SAP/SUP recommend landspace

[joao_sousa2]

I'm having really trouble understanding what is the correct landscape to use in a Sybase/SAP environment (I don't really care about other scenario, just SAP + SUP), and I don't believe I'm alone. SAP seems to change things in each support package since 2.0, even ESD seem to contain substantial changes.

Consider a mobile sales force automation application with offline capabilities. I have multiple questions:

• Is DOE required? If so, why?
• Do we use MBOs with DOE?
• Is Gateway required?
• Are they compatible?
• When they talk about Gateway, they say it removes the need to manually create MBO, but do they still exist?
• DOE is a netweaver mobile component correct? They use the term "SUP DOE", and when I read it, I get pretty confused about what they are talking about?

I've been reading this whitepaper: http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/c0db38c6-0e86-2f10-7482-d80cf09ee... and it has left me even more confused then I was before reading it...

I had SUP 1.5 training and by now I find it was completely useless as SAP changes everything upside down in every release (even minor ones). With so many components, and comparing to the simplicity of custom web services approach, I wonder how anyone can actually sell this to a customer.

SAP needs to streamline this fast.

[hofmann · Accepted solution]

Maybe I can help a little.

• DOE is required for BAPI access from SUP as it is used for the sync of the data. That comes from the time when Sybase was only a SAP partner and SAP enforced partners to use DOE for mobile (offline) applications
• MBOs represent your data you will work on. When you choose to use a web service, you'll still have an MBO. MBO can be seen a set of scripts for the SUP server for setting up the CDB, connections, etc and a set of APIs for your mobile application
• Gateway is not required. Gateway allows for synchronized access to your ABAP system, as with Gateway you'll develop using the OData SDK (no offline capability). So, SUP and Gateway are complementary
• DOE is from SAP MI. I believe SAP renamed it to SUP DOE to hide the fact that you still will use SAP MI (that does not have the best reputation)

You are right, SAP/Sybase are changing the SUP product really fast, specially when you are used to the speed of innovation SAP applies to ECC/NetWeaver. I don't think this will stop very soon as the mobile market is just evolving very fast. Thats good and bad at the same time.

[joao_sousa2 · Accepted solution]

• And yet SAP is not clear in the documentation. Some documents say you can access the BAPIs directly, and most demos show this. I haven't seen a single demo using DOE ...
• MBO fill the cache, but then I can use bulk refresh to compensate for the absense of delta mechanisms or I'm wrong?;
• Gateway is not mandatory yet SAP removed direct connection to SAP in their white paper which makes things really confusing.....
• I understand the reasoning, SAP MI has a very bad rep, but it's even worse to call SUP DOE to something that is Netweaver based;

I think SAP is changing too fast for partners and for customers. Aquisitions like Syclo which aren't explained and cause client confusion. I have had clients say that they are postponing mobile investments until the "SAP landscape" becomes more stable.

The market is evolving, but SAP doesn't seem to have a clear roadmap. Clientes (and partners) need to understand which products to use, and SAP is messing things up.

And honestly, I can make a custom sales force automation solution, which connects directly to the ERP, with full deltas and little load on the central system. It's not rocket science, and it's so much simpler. Yes, you lose device provisioning and control, but the alternative is installing a completly absurd landscape with SUP + Gateway + ERP....

[masa_139]

If you are talking about SAP CRM Sales mobile application. Followings are required.

+ CRM backend server + CRM Sales add-on

+ SAP NetWeaver Mobile 7.1 + Gateway 1.1 to NetWeaver Mobile add-on = people call it DOE

+ SUP 2.1.* + Sybase SAP Connector add-on

+ SAP CRM Sales 2.0 mobile application.

See more details in http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-26601

If you are talking about custom application, there are several ways to implement.

Please note that "Gateway 1.1 to NetWeaver Mobile add-on" and "SAP NetWeaver Gateway" are completely different software components.

[hofmann]

Right, for every specific solution like CRM its not just SUP and maybe Gateway, you also have to check what the product needs in your SAP system. For CRM Sales mobile you need a SAP CRM system and for mobile apps that need HCM you also have to check what HCM functionality is needed. Depending on the requirement you'll have to upgrade your backend and/or active a business function.

As if SAP wasn't already complicated enough 🙂

[joao_sousa2]

No, I was really talking about a more generic development. I really don't think those SAP solutions are up-to-par with market requirements, especially when they require so much software/hardware.

[joao_sousa2]

Does anyone actually use the SAP Mobile CRM application in a production environment?

I sincerely believe that when it comes to mobile one solution doesn't fit all.

[masa_139]

For Mobile Development Platform, "SUP" is the mobile platform from SAP.

http://www.sap.com/solutions/technology/enterprise-mobility/resources/mobile-gartner-report.epx

[joao_sousa2]

Right now the "SAP Mobile Platform" is not restricted to SUP. Like people stated in the this thread, you have SUP, Gateway, SUP DOE (which is actually SAP MI), so it's a little bit more complicated than that.

Saying that SUP is the mobile plataform is marketing. The reality is not so simple.

[Former Member]

Dear Joao:

  I've read your replies and I also build a demo environment for testing. Now the data can be downloaded from CRM IDES. But I have a question that I find if I want to see other data which is not created by my account, I can't see. I created an OSS for this issue and they replied the data will combined by account.

  According for this reason, if a department leader wants to see the data, such as contracts, he will not see because the contracts are not created by his account. The replier says that I should create a new distribution model for different purpose.

  Do you face this issue??

BR.

Arthur