A SAPUI5-based program called the SAP Fiori launchpad acts as an application container (sometimes called a shell) for a number of SAP Fiori apps. It acts as a gateway to all of these application types and related analytical insights, which can be viewed or accessed on a variety of devices, using an adaptive design paradigm, as shown in the diagram. In addition to the shell that provides access to apps and insights, the SAP Fiori launchpad also offers features like navigation, customization, embedded help, bookmarking, app setup, alarms, usage analytics, and user information.
Tiles and links on the launchpad are used to launch the appropriate applications inside the launchpad shell and provide access to a variety of apps and analytical insights. The diagram below displays the first row of tiles (for example, Manage Sales Orders, Track Sales Orders) and the second row of links (for example, Create Sales Order, Sales Order Fulfillment).
The SAP Fiori launchpad shows a tiled homepage. Each tile represents a business application that may be launched by users. The launchpad is role-based, with apps categorized according to the user’s needs and only those programs that the user has access to appearing in his launchpad.
Each app represents a single action for a single job. This is a trend away from monolithic solutions and toward activity-based applications and role-based business process simplification. The Launchpad’s features include notifications, alert tiles, app finder, corporate search, and app finder. Fiori apps are produced using SAP UI5, a JavaScript application framework.
Depending on their responsibilities and customizations, each user sees the SAP Fiori launchpad in a unique way. These roles frequently follow the principles of segregation of duties (SoD); as a result, they resemble job descriptions for staff members, managers, or customers in an organization and only include the details required for the user to carry out their regular duties. Let’s examine the function of the SAP Fiori Launchpad, as well as its numerous versions and key elements.
The Functions of Fiori Launchpad
The Fiori launchpad was a single entry point option for accessing a single product (or a couple of related products, such as SAP ERP and SAP SRM, both of which are based on SAP NetWeaver) before it evolved into a central entry point choice with a drive to integrate numerous cross-products. The SAP Launchpad can be used as a shell to share pre-configured SAP Fiori Launchpad content and roles, in addition to enabling you to launch and access many UIs from a single location.
From all of the SAP Fiori business process coverage that a user may access from a user perspective, the launchpad frequently serves as a starting point.
It shows a range of application tiles and connections on tiles, as well as analytical data in the form of counters, graphs, and charts showing key performance indicators (KPIs). Before moving on to the object-level transaction to perform operations on business objects, users often obtain domain-specific information and actions via an analytical or drill-down-based app.
Suite for SAP Fiori and HANA
The traditional databases’ bottleneck in data movement from disk to the CPU has been removed by SAP’s creation of HANA, an in-memory, high-performance database. Running on many terabytes of memory helps SAP HANA save money. As a result, accessing apps using SAP HANA is no longer a problem.
Taking advantage of HANA’s efficiency, SAP Fiori for Suite on HANA enables the execution of complex analytical processes, such as predictive analysis, in real time and the immediate retrieval of data. The switch to SAP HANA has no effect on the fundamental system functions in the SAP Fiori system landscape.
The Fiori launchpad in a client still connects to the FES using the SAP Web Dispatcher. The BES’s capabilities have altered when it became a SAP Business Suite on HANA. Now, a Suite on HANA (SoH) provides Fiori search on back-end data along with analytical and fact sheet apps in addition to standard and transactional apps. Along with Suite on HANA, HANA enterprise search is accessible on the SAP launchpad.
The SAP Launchpad variant
The SAP Fiori launchpad can be utilized with the SAP Business Suite or SAP S/4HANA (On-premise Solutions). This version of the Fiori launchpad is deployed on a SAP NetWeaver for ABAP platform as a part of the SAP UI component and is typically launched by Transaction/UI2/FLP from the appropriate client or by a launchpad URL provided by system management.
In most cases, the launchpad registers OData services with an SAP Gateway frontend component (IWFND-Information Worker Foundation) and then uses the business enablement provisioning (IWBEP) component to consume the data services. A SAPUI5-based application called the Launchpad only employs a small number of OData services.
Users can be assigned material from the launchpad using the transaction PFCG role assignments. There is also access to information on the Fiori launchpad. Using Transaction PFCG role assignments, users are given access to SAP launchpad content. Additionally, to produce content for the launchpad, technologies like the launchpad designer and content management system are needed.
Launchpad for SAP Enterprise Portal
The Fiori launchpad experience within the SAP Enterprise Portal environment is provided by this version of the launchpad, which is based on a multichannel portal framework page (also known as the SAP Fiori framework page). The SAP Enterprise Portal role concepts and content directory structure are used to manage and model the content of the Fiori launchpad.
Launchpad for SAP Fiori via the SAP Launchpad service on the SAP BTP
This version of the SAP launchpad is made available by the SAP BTP (previously known as SAP Cloud Platform), which can be accessed by entering a site URL given to you by the system administrators. Site Manager is used to model the launchpad content, which is then distributed to users via SAP BTP roles.