (Assign the correct datatypes for the fields). Lastly go to schema ' _SYS_BIC -> Procedure' and drag the Procedure in the scripting workbench, as shown below.

Finally the output for each calculation views will be the same as we tried to replicate the same output using different methods. This is the Analysis view.

This document refers to

Symptom

There is a legal requirement in Brazil for some taxes that are included in price (eg PIS, COFINS) to be calculated and posted in A/R and A/PReserve Invoices along with taxes not included in the price (eg IPI).

There is also a legal requirement in Brazil for some taxes that are included in price (eg ICMS) to be calculated and posted in A/R Invoice >Delivery.

In certain cases tax calculations can be incorrect resulting in a requirement to manually repost corrections.

Link: https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2326859

Did you know that 98 percent of sales people with more than 5,000 LinkedIn Connections meet or beat their sales quota?Join the social selling movement and build your own network of potential clients in just a few hours each week.

For most buyers (69 percent) the path to a purchase starts before ever contacting a seller. If you already have a connection to a potential buyer, you increase your chances of closing the deal, and social media offers you the best way to make that connection. Building a large social network doesn't just help you go after sales, it also drives passive revenue when buyers come to you. Selling today is social. You don't just wait for customers to find you; you go out and engage them.

With new communication avenues, you can be proactive about selling. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and dozens of other social media platforms make it possible for you to connect with customers without the pressure to close a deal.  See how it works below.

Sander Biehn

A B2B blog can generate $47 million in new business. Sander Biehn proved it while working for AT&T. With a focused niche in mind (Atlanta Fortune 100 companies), he researched and wrote content designed to add value for his audience. Then, he went out and grabbed that audience using social media. He started with Twitter as one of the fastest ways to grow a network. LinkedIn Sales Navigator was another invaluable resource for finding the right people to connect with. After 18 months, the money was rolling in from social selling. His story clearly illustrates the need for market awareness and a targeted niche.

Jack Kosakowski

Regional sales manager for Act-On software and writer, Jack Kosakowski, says a lot about the social-selling experience. In a recent interview posted on Forbes.com, he offered a behind-the-scenes look at where social selling fits in his day. Essentially, it means at least 30 minutes every day using social platforms to build relationships. That last part is critical. Social helps build the relationship, not sell the product. Sales are an organic outgrowth of social media development.

Kevin Thomas Tully

VP of Marketing Enablement at Markistry, Tully reminds you that social selling is measurable. The goal of using social to drive selling is revenue. Track, quantify and use predictable data points to measure your success. When you do, you create a social-selling machine that has no trouble demonstrating ROI. Tully puts LinkedIn at the top of his social selling list. Its an ideal B2B platform designed to help build a large network. Once you have the network, sales grow organically.

To build a larger network, he recommends a few simple tricks:

• Use niche-specific keywords to find new connections.

• Maintain a dialogue with existing connections.

• Join groups and be active.

• Endorse people you've worked with in the past.

• Provide recommendations.

• Share excellent content.

These six tips may not seem like much, and they don't take a lot of time, but they can help build your network, quickly. Soar With Social Networking on line is really a ton of fun.  Once you get started, you won’t stop and will wonder why you didn’t do this earlier.  And social selling has proven success and combined with social listening helps you understand your potential customers and build relationships and more importantly trust, without even a spoken word.

Ireland doesn’t want Apple’s money. In fact, Ireland’s cabinet decided Friday to appeal the European Commission’s controversial ruling on Tuesday that the American tech titan owes the republic as much as €13 billion (about $14.5 billion) in unpaid taxes.

The European Commission stirred up an international storm with its controversial ruling that American tech giant Apple owes Ireland as much as €13 billion (about $14.5 billion) in unpaid taxes.

“The commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years,” European antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Tuesday.

Thus began a bizarre tale that seems to be forcing the U.S. government closer to Apple, an unexpected twist given their rift this year over encryption, data privacy and security (a few months before SAP and Apple partnered to enhance what organizations can do with the iPhone, iPad and SAP HANA platform). The move could also further isolate the EU, following the turmoil of June’s Brexit vote.

What’s Fair -- And Legal?

The heart of the matter is whether or not Ireland’s tax breaks to Apple were fair and legal. The culmination of a three-year investigation -- and part of a larger offensive against corporate tax evasion -- the European Commission (the EU’s executive branch) contends that:

• Two Apple subsidiaries in Ireland (Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe) paid taxes at a drastically lower rate than other companies.
• This arrangement had no basis in tax law. Nor was it available to others, which constituted state aid -- and that is illegal under European law.
• Apple logged all of its EU sales as if they’d occurred in Ireland, allowing the country’s remarkably low rate (see below) to apply to all those sales, regardless of where they transpired.

“Most sales profits of Apple Sales International were allocated to its ‘head office,’ when this ‘head office’ had no operating capacity to handle and manage the distribution business, or any other substantive business for that matter,” the commission said Tuesday in a statement. Commissioner Vestager added, “the so-called head office had no employees, no premises, no real activities.”

The European Commission’s ruling could pave the way for a lot more people to get a piece of Apple.

What’s the Big Deal?

Potential problems include the unfair advantage that such tax breaks could convey. Between 2003 and 2014, Apple’s taxes dropped from 1 percent to 0.005 percent in Ireland, whose corporate tax rate is generally 12.5 percent (for reference, the top corporate tax rate in the U.S. is 35 percent).

Feel free to read those numbers again. And let them sink in -- because Apple Ireland didn’t pay taxes on everything.

“In 2011, [Apple Ireland] earned $22 billion after paying $2 billion to its U.S. parent in relation to the rights to Apple intellectual property,” Reuters stated Tuesday. “However, the Irish tax authority agreed only €50 million of this was taxable in Ireland.”

Paying so little in taxes left a lot of extra capital for Apple to work with -- that’s cash its competitors would not have had without similar deals. And it may have deprived other EU nations of tax revenue from things sold in their countries.

The Brewing Storm

“The European Commission has aggressively sought to stamp out sweetheart tax deals that countries strike with multinational companies,” The New York Times stated Tuesday. So the commission’s ruling wasn’t a bolt from the blue.

The commission ordered coffee colossus Starbucks to pay up to €30 million ($34 million) to the Netherlands; Internet search king Google is tied up in France and other EU members; Anheuser-Busch owes Belgium at the moment; and Luxembourg could get windfalls from automaker Fiat, online retailer Amazon and omnipresent fast-food chain McDonald’s.

But even the previous record holder of €1.3 billion ($1.46 billion) for the Nürburgring race track in Germany pales in comparison to what the commission is asking of Apple.

Ireland joins the Netherlands, Belgium and several other EU member nations embroiled in controversies about corporate tax rulings.

From Apple’s Eye

Apple said it intends to appeal the decision, a process that could take years. The company maintains that it should be taxed where it creates value, and that would be in and around its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

“European companies doing business in the U.S. are taxed according to the same principle,” Apple said Tuesday in a statement. “But the commission is now calling to retroactively change those rules.”

But the commission might not retroactively seek all €13 billion -- if it deems that Apple also owes money to the U.S. Other E.U. nations might get a bite of Apple’s taxable revenue too, cutting into what Ireland might otherwise enjoy.

Taking Apple’s Side

Like Apple, Ireland plans to appeal the decision, at least in part to “remain an attractive and stable location of choice for long-term substantive investment,” according to a statement by the country’s finance minister. The quest for such investment is a big reason why Ireland’s corporate tax rate -- the 12.5 percent mentioned above -- is one of the lowest in Europe and the developed world.

“The Irish government is afraid companies would be less likely to invest in Ireland if its tax regime changes,” CNNMoney stated on Tuesday. “That could cost the country thousands of jobs.”

And the U.S. was preemptively critical of the commission’s move in a Department of Treasury white paper last week, which contends that the commission has no business seeking retroactive taxes -- and that doing so could damage U.S. tax collection. But, in another peculiar twist, the U.S. had also instigated the commission’s investigation.

Apple’s ties to Ireland go back to at least 1980, when Steve Jobs visited a company facility in Cork. Above, CEO Tim Cook takes selfies with members of the Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society after receiving the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage in November 2015. (Laura Hutton / Shutterstock.com)

“The European inquiry was spurred in 2013, when a United States Senate committee said that Apple had negotiated a special corporate tax rate of 2 percent or less in Ireland,” The New York Times stated Tuesday. “The Treasury has also taken steps to curtail so-called inversions, in which an American company buys an overseas counterpart and shifts its headquarters overseas to lower its taxes -- Ireland ... has been an especially big beneficiary of such deals.”

And When the Dust Settles?

A resolution is probably years away, as Ireland will likely join the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in a fraternity of nations appealing EU corporate tax rulings. In the meantime, the commission’s decision has sent shockwaves around the world.

“The size of the tax demand ... risks further unsettling multinational companies already facing a slow-moving international effort to curb aggressive tax avoidance, showing their past behavior could land them with big bills for allegedly unpaid back taxes,” The Wall Street Journal stated Tuesday. “It could also set off a broader scramble by the U.S. and individual EU governments over the right to tax billions of dollars of offshore profits made by Apple and other large companies.”

For now, Ireland has a few months to figure out how much Apple owes and collect, while Apple will likely squirrel away the money in an escrow account until there’s a resolution. But don’t worry about Apple; as CNNMoney put it, “Apple has more than $231 billion in cash on its balance sheet to cushion the blow.”

Follow Derek on Twitter: @DKlobucher

More From SAP Business Trends:

What Makes the Strongest Tech-Savvy Workforce Even Better? [VIDEO]

Compliant on Day 1: How to Build a Strong Core with Localization

VIDEO: Driving Foot Traffic into Your Store with Digital Tech

Hello Everyone,

We have some interesting notes this week which I want to share with you.

The first one 2358545 - Memory overflow during save of Enterprise Search model data will solve some memory dump TSV_TNEW_PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED when you save model data in Enterprise Search.

You might also get some issues when you execute report ESH_ADM_SET_TREX_DESTINATION and all radio buttons are disabled. This problem has been solved in SAP note 2335498 - Radio buttons in report ESH_ADM_SET_TREX_DESTINATION cannot be selected.

The last one 2354994 - SNOTE: SWC import not possible or abort GETWA_NOT_ASSIGNEDis related to task list SAP_ESH_INITIAL_SETUP_WRK_CLIENT and in some scenarios you can get a dump GETWA_NOT_ASSIGNED.

All notes can be applied via SNOTE or relevant Support Packages.

Kind Regards

ESH Product Support

Next week sees a variety of courses get started at openSAP, including SAP HANA Vora, SAP HANA Cloud Platform, and Design Research with many more to come in the following weeks. If you haven’t signed up yet, here’s what you’re missing!

Big Data with SAP HANA Vora: September 6 – October 5

This course starts with an overview of SAP HANA Vora including Hadoop, Spark, Key features, and SDA and SAP HANA Connectivity. Once you’ve got to grips with the basics, we’ll move on to take a look at the data browser, SQL-Editor, and data modeler. In the final week, we’ll look working with tables and views, loading different data types, working with hierarchies, as well as advanced topics such as partitioning and annotations.

Developing Java-Based Apps on SAP HANA Cloud Platform: September 7 – October 20

In this advanced course, you’ll learn how to develop Java-based apps on SAP HANA Cloud Platform using the newly updated Enterprise Sales & Procurement Model (ESPM) application. With the ESPM app, we’ll demonstrate the end-to-end process for developers to leverage the capabilities of SAP HANA Cloud Platform for Java-based apps.

Basics of Design Research: September 7 – October 20

In this course, you’ll get an overview from SAP’s design research experts that will help you get the most out of your field research experience. From identifying users through conducting a field visit to developing points of view, this course will provide you with a foundation for conducting design research in a people-centric way.

Ready to learn more? We have even more topics coming up over the next few weeks so take the time to check them out, sign up, and invite your colleagues and friends!

Design the Future of Your CRM: September 14 – October 13

In this course, you’ll learn why it’s almost impossible to run a successful business today with a CRM system from the past. We’ll demonstrate how today's Customer Engagement and Commerce solutions from SAP provide help to drive relevant, contextual experiences across all of your customers’ touchpoints in real time.

Coding courses for young people: September 15 – November 9

openSAP and SAP are once again supporting code weeks such as EU Code Week, Refugee Code Week, and Africa Code Week. These courses are aimed at children and teenagers to help them get started with coding through the free MIT programming course, Scratch. Both courses are available in English and French.

Africa Code Week: Teaching Programming to Young Learners (Repeat)

Africa Code Week : Enseigner la programmation aux enfants (Réédition)

Africa Code Week: Teens Get Coding! (Repeat)

Africa Code Week : Les ados se mettent au code ! (Réédition)

Imagine IoT: September 28 – November 17

This course is all about showing you how to use IoT to make life better. Or, put another way, you will learn the fundamentals of the Internet of Things (e.g., sensors, the cloud, and more) and be introduced to new interaction paradigms (augmented reality, wearables, and more) that are changing how we interact with the world around us. You will also learn how to design and create your own IoT prototype.

Talent Management Best Practices with SAP SuccessFactors: October 5 – November 10

This course explains exactly what talent management involves and what goes into building and maintaining an efficient, integrated talent management system. The course also discusses the role of technology in creating scalable, data-driven talent management processes using illustrations from state-of-the-art SAP SuccessFactors solutions.

SHINE Reference for Native SAP HANA Application Development: October 5 – November 3

The course starts with a general overview of SHINE features, followed by a demo and deep dive into the major capabilities of SHINE. It ends with an introduction to SHINE for SAP HANA XS Advanced Model. This is the fourth course in our SAP HANA Core Knowledge series that provides insight into special features on the SAP HANA platform.

HR + Finance with SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors: November 8 – December 14

In this course, you will learn how your business can achieve higher profits through a reduction in costs by transforming your Finance and HR functions and increasing collaboration across departments. You will gain an understanding of how productized integrations and innovations like intelligent services enable companies to run simple, leveraging modern finance and human resource management capabilities.

As always, enrollment, learning content, and Certification of Participation/Record of Achievement are provided completely free of charge. All you need to sign up is a valid email address.

Don’t miss out on these learning opportunities and help build your knowledge base!

Did you know that you can migrate existing projects in SAP Event Stream Processor to SAP HANA Smart Data Streaming? The process depends on which version of ESP your project was created in.

ESP 5.1 SP08 and Earlier

The ESP datatypes Date and Timestamp have been renamed to SecondDate and MsDate in streaming. If you try to run ESP datatypes in streaming, you’ll get a runtime error.

You can easily convert all of these dataypes using the streamingmigratedatetypes command-line tool found in STREAMING_HOME/bin/.

Run streamingmigratedatetypes on each of your ESP SP08 and earlier CCL project files:

STREAMING_HOME/bin/streamingmigratedatetypes -i <old-project>.ccl -o <new-project>.ccl

-i <old-project> is the old CCL file to be migrated.

-o <new-project> is an updated name for the migrated CCL file. If you don’t provide a file name for this parameter, the utility will just output the results onscreen without creating a file.

Proofread

After running the utility, make sure to carefully inspect your CCL files for any fields that have not been updated correctly, especially if the variables and fields have the same name. See the datatype tables for a full list of changes.

Custom Adapters

If you have custom adapters created with the adapter toolkit, make sure you change all DateFormat and TimestampFormat tags to SecondDateFormat and MsDateFormat, respectively.

Update Adapter Filepaths

Smart data streaming uses a sandboxed environment, so you’ll have to update the paths to any file adapters you have in use. File paths are relative to the adapters directory:

/hana/data_streaming/<SID>/adapters/<workspace>/

Note that if you need to run discovery, the filepath must be absolute.

ESP 5.1 SP09 and Later

Migrating from ESP 5.1 SP09 and later to streaming is simpler.

Update Adapter Filepaths

Since smart data streaming uses a sandboxed environment, you’ll have to update the paths to any file adapters you have in use, just like for SP08 and earlier. File paths are relative to the adapters directory:

/hana/data_streaming/<SID>/adapters/<workspace>/

Note that if you need to run discovery, the filepath must be absolute.

Hello,

Recently learnt about the new developer features in SAP HANA SPS 11, especially in the area of XS Advanced Model& SAP WebIDE for SAP HANA.

However when I tried to go about it, it seems pretty tricky & complicated as it doesn't come in a package by default.

Thus I've decided to blog about my journey in setting up SAP Web IDE in SAP HANA SPS 11.

Please pardon me if there are any discrepancies or mistakes. Feel free to comment & feedback, I'll take your advices and improve on this blog post, so to help others facing the similar issues.

Thank you in advance.

In this blog, I've broke it down the whole installation & setup into 3 checkpoints to meet in order to make your SAP Web IDE working for your SAP HANA SPS 11.

1. Checkpoint 1 (Server Side Setup)
2. Checkpoint 2 (Client Side Setup)
3. Final Checkpoint (Installation & Configuration Success)

Environment

• SAP HANA on AWS Setup for SAP Business One, version for SAP HANA (Dev & Test Environment)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.4
• SAP Business One 9.2 PL03
• SAP HANA SPS 11 (1.00.112.03.1464042351)

Motivation

• To install SAP Web IDE into SPS 11
• To utilize SAP Web IDE capabilities on SAPUI5 Apps Development
• To learn about SAP HANA XS Advanced Model & how every development work can be in SAP Web IDE (Uplift from Web-based Development Workbench)

Reference

• SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA Documentation
• SAP HANA SPS 11: New Developer Features
• SAP Note 2271148 - SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA SPS11
• SAP Note 2233866 - SAP HANA XS Advanced Model SPS11 Release Note

** From the note, you’ll realise that everything isn’t straightforward to setup & configure **

Prerequisite

• XS Advanced Runtime (XSA) has to be installed
• XS Advanced Command Line Tool has to be installed (see second component to be downloaded, depending on your OS selection)

SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD CENTER > INDEX > H > SAP IN-MEMORY (SAP HANA ) > HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SUPPORT PACKAGES & PATCHES > ENTRY BY COMPONENT > XS ADVANCED RUNTIME

Download the following components (Version 34)

1. SAP EXTENDED APP SERVICES 1
2. XS RUNTIME 1 (Client & Runtime to be downloaded - dependant on your OS)

Installation of XS Advanced Runtime

1. Extract SAP EXTENDED APP SERVICES 1 in SLES Environment using SAPCAR (EXTAPPSER00P_34-70001316.SAR)
2. chmod -R 777 to installation path in SLES Environment (e.g. chmod -R 777 /software_sps11)
3. CD to Installation Path (e.g. cd /software_sps11/SAP_HANA_DATABASE)
4. Run HDBLCMGUI in SAP HANA DATABASE (e.g. ./hdblcmgui) Setup will run
5. Load Components from EXTAPPSER00P_34-70001316.SAR (see attached screenshots below)
6. *ERROR* when installing first time, run installer again and it will succeed (Experts, please advise.)
7. Post Installation Checks to Make Sure Services are added (see attached screenshots below)

--- Click on "Add Component Location ... "

--- Navigate to the extracted 'EXTAPPSER00P_34-70001316.SAR' location (e.g.XSA_RT_10_LINUX_X86_64), Click on "Open"

--- "SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime" will be added to the component list

--- Tick all components, especially "Install SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime Version 1.0.34.275394"

--- Click "Next"

--- Leave the values entered by default

--- Remember your password for XSA_ADMIN (Important)

--- Organization Name& Space Name to remember as well

--- Review the components below

--- Click "Update"

--- Takes a few minutes for installation & updating components

--- Error occurred while executing SAP HANA Components (for my case)

--- Everything else is installed successfully

--- Run Installer again & repeat steps (./hdblcmgui)

--- Review Installations & Updates

--- SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime is successfully Installed / Updated

--- Open SAP HANA Studio, Administration Console

--- Do Post Installation Checks (Refer below)

--- You should see additional services installed to your HANA Server

Post Installation Checks

• xsexecagent
• xsuaaserver
• xscontroller
• Access into your SAP HANA Platform Lifecycle Management to verify your System Information (see attached screenshots below)

--- Access into https://<ipaddress>:1129/lmsl/HDBLCM/<SID>/index.html

--- "View System Information"

--- "Hosts Information"

--- Verify XS Advanced Runtime Worker (xs_worker) is included

--- "Installed Components"

--- Verify "SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime" is installed with the right version (34)

Checkpoint 1 (Server Side Setup)

1. Installed XS Advanced Runtime in your SAP HANA Server
2. SAP HANA XS Advanced Runtime components is up & running

Now, go to your Client side (Windows Server)

Check that the XS advanced run time is installed and available on the SAP HANA server.

Enter the following URL in your Web browser: https://<hana_hostname>:3<instance>30/v2/info

(e.g. https://172.31.31.64:30030/v2/info)

The response displayed in the Web browser is a JSON string with details that indicate a successful connection to the XSA controller.

Next steps, install XS Advanced Runtime Components in your Client side.

Install XS Advanced Command Line (XSA CLI) Tools on Client (e.g. Windows Server)

XS Runtime 1 component that you've downloaded at the start (see attached screenshots below)

--- Downloaded this client package (version 34) from Software Center

--- Extract XSA Client (XS_CLIENT00P_34-70001792.ZIP) into your Windows Server

--- Open Command Prompt, cd to directory and run xs (you can add the xs command to your user variables)

--- e.g. cd c:/XS_CLIENT00P_34-70001792/bin

Check that the XS client for XS advanced is installed and available (enter into the  command prompt).

• xs help
• xs -v

Connect to the XS advanced controller on the SAP HANA server (enter into the command prompt).

1. Specify the URL of the API end point on the SAP HANA server you want to connect to:
   
   xs api https://<hostname>:3<instanceNr>30
   (e.g. xs api https://172.31.31.64:30030)
   
   If this command fails due to a missing SSL certificate, you can download the missing certificate from the SAP HANA server; the certificate default.root.crt.pem is typically installed in the following default location:
   <installation_path>/<SID>/xs/controller_data/controller/ssl-pub/router/default.root.crt.pem
   
   For example, where <installation_path>=/hana/shared/ and <SID>=HDB:
   
   /hana/shared/HDB/xs/controller_data/controller/ssl-pub/router/default.root.crt.pem
   
   
2. Install the security certificate on the machine where you are running the XS CLI client.
   Place the copy of the root certificate in a safe location in your client file system, for example,/<path>/default.root.crt.pem
   
3. Set the API end point for client connections to the SAP HANA server using the newly installed certificate for authentication.

    

   xs api https://<hostname>:3<instanceNr>30 -cacert /<path>/default.root.crt.pem
   
   (e.g. xs api https://172.31.31.64:30030/ -cacert C:/XSACLI/default.root.crt.pem)

Login into XS Advanced Runtime (enter into the command prompt)

1. xs login -u XSA_ADMIN -p Initial0

Checkpoint 2 (Client Side Setup)

1. Downloaded XS Advanced Runtime (Client) into your Client OS (Windows Server)
2. Configured XS Advanced Runtime Client
3. Configured Certificate & SSL
4. Initial Login & Successful Utilization of XSA CLI (Command Line Tools)

Next steps, using XSA CLI to install SAP HANA Web IDE for SAP HANA.

Download SAP HANA Web IDE Components

1. SAP HANA RUNTIME TOOLS 1.0
   
   SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD CENTER > INDEX > H > SAP IN-MEMORY (SAP HANA ) > HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SUPPORT PACKAGES & PATCHES > ENTRY BY COMPONENT >SAP HANA RUNTIME TOOLS
   
   Download "XSACHRTT01_21-70001571.ZIP - SP01 Patch21 for SAP HANA RUNTIME TOOLS 1.0"
   
   
2. SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA Development Infrastructure (DI) (DI CORE 1)
   
   SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD CENTER > INDEX > H > SAP IN-MEMORY (SAP HANA ) > HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SUPPORT PACKAGES & PATCHES > ENTRY BY COMPONENT > SAP WEB IDE 4 SAP HANA >DI CORE 1
   
   Download "XSACDEVXDI11_1-70001255.ZIP - SP11 Patch1 for DEVX DI 1.0"
   
   
3. SAP WEB IDE for SAP HANA Web Client
   
   SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD CENTER > INDEX > H > SAP IN-MEMORY (SAP HANA ) > HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SAP HANA PLATFORM EDITION > SUPPORT PACKAGES & PATCHES > ENTRY BY COMPONENT > SAP WEB IDE 4 SAP HANA >SAP WEB IDE 1
   
   Download "XSACSAPWEBIDE11_1-70001256.ZIP - SP11 Patch1 for SAP WEB IDE 1"
   
   

** Precautions on Installation **

• Successful Login as XSA_ADMIN
• Install in order (HANA Runtime Tools > DI Core > Web IDE)
• Install into SAP space
• Make sure there is enough space in your HANA Server (otherwise your installation will fail with errors)
  - DI CORE (~ 8 GB)
  - Web IDE (~ 3 GB)

Install SAP HANA Web IDE Components (enter into the command prompt)
The installation commands include relative paths to the component locations in the XSA file system.

1. xs target -s SAP
2. xs install XSACHRTT01_21-70001571.zip
3. xs install XSACDEVXDI11_1-70001255.zip (default, without customization)
   xs install XSACDEVXDI11_1-70001255.zip -e di_mtad.mtaext (with customization - refer to SAP Note 2271148 - SAPWebIDE4HANASPS11_Installation.pdf)
4. xs install XSACSAPWEBIDE11_1-70001256.zip

--- Screenshot of an example of Successful Installation & Deployment of XSA Service of DI Core

--- Running of an Installation

Final Checkpoint (Installation & Configuration Success)

1. Successful Installation of HANA Runtime Tool, DI Core & Web IDE
2. Verified XSA Components are up & running for Web IDE (type xs services in command prompt)

What's next?

Start your Tutorial for SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA on tinyworld

• YouTube: SAP HANA Academy - Web IDE for HANA
• SCN: Developing with XS Advanced - A TinyWorld Tutorial

I hope this blogpost will help someone out there in figuring out how to go about it to install SAP Web IDE for SAP HANA SPS11.

Please feel free to let me know if you need any assistance in any area by dropping a comment below.

With the release of SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1608 on August 29^th, new innovations and enhancements were brought in all three S/4HANA Cloud solutions: SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management Cloud, SAP S/4HANA Professional Services Cloud and the SAP S/4HANA Marketing Cloud.

With SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP is providing a new generation of business applications, listening closely to the needs of Customers and Partners in developing a rich scope that delivers a simple, yet efficient enterprise software for big data and agility.

SAP S/4HANA Professional Services Cloud 1608 provides pre-configured content for core business processes, delivering advanced end-to-end, project-based services in the cloud.

The main steps of the end-to-end scenarios for Project-based Services integrate sales orders with project management, allowing you to create customer invoices for time and expenses, including external services recorded against a customer project, delivering a business outcome driven solution to prepare, plan, manage and execute projects end to end.

SAP S/4HANA Professional Services Cloud delivers a complete project accounting in real time with detailed financial figures for projects and event-based revenue recognition, improving people utilization and external resources.

Invoices can be created on a time and materials basis, a fixed-price basis, or a combination of both. After the customer invoice is issued, customer payments can be monitored.

Period end closing activities, including accounting and financial, can be performed. This scenario also supports the analysis of project profitability based on project costs and revenues.

For customers looking for a non-disruptive, simplified transition to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, native integration to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, SAP jam and SAP Ariba is available to run simple in the SAP cloud.

An intuitive user experience helps in managing customer and internal projects by providing a complete view on commercials, finance, procurement and the total workforce (internal and external) in real time.

The pre-configured content is based onSAP Activateand SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA that are tailored specifically to accelerate and simplify the adoption of SAP S/4HANA for faster time to value, by providing tested configuration, content and methodologies for ready-to-run business processes, optimized for SAP S/4 HANA.

The SAP S/4HANA Professional Services Cloud helps you reduce time from projects delivery to cash collection and easily adopt and implement a solution with business content to drive margin, profit and utilization across the entire project organization.

Among the benefits, it will help customers with project definition tasks like define and manage projects in an easy manner, staff projects intuitively, with project monitoring tasks like drilling-down to project related analytics and KPIs (cost performance, work performance, commercial analysis) with flexibility, as well as project review tasks like recording project-related expenses and providing one source of truth, with no aggregates.

This release brings innovations and continuous improvements through all relevant involved business processes:

Event-Based Revenue Recognition - Project-Based Services – with which postings to relevant account assignment objects lead to revenue recognition calculations.

Customer Project Analysis - an analytical SAP Fiori application that provides rich visualization and analysis of customer projects based on margin, revenue, cost, and so on.

Utilization Analysis - an analytical SAP Fiori application which provides rich visualization and analysis of utilization rate of employees across several pre-defined analysis steps.

Accounting and Financial Close - Parallel Ledger - provides ledger-specific operation postings and ledger-specific period-end closing steps.

Asset Accounting - Parallel Ledger - provides ledger-specific transactions and reports.

Ariba - Integration for Finance - With the Ariba integration to SAP S/4HANA Financials, you can forward payment advices to your suppliers, and you can take advantage of discounts for early payment. 

Statutory Reporting Framework Reports (not applicable for all countries) - deals with Statutory Reporting Framework Reports, the mandatory submission of financial and non-financial information to a government agency.

Bank Integration with Financial Services Network - With Financial Services Network, you can automatically connect to your banks for sending payment instructions and receive bank statements.

The SAP S/4HANA Professional Services Cloud 1608 is covering 17 countries, with Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates newly added to the list, as well as 10 languages:

Countries:

Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA.

Languages:

English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified), Dutch, Hungarian.

For a complete break-down of the scope, please take a look at the SAP Service Marketplace: http://service.sap.com/s4ps

As always,  if you want a first-hand experience of SAP S/4HANA, you can start with the SAP S/4HANA trials: https://go.sap.com/cmp/oth/crm-s4hana/index.html

For user assistance for SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1608, take a look at the SAP Help Portal: https://help.sap.com/s4hana_ce_1608#section1

For an overview of highlights for 1608 and a sneak peek on hot topics like the SAP S/4HANA Finance Cloud, check out this blog:http://scn.sap.com/community/s4hana/blog/2016/08/30/product-management-update-on-sap-s4hana-cloud-1608-release

Curious what’s in store for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud? Now you can see what’s planned four quarters ahead. See the latest Roadmap updated on the 29^th of August here:https://support.sap.com/content/dam/website/roadmaps/en_us/cross-topics/SAP%20S4HANA%20Cloud%20Road%20Map.pdf?logActivity=true

There’s never been a better time than now to start, grow, and operate a business. Why?

In one word: technology. You can now find solutions to help every aspect of your business. There are tech tools that save you time, enable your staff to work efficiently, increase compliance with government rules and regulations, and much more.

Here are four key areas in which technology can be a boon to your business.

Managing operations and finance

In the old days, a pencil and a calculator were all a business owner needed to stay on top of critical financial information and associated tasks. Now you can use technology to manage your money. Here are few examples:

• Project cash flow. You need to ensure that you’ll have the money on hand to pay your workers and other expenses when bills come due. That means you must stay on top of cash flow, and software can help you easily do this.
• Keep financial books and records. Being in business requires you to keep track of income, expenses, and other items so you can analyze how your business is doing. It’s also mandatory for tax purposes; you need these records to prepare your returns and back up positions you take on these returns.
• Invoice customers. Unless your customers pay on the spot with cash, checks, credit/debit cards, or electronic payments, you must send bills for the money they owe to your company. Viewing outstanding invoices can help you monitor collections to ensure that all your customers pay and do not become deliquent.

Managing your customer experience

Customers and clients are the lifeblood of any business, and technology can help you optimize your connections with them. Take Sports Basement, for example. With the goal of adding a store location every six months, the California-based sporting goods chain needed help with customer engagement. The company wanted to be able to adapt and react quickly to the changing market and customer needs as well as better engage customers in their communities. The software solution Sports Basement implemented now gives the power to better understand and serve customers.As demonstrated in this customer’s success, customer relations management (CRM) technology can be used to:

• Follow up on leads. Connect with prospects and make the ordering process simple for them.

• Close sales. Reveal deeper insights into customer needs, enabling you to make an impact and close the deal.

• Find new leads. Find new prospects.

• Handle customer problems. Give customers, who have an issue with technology, delivery, or product satisfaction, immediate access to resources that can resolve concerns or complaints.

• Create customer loyalty. Enhance the customer experience by facilitating loyalty programs and referrals and informing customers of new products or services and discount/sale opportunities.

Facilitating your workforce

Your staff, whether onsite or remote, can do their jobs better through technology. For example, technology can:

• Enable working remotely. Allowing employees to work from home can be a highly valued benefit. Employing workers who are located far from your location means you can hire the best individuals for your company’s needs. Enabling those in the field to connect with co-workers and others while mobile provides real-time answers. Technology can make this all happen.

• Enhance collaborative efforts. Technology helps teams collaborate to complete projects quickly and efficiently.

• Empower workers. Adaptive technology can accommodate disabled workers.

When David Leadbetter Golf, for instance, decided to take their brand global, they were looking for cloud-based solution that could give the company worldwide data visibility and security to expand quickly and confidently into new markets. With a new system in place, it created a consistent platform to build out coaching programs in emerging markets, from first-touch beginners to elite tour player development. The new technology helped increase its revenue by 15%, improve instructor productive by 12%, and lower operational costs by 10%.

In addition to boosting the bottom line, technology tools can assist small business owners with complying with tax codes and regulations, which can be a heavy burden when you can’t afford to retain a full-time accountant or HR manager. Technology can ease this challenge and save money by handling the payroll including figuring withholding, paying staff, and making necessary tax deposits. Technology tools also help business adhere to Affordable Care Act requirements by monitoring employee hours and determining whether the company is an applicable large employer subject to the employer mandate.

Managing business insights

Albert Einstein said, “Information is not knowledge.” By keeping records of sales, customers, and other vital information, you have the data available to learn what’s working and what isn’t—but you need to analyze it. Your data should tell you if sales are growing, if you’re losing customers (and why), if you can afford to expand, and when you’re facing critical issues that require consultation by outside experts. Technology can help you translate your Big Data into the meaningful information you need to operate profitably and grow.

Technology can also save you valuable time by populating all needed data with a single entry. For example, entering customer information should enable you to use it for invoicing as well as customer service needs. Make sure your technology solution can do this for you.

Conclusion

Whether you’re working to launch your business or take it to the next level, technology tools can help you and your employees better understand and operate your business, while also saving you time and money. As a small business owner, you wear many hats – CEO, CFO, HR manager, head of marketing, etc. The technology of today and tomorrow can help you work smarter and achieve your entrepreneurial dreams.

Building a successful company is hard work. SAP’s affordable solutions for small and midsize companies are designed to make it easier. Easy to install and use, run all aspects your company with SAP software – on premise or in the cloud. Our scalable business management software supports ERP, HR, e-commerce, analytics, reporting, and more. As more than 250,000 small and midsize companies have discovered, you’ll never outgrow SAP – no matter where your business takes you. Visit sap.com/sme.

This blog was written by Karen Kerrigan and Barbara Weltman, and originally appeared on SAP’s Digitalist Magazine.

There are some concerns related to the storage location being defaulted in shopping cart.
In PPOMA_BBP, storage locations are defined under "Extended attributes" tab, but no default flag is set.
Then, when end user creates a shopping cart, storage location is being defaulted, even if no default is set in PPOMA_BBP.

This is the expected behaviour. When storage locations are configured in PPOMA_BBP, even if no default is configured, system will consider the first storage location from the list and assign it to the shopping cart (respecting the combination of plant/company code).

This logic takes place in method STG_LOC_GET_DEFAULT of class /SAPSRM/CL_PDO_SHARED_USER (topic 2.3):  

ELSE.
* 2.2 no default storage location => check if other stor.loc. exists
        READ TABLE it_storage_location INTO ls_storage_location
                 WITH KEY plant   = iv_location
                          logsys  = iv_log_system.

        IF sy-subrc = 0.
* 2.3 take first storage location as default
          cv_default_storage_location = ls_storage_location-store_loc.
        ELSE.
          CLEAR cv_default_storage_location.  " not available
        ENDIF.

      ENDIF. "sy-subrc 1.1
    ENDIF. "cv_default_storage_location

For more information, read wiki page http://wiki.scn.sap.com/wiki/x/WIlKF.

September has arrived, and that means Month of service is right around the corner. Starting October 1^st, thousands of employees across the region and beyond will begin volunteering in their local communities, working to support and further a number of different causes.

This year will mark our 12th anniversary of this incredible tradition.

What an achievement that is: 12 years of dedicating an entire month to giving back to our local communities, of employees donating their time and talents to causes especially dear to them and of SAP making a positive difference. Last year alone, more than 7,000 employees in North America impacted more than 500,000 lives!

It’s initiatives like Month of Service that make me proud to work for SAP. The benefits of volunteering are far reaching. Volunteering brings you closer to your community, embraces differences, builds bonds, helps develop new skills, and, at its best, inspires.

Take an event that recently occurred at our Newtown Square office. 40 soon-to-be college students from our nonprofit partner Chester County Futures (CCF) spent the day at SAP participating in a “college boot camp,” learning tips and tricks for how to succeed in college.

The boot camp was put together by three amazing colleagues— Michael Cieri, Melissa Rittenhouse, and Nina Kelley—who had just completed a six-week Local Social Sabbatical program with CCF, and it served a very specific and important purpose: Almost all of the students who visited will be the first ones in their families to go to college.

I can’t help but feel proud when I think about how SAP has been able to impact these students in a positive way, and that, through our corporate giving programs and volunteerism, we impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year.

This to me is what Month of Service is about: not just doing our part, but truly making a difference.

If you are an SAP Employee, please follow us on Jam.

[This blog post was originally posted on HoloHouse: A Collaboration between SAP d-shop Silicon Valley and Global Co-Innovation Labs]

Manfred Pauli, Director of the Helix Platform, Global Co-Innovation Labs, contacted the d-shop Silicon Valley with regards of a project his team was working on.  We had recently purchased a Microsoft HoloLens and we were getting knowledgeable about the technology through coding some small demos.

Pauli’s team was working on a bank/real estate application for the “Bank of the Future” to be showcased in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in about 3 weeks, so the deadline was approaching.  The project was to virtually display three houses: the user would select one to view from all sides and lift the ceiling of each floor to view its interior, then decide which one to physically visit.  The Microsoft HoloLens was the platform of choice due to its mixed reality capabilities.

Though our team was very small (only 3 people) and the project seemed complicated, we took on the challenge.  At first, the difficulty laid in our lack of knowledge because we had just gotten our hands on the HoloLens.  With Unity, the development engine for the device, we had learned it only a couple of weeks prior.  However, we were confident in our ability to research new technologies and quickly come up to speed for Pauli’s team.

Our first iteration was a 3D rendering of a small Lego house, which we purchased in order to do initial testing.

The demo may give off an impression that this project is actually simple.  As we iterated it became clear to us that our basic prototype provided the necessary groundwork for understanding the project better.  We gained more knowledge and insights about the functionalities of the HoloLens, getting us excited about how it can transform a user’s experience.

We used Unity for HoloLens with C# as the scripting language.  The HoloLens emulator and the actual device played a pivotal role in helping us test and give shape to the product.  We also used professionally rendered models from an external design company we worked with, so that we can display images that were as similar as possible to what a potential homebuyer would see.

As you can see in the following video, things really changed.  The application went through seven major iterations, which involved adding new features, fixing others, and removing some.  We were essentially aiming to produce the best user experience possible with our prototype at this stage.

I guess you might be interested in some of the technical problems we faced. Here is a brief recap.

• The modeled houses came separated by floors, so we had to fit them together manually.
• Getting the right dimension of the colliders was difficult.  The colliders prevented the floors from overlapping.  Giving a user the ability to virtually lift each floor meant that each had to sit on top of the other.
• Getting the post sign message to work.  Unity for HoloLens does not come with extra libraries, so we needed to create one of our own.  Doing a marquee is not hard, but doing it on a 3D object with the text on top of the sign can be tricky.  As you can see in the video, sometimes it works, sometimes it gets out of focus.
• Even though we used C# as the scripting language, this wasn’t exactly the same C# in Visual Studio.  Being Unity oriented, C# had some little changes, and sometimes it was hard to figure out what to use.

After we had finished our last release at the d-shop, the Global Co-Innovation Lab took over.  They assembled a team of great people that included Roberto Urban, Dennis Heisig, Johannes Nichell and Michael Herwig to continue the work and take it to the next level.

When we saw their first iteration, we were completely amazed at how much they had improved the application.  They did an amazing job!

This, of course, is not their latest version.  To make the application a state of the art product, a lot more had been added and improved upon.

The kind of collaboration between our teams was good and positive.  So good that we got nominated for the Hasso Plattner Founders’ Award 2016, which in and of itself was a great recognition of all the participants’ hard work and enthusiasm.

We just wanted to let you know our story…what’s yours?  Any nice project you had worked on, or one you are beginning?  Any collaboration between teams you would like to share?  We’re listening.  Here to share, learn and help with any questions and we would be more than happy to read your story.

– Your d-shop team