When I worked in the SAP Regional Implementation Group (RIG - also known as CSA), I wrote 2 blogs - one for
Business Planning & Consolidation (BPC) and one for Profitability & Cost Management (PCM) - about topics that people in the field are interested in; such as product roadmaps, live customer references, demos, performance, how-to-guides, training and SAP's ramp-up program.
Now that I am a Product Manager for the SAP Mobile Platform, I decided to publish a similar blog for Mobile but with an extended table of contents covering
- Product Roadmaps
- Customer references and video testimonials
- Product Demos
- Performance and sizing
- SAP Mobile Academy
- Documentation, Tutorial Videos, How-to Guides, Whitepapers, Tips & Tricks
- SAP TechEd Mobile session recordings
- Training
- Ramp-up, General Availability (GA) & end-of-life information
- Licensing
- Mobile apps catalog
- Analyst reports
- Software and SDK downloads
- Developer and Partner programs (including costs)
- Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS) for Mobile
So, if you are interested in any of these items, read on... and click on any of the images to enlarge them...
Product Roadmaps
Public roadmaps for all products including the SAP Mobile Platform, Afaria and Gateway can be found at http://service.sap.com/roadmap -> Database & Technology.
It is also worth checking out Sanjay Poonen's blog about his vision for mobility and the SAP Mobile - Apple of the Enterprise blog to get an overview of SAP's mobile ambitions.
Carolyn Fitton posted the mobile platform videos in her blog "3 for 1: SAP Mobile Platform Meets 3 Different User Group Requirements" which provide a great overview of the value of the mobile platform.
The SAP Mobile Channel channel on YouTube contains more videos about where SAP is going http://www.youtube.com/user/SAPEnterpriseMobile
Customer references and video testimonials
You can find many customer case studies and references online. There are over 50 mobile customer reference brochures and videos by region, country and customer size at http://www.sap.com/customer-testimonials/technology/mobility-platform.epx
You find even more SAP Mobile customer videos on youtube:
Product Demos
There are over 50 recorded mobile demos on youtube:
Find a demo of the SAP Mobile Platform in the cloud in the Enterprise Mobility keynote at minute 44:01.
But rather than just watching videos of mobile apps, you can actually download apps from the SAP store at http://store.sap.com/mobile and test-drive the apps yourself on your own mobile device:
Performance and sizing
Performance and sizing information can be found in the usual spot: http://service.sap.com/sizing
Note: you can find links to this sizing guide on SCN along with performance and architecture whitepapers: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-8803#section24 and don't forget to check out How-To: Sizing Questionnaire for the Sybase Unwired Platform 2.1
Also, check out the official mobile platform documentation in particular the SUP 2.2 documentation. There are sections devoted to landscape design, clustering and load balancing - all topics relevant to performance and sizing of your mobile solution:
SAP Mobile Academy
Check out the Mobile Academy http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-36054 - modeled after the famous Khan Academy. It contains a great collection of educational videos on various topics including HTML5 mobile apps, Native Apps, OData, Afaria.
Documentation, Tutorial Videos, How-to Guides, Whitepapers, Tips & Tricks
There is a ton of information out there about best practices for mobile. So here is an overview of where to find what:
- Standard documentation for the platform: SUP documentation. learn how to provide feedback to the documentation team by watching this video: Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) Documentation: Providing Feedback
- Platform tutorials: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-8803 including
- How-to-guides page: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-27886 for SUP, Afaria and Gateway:
- The mobile community: http://scn.sap.com/community/mobile is a great place to share and post blogs and questions
- The developer community: SAP Mobile Developer Center on SDN provides a 30 day free trail of SUP as well as access to your own SUP server on Amazon Web Services. You can download the Platform SDK here and access developer tutorials.
- Business Best Practice Whitepapers e.g., for how to set up a Mobile Center of Excellence are available here
- Sylvana Chang host a webcast series discussing many mobile related topics: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-29195. Register or view replays here
SAP TechEd Mobile session recordings
You can find the SAP TechEd recordings and virtual sessions online.
Here are the direct links to the SAP Mobile sessions:
| Avoiding Design Errors and Improving User Experience for Mobile Apps In this session, we will share examples of real and already in the market applications that have been reviewed by internal and external experts. We will take attendees through the most common mobile design chal... |
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| Best Practices for Designing and Developing Custom Mobile Applications In this session, we will explain how to avoid common pitfalls when developing mobile enterprise applications. We will cover how Sybase Unwired Platform and SAP enable development of data-rich applications easie... |
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| CD104 (2010 Session) - SAP Mobile Strategy The time for mobility is now. Join us to learn more about SAP's mobile strategy covering all aspects of mobilizing SAP data, processes, and analytics to all user types, inside and outside your company. |
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| CD108 (2010 Session) - Accelerating Consumption for Networked and Mobile Solutions Through Project 'Gateway' Project "Gateway" enables UI-centric consumption of SAP Business Suite data by popular devices or platforms in an easy and standards-based fashion. Join us to get more information about Project "Gateway" and ho... |
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| CD121 (2010 Session) - An Overview of Sybase Mobility Solutions for SAP Mobility has infiltrated the enterprise, gaining ever-increasing access to enterprise systems and data and spawning increased mobile application development. Historically, adoption has been tactical, with scatt... |
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| CD123 (2010 Session) - The Device Challenge: Selecting the Right Mobile Devices for Your Enterprise With today's global companies and the mix of corporate and personally-liable devices (including iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia and OMA DM) - managing mobility can become quite complex.... |
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| Developing Online Mobile Applications with Sybase Unwired Platform Online mobile applications enable Information workers to consume backend data in a real time fashion. In this session, attendees will learn how online mobile applications consume data from any Odata source via ... |
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| Developing Synchronized Mobile Apps with Sybase Unwired Platform Synchronized mobile application enables process workers to work in mission-critical environments and have access to the needed data on their mobile devices anywhere, at any time. We will take attendees through ... |
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| MOB100: Unwiring Your Enterprise with an SAP Mobile Platform Overview session relating to what SAP mobile means. The attendees leaving this session should have a good understanding of which other mobile-related sessions are relevant to them and what they can learn in the... |
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| MOB110: Developing Synchronized Mobile Applications This session will explain when to use mobile business objects (MBO) based synchronized mobile applications and how to build those applications. The challenges of building a mobile business object as well as lev... |
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| MOB120: Simple Code Free Mobile Application Development with the Mobile Hybrid Web Container This session will explain how to build a mobile application within minutes without writing one single line of code leveraging the mobile Hybrid Web Container and the modeling capabilities of the software develo... |
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| MOB130: Enabling Business Suite with SAP NetWeaver Gateway, example Sybase Unwired Platform In this session you will learn how to develop services for the SAP Business Suite, using SAP NetWeaver Gateway, that can be leveraged for mobile consumption using the Sybase Unwired Platform. |
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| MOB160: Developing Cross-Platform Mobile Apps with Sybase Unwired Platform: Hands-On Session This hands on session will teach you how to build cross-platform mobile applications with the hybrid Web container (HWC). During this session, you will be provided with an overview of the HWC architecture. You ... |
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| MOB200: Enterprise Mobility Strategy, Architecture, and Technology Roadmap This session will help customers, IT managers, and developers understand the need and requirements of enterprise mobility and how a mobility platform helps them with TCD and TCO for rolling out enterprise mobil... |
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| MOB230: Developing Simple Mobile Applications Using OData for SAP In this session you will learn how to develop mobile applications, using the SAP Unwired Platform, that are leveraging OData-based services published through SAP NetWeaver Gateway. |
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| MOB240: Managing Mobile Devices in the Enterprise Mobility introduces new complexities to managing both in-house and publicly available applications as well as the device lifecycle itself. This session will discuss best practices for managing mobile devices an... |
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| MOB260: Building Online Mobile Apps with Sybase Unwired Platform: Hands-On Session In this hands-on session, attendees will learn how to develop a Sybase Unwired Platform online mobile application enabling consumption of data from the SAP Business Suite via SAP NetWeaver Gateway. We will teac... |
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| MOB262: Building Synchronized Mobile Apps with Sybase Unwired Platform: Hands-On Session In this hands-on session, attendees will learn how to develop a Sybase Unwired Platform synchronized mobile application enabling consumption of data from SAP business and other data sources. We will teach how t... |
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| Unwiring Your Enterprise with SAP Mobile Platform This session will provide an overview and explain the SAP mobile platform and its evolution. We will share our experience on what challenges enterprises are facing when enabling mobile and how the SAP mobile pl... |
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Training
Training courses are available at https://training.sap.com/us/en/courses-and-curricula/sybase
Courses include:
Courses include:
- Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) for Developers
- Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) for Administrators
- Sybase Afaria for Administrators
- Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP) for Architects
Ramp-up, General Availability (GA) & end-of-life information
We get a lot of questions around ramp-up dates, availability of products, software dependencies etc. The product availability matrix (PAM) answers these questions: http://service.sap.com/pam
Info on supported hardware and software can be found by clicking on the "Technical Release Information" tab in the PAM or by following the link to the official documentation.
To see what ramp-up programs are available and to sign up for ramp-up check out http://service.sap.com/rampup . From here, you can fill out the online scoping document for your company (provided you have the authority to sign your company up for ramp up):
Ramp-Up knowledge transfer material can be found at http://service.sap.com/rkt-mobile
Up to here we covered for SAP Mobile what I covered before for BPC and PCM. Now let's get into the bonus items:
Licensing
Licensing is usually handled by the SAP Account Executive assigned to you as a customer - so we cannot give any specifics here but nevertheless there is some useful information available publicly.
Sharon Ruddock wrote a great blog about Demystifying SAP Mobile licensing - it provides you a good overview of how mobile solutions are licensed.
The aforementioned SAP store at http://store.sap.com/mobile contains app list prices as well:
Also, check out the following presentation How-To: Install the SUP License. It provides an overview of the technical steps to install the sysam license.
Mobile apps catalog
A common question is: what SAP mobile app are out there? What partner apps. The easiest answer is: browse the SAP store at http://store.sap.com/mobile.
Not only can you check out the apps there, but you can download a trail, too.
If you don't want to browse the app store, check out this list the SAP productivity apps
For an overview of the SAP mobile products, refer to the mobile solution index.
Analyst reports
SAP provides access to the analyst reports describing the different mobile vendors - SAP and the competitors.
Especially the Gartner Magic Quadrant is a highly sought after report
Software and SDK downloads
We get questions about where to find software downloads. There are 3 spaces:
- SAP service market place for platform and server installs
- The developer community for SDKs and trails (see above)
- The SAP store for mobile apps (see above)
To make things easy, here are a couple of direct links.
To download the SAP mobile platform products go to http://service.sap.com/swdc -> Installations and Upgrades -> Browse our Download Catalog -> Sybase Products. There you find all the platforms listed.
Direct links for SUP and Afaria are (won't work for you before GA if you are not part of ramp-up):
- SYBASE UNWIRED PLATFORM 2.2 - Installation & Upgrade
- SYBASE UNWIRED PLATFORM 2.2 - Support Packages & Patches
- SYBASE AFARIA 7.0 - Installation & Upgrade
- SYBASE AFARIA 7.0 - Support Packages & Patches
You can find all direct download links for any SAP product in the PAM - http://service.sap.com/pam - Software Download tab:
Download the following items here:
- Download SAP Mobile Platform SDK - Developer Edition
- Free 30-day SUP trail
- Your SUP server on Amazon
- 14-day free Afaria trial
Developer and Partner programs (including costs)
Another question we hear a lot is about how developer and partner programs work and what associated costs are.
There are 2 programs:
- The aforementioned developer center that gives you access to SDKs, tutorials and trails: http://scn.sap.com/community/developer-center/mobility-platform
- The partner program allowing partners to build on our platform and to monetize their apps https://www.sapmobileappspartnercenter.com/
The developer program offers free software trials (see above), but the partner program which allows you to monetize you applications using SAP's global reach via the SAP store does have some fees associated with it: https://www.sapmobileappspartnercenter.com/pdf/Mobile_Platform_Partner_Fact_Sheet.pdf
For more details on partner and developer program check out the associated FAQs:
- Developer Getting started FAQ: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-28279
- Developer Programs FAQ: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-30420
- Partner Program FAQ: https://www.sapmobileappspartnercenter.com/pages/faq.html
Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS) for Mobile
In order to accelerate the deployment of our mobile solutions and to achieve go-lives in weeks or months vs years, SAP offers Rapid Deployment Solutions:
SAP Afaria rapid-deployment solution
Centralize and secure your mobile assets: data, devices, and applications.
With this solution, you can affordably manage and protect these assets during
each stage of operation: provisioning, production, and decommissioning.
SAP Mobile Analytics Visualization rapid-deployment solution
Give your developers the tools, knowledge, and best practices they need to
easily create stunning data visualization mobile apps – for decision-ready
insights – with this rapid-deployment solution.
SAP Mobile Apps and Infrastructure rapid-deployment solution
Increase employee efficiency with our affordable solution for mobile apps and
infrastructure. Take advantage of productivity apps, a mobile application
development platform, and centralized device management and security.
Sybase Unwired Platform rapid-deployment solution
Enable your mobile users to securely access data stored on back-end systems
from any type of mobile device. This software-and-service solution combines
preconfigured content and deployment accelerators to help you centrally develop,
manage, and update mobility apps.
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