SAP ReX – which skills are required to implement SAP Retail Execution?

[SergioFerrari]

As anticipated in the previous blog "SAP ReX - first customer went live with SAP Retail Execution" here I am to tell something more about the skills required to implement SAP Retail Execution.

For my experience, the implementation of SAP ReX is still demanding for skills offered since years by the good SAP professionals.

After downloading SAP ReX for the first time, I have been a bit scared by this new kind of software. It’s very nice and powerful and I immediately figured out it requires lot of different types of business objects like Customers, UoM, Prices, reject Reasons,  Journals, Surveys, Relationships.

Aware SAP ReX is an iOS native MBO-based App based on Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP), I thought I had to improve my knowledge about Objective-C to understand and enhance the User Interaction and about the SUP MBO modeling to maybe add custom fields or specify integration rules and new mappings.

I've never been so wrong! :???:

System Administration

For sure there is lot of work for SAP System Administrations also known as SAP Basis Consultants.

They have to learn everything about SUP including the crucial setup of the Relay Server.

They can already plan to spend lot of hours configuring SSO between any piece of software you can image.

For the luckiest there is also the opportunity to learn Afaria the Mobile Device Management magic piece of software any enterprise should implement as soon as possible to configure and support the mobile devices.

Objective-C developers

It’s really a pity but I think due to licenses agreements with Apple, SAP ReX Objective-C source code is not public and SAP will provide it to customers only in exceptional case that was not mine.

If you’re interested, check out OSS note 1707148 - SAP Retail Execution (iOS source code).

Thus, my knowledge about Objective-C can wait.

SUP developers

Unfortunately I had no access to the SUP package that in any case is not intended to be modified at all.

Here, my knowledge about SUP MBO modeling has not been very useful.

SAP CRM consultants

Soon tt became clear that SAP ReX is so flexible and integrated with SAP back-ends that yes, SAP CRM is the most relevant skill-set.

60% of the implementation tasks happen here.

SAP ReX expects Merchandisers as Employees related to Business Partners. It downloads Products from Listings. SAP ReX Visits are a set of Activities hierarchically linked in a unique way (Parent –> Childs).

SAP ECC consultants

I told that 60% of the implementation tasks follow in the area of SAP CRM to leave 40% for SAP ECC.

Sales Orders including pricing are completely managed in SAP ECC that has to be configured to accept documents coming from the new technical channel managed by SUP.

ABAP developers

Both in the SAP ReX plug-ins in SAP ECC and SAP CRM there are tons of BADi that may be useful for example to set the Order reason when posting Sales Orders but also to influence Pricing download or enhance update logic for Contact Persons.

A big surprise is that via BADI it's even possible to add fields to the SAP ReX pages that are presented by the App in the iPhone.

When a BADi is not available, don’t worry and look for the best point to for an implicit Enhancement Spot.

I know you don't believe me but it's still time for ABAP developers. :wink: