Category Archives: HR2015

S/4 HANA: Your Deployment Options with SAP HCM / SF

Cloud, HR2015, S/4 HANA, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, SuccessFactors, , , , ,

Hey friends,

I was fortunate to attend SAPInsider’s 2015 conference in Nice where the weather was beautiful, the cuisine delicious, and the conference content bountiful.  One of the more interesting topics that I learned about was SAP’s support for S/4 HANA and SAP HCM platforms.  Based on customer feedback since the original plans were unveiled at SAPPHIRENOW, changes to the support of SAP’s productized integration was necessary. Here’s the skinny:

There are 5 basic scenarios. (I am sure there are others based on customers’ own deployments, but let’s stick with these for now):

If using SAP ERP HCM:

1) Keep SAP ERP HCM in its own instance on premise, and deploy S/4 HANA on premise

2) Deploy S/4 HANA and SAP ERP HCM in the same instance on premise

3) Keep SAP ERP HCM on premise, and deploy S/4 HANA in the cloud

If using Employee Central:

4) Deploy S/4 HANA on premise, and integrate with SuccessFactors Employee Central

5) Deploy S/4 HANA in the cloud, and integrate with SuccessFactors Employee Central

In all scenarios above, SAP has or will have productized integrations to support these scenarios to the year 20xx, where xx is something we need to hear from SAP on. I was able to grab some time with David Ludlow, Group Vice President at SAP, who really understands the customer landscape out there.  He presented this slide which captures the options pretty well.

S/4 HANA and SAP HR / SF integrations

So what does this all mean? Well, the answer is still to be determined, but for SAP HCM customers who are looking to use Simple Finance and other aspects of S/4 HANA, it simply means more options.   This has always been a bit of a double sword for SAP, but in my opinion, it’s something that SAP had to do in order to accommodate its vast customer base.

SAP Fiori, HR Renewal – Reference Material

HR2015, SAP Fiori, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, Self Services, ,

I did a recent podcast for SAPInsider, the conference producer for HR2015. You can hear the podcast and view the transcript here. Many of the questions were a precursor to the kinds of the questions I am sure we will be hearing from customers this year at the HR 2015 conference as well as ASUG/SAPPHIRE. Questions specifically around the roadmap for HR Renewal versus SAP Fiori and where/when/how these roads will merge within the SAP HCM space. Lots of questions around integration, mashups, and what types of skill sets customers/consultants will need in the future around these technologies.

Here are some of the resources that are available to us out there, specifically around SAPUI5 and its related offerings:

SAP Fiori Apps Library: Probably your best starting point for Fiori apps

HR Renewal 2.0 SAP Help documentation

The new SAP PRESS book on HR Renewal and SAP Fiori, the new Employee, Manager and HR Professional self service, from myself, Brandon Toombs, Kris Bland, and Justin Morgalis.

All Things Fiori and, specifically for HR, SAP HCM Fiori apps on SCN

My session on “Latest Enhancements in SAP ERP HCM Self-Services: HR Renewal, SAP Fiori, and SAPUI5“. The rest of my sessions are here:

I also suggest you check out some sessions on these topics by two of the finest in the business: Martin Gillet and Brandon Toombs. Both will both give you an independent viewpoint on what’s good (and bad) about these technologies.

Brandon’s session on “Guidelines and requirements for adapting to the HR Professional role UI” will definitely be one to check out for those interested in understanding what’s new for the HR Professional. The rest of his sessions are here.  You might also want to check out his blog series on SCN on comparing Employee Central and HR Renewal/SAP Fiori here: Blog 1 |  Blog 2

Martin’s session on “An A-to-Z guide to streamlining HR processes across desktop and mobile devices with SAP Fiori” will be another great session to understand how SAP Fiori fits into your overall desktop and mobile self service strategy. The rest of his sessions are here.

Less than two weeks to the conference, and will be great to see many of industry friends again.

If you are going, please drop by booth #410 where Worklogix will be exhibiting and say hello.

 

Best,

Jeremy

 

HR2015 – What You Want to Know at This Year’s SAP HR Conference

ESS, HR Renewal, HR2015, Mobility, MSS, SAP Fiori, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, Self Services, , , , , ,

Hello friends,

The HR event from SAPInsider is almost upon us.  Please visit the website to see more details on what’s scheduled. Please visit me at one of my sessions, or at booth #410 in the Exhibit Hall during the show.

HR2015
The Bellagio will host this year’s SAPInsider conference, HR2015

I just recorded a podcast with Ken Murphy, Features Editor for SAPinsider & insiderPROFILES, about the conference and some hot topics.  It was a great discussion with him, as we exchanged thoughts on HR Renewal, SAP Fiori, SAPUI5, user adoption, change management, security, and other big league topics. I will update this post once that podcast is released so you can have a listen.

For those customers preparing for the conference, this is what I could be curious to listen for during the conference:

  1. What are the latest innovations within the SAP HR space around SAP Fiori?  Will there be another wave of HR apps released? If so, when? How will SAPUI5 apps be expanded in the HR space, or will they?
  2. How will HR Renewal continue to innovate, in areas like SAPUI5 replacement (of Web Dynpro ABAP services), as well as a more intuitive navigation scheme? In my opinion, the current lane approach looks fresher than previous homepage layouts, but also can cause more challenges for user adoption. This is something that I will discuss at the conference.
  3. Will HR Renewal and SAP Fiori “merge forces”, or will we they continue to be deployed in separate releases, style sets, etc? It’s important that we hear from SAP on these roadmap items, especially after Vishal Sikka’s (relatively) recent exit.
  4. What’s the “portal of choice” now for customers? Or, is there even a frontrunner? Currently, we have SAP NetWeaver Portal, NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC), SAP Fiori Launchpad, SAP Fiori within SAP Portal,  and other 3rd party portals (SharePoint, WebSphere are top).  How do we navigate these options, and which one’s best for customers?
  5. What’s new in the HR Professional role? For this, I would attend my co-author Brandon Toombs‘ session “Guidelines and requirements for adapting to the HR Professional role UI”. Brandon is a force to be reckoned with on this topic.

Hope to see you at the show!

Jeremy

(you can follow me on Twitter @jeremymasters)