Bringing Together the Worlds of SAP and Microsoft Technology
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SAP and Microsoft Technology
Bringing Together the Worlds of SAP® and
Microsoft Technology
Table of Contents
4 Integrating People, Processes, and Systems
Across the Enterprise
5 A New Approach to Consumerize SAP Data
Through Microsoft Productivity Tools
8 Key Benefits for Users, Developers, and
Line-of-Business Owners
10 Getting Started and Realizing Value Quickly
12 Conclusion
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
SAP® Gateway technology for Microsoft provides a unified platform for integrating
Microsoft productivity tools such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, and other
Microsoft-based environments. Through the use of this development framework,
employees can work with critical business information stored in SAP® Business
Suite software, the SAP HANA® platform, the SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW)
application, and other SAP software in a low-cost, highly transparent, and secured
approach in a Microsoft environment.
THE CHANGING DEMANDS OF TODAY’S Normally, diverse and complex tasks demand
WORKFORCE access to information stored in multiple systems,
Today’s workforce is different in ways never governed by uncoordinated processes, and
before seen. Knowledge workers demand easy contained with multiple layers of security – all of
and transparent access to critical business which inhibit easy execution. Since knowledge
information to perform their jobs. This forces workers spend half their time on interactions,
decision makers to take responsibility for their research suggests that companies should first
own employee retention and the ease of essential explore the productivity barriers that impede
work environments.1 In addition, line-of-business these interactions.3 Common barriers may
owners must partner with IT to make work fun include a lack of clearly defined expectations
and easy for their employees. and outcomes, competing information sources,
and basic information accessibility issues such
With the convergence of this business dynamic, as a complex, nonnative user interface (UI).
referred to by Gartner as “consumerization of
information,”2 a consumer-based approach to In recent years, many companies have taken a
business computing provides business users hard look at the need to increase access to critical
with simple, enterprise-ready tools to get work business information that exists in back-end
done. Whether housed in on-premise, cloud, or systems across lines of business and functions.
mobile applications, business information must As a result of this analysis, some companies have
be accessed quickly while enabling workers found that there is a gap between information
to perform daily operational tasks in a secure, accessibility and use. In an ideal situation, all
easy-to-maintain manner across the entire workers should be directly connected to back-end
enterprise software landscape.
1. Joyce Gioia, “The Future of Workers,” The Herman Group.
2. Gartner Group, Research Note G00250698, “Use the Engagement Initiative to Respond to Critical Changes in the Workplace,”
August 21, 2013.
3. Ibid.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
2 / 12
SAP systems that allow them to access infor In response to this growing need, SAP has devel-
mation directly and quickly to execute processes oped a solution that provides an extended set of
efficiently. However, for most SAP customers, only tools and connectors that help create bidirectional
a small number of business users are directly communication between the SAP stack and
working on SAP systems, while the remaining Microsoft platforms in a secure, development-
user population accesses critical information friendly approach. SAP Gateway for Microsoft is
through unsupported third-party or home-built the latest enterprise-ready development tool that
integrations. Although this approach may provides smooth interoperability with Microsoft
address specific user needs in the customer productivity environments and is based on the
environment, an enterprise-ready and native architecture of SAP Gateway technology, which
integration option would provide lower overall already has more than 4,500 productive cus-
total cost of ownership (TCO) while achieving tomers. As a result, this single, unified, and fully
similar benefits. secured platform brings together SAP and
Microsoft environments in a model that enables
Considering that there are 1 billion Microsoft low-cost integration and highly secure data.
Office licenses worldwide,4 it is easy to see that
a typical SAP customer would have business This paper provides some background on SAP
access to Microsoft productivity tools, such as Gateway for Microsoft and the many advantages
Microsoft Office and Microsoft Project. In addi- it offers when integrating SAP and Microsoft
tion, these business users are increasing their productivity applications. Further, this paper
day-to-day consumption of business-critical features a number of business-case scenarios in
information through mobile and non-PC which the development tool can help an organi
channels – with more and more information zation realize ROI quickly and lower total cost of
consumed through smartphones and other development by using development templates
mobile devices.5 By 2015,most business users and streamlined .NET development flows that
will access critical information through mobile use Open Data Protocol (OData) capabilities.
and non-PC based applications versus PC-based
applications and UI modes.6 This predicted trend
further supports the need for broad integration
between enterprise data services offered by SAP
and commonly used productivity environments
such as Microsoft Office.
4. Microsoft Corporation, “Microsoft by the Numbers.”
5. “Research firm IDC suggests that global downloads of applications will exceed 75 billion by 2014, an increase of nearly
8x since 2010,” IDC Mobile Application Survey.
6. IDC Press Release, “Consumers Increasingly Using Mobile Devices as their Default Gateway,” 2012.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
3 / 12
Integrating People, Processes, and
Systems Across the Enterprise
When considering a number of heterogeneous Systems combined with information and used as
system approaches, it is important to balance inputs and outputs to tasks and processes
three critical elements across the work and Smooth interoperability between multiple
information landscape. technologies creates system agility. Balancing
the best of SAP and Microsoft technologies makes
People who perform work tasks it easier to access business-critical data through
Enabling people to work in their most natural clear work steps without introducing more
environment makes them more productive complexity with external third-party systems,
through the best possible user experience (UX). while helping to ensure enterprise security.
With Microsoft productivity applications, knowl-
edge workers have access to a uniform produc- Each of these elements is important when
tivity UX across its customer base. Therefore, considering the execution of work tasks in the
it is important to balance the availability of highly enterprise. Very often, integration is a complicated
accurate SAP information with Microsoft produc- patchwork of bolt-on solutions – which incurs
tivity applications. high costs and generates low productivity when
people, processes, and systems are not consid-
Processes used to complete work tasks ered. Oftentimes, redundant effort and creation of
Management can make timely, accurate, and inaccurate or misinterpreted information causes
actionable decisions with tightly integrated rework, skepticism, and anxiety in the workplace.
processes and data as a widely regarded, By using a balanced approach, new levels of
company-wide best practice. Enabling those effectiveness can be achieved in Microsoft
processes from SAP business systems and application environments when supported by
allowing work steps to be completed with SAP enterprise information.
Microsoft applications helps bring work and
processes together with critical business data.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
4 / 12
A New Approach to Consumerize SAP Data
Through Microsoft Productivity Tools
According to a number of informal polls conducted the .NET platform delivers a consistent UX and
by Microsoft Visual Studio forums, between 8 data flow for current Microsoft users. By applying
and 15 million developers around the world build the OData architecture supported by SAP
application services by using the .NET platform.7 Gateway for Microsoft, Microsoft developers can
The .NET platform is an integral component of access a variety of SAP data sources through an
the Microsoft Windows operating system for ADO.NET client layer and bring this information
building and running next-generation software into specific Microsoft application environments
applications and Web services.8 with sound governance and security. And all of
this is possible, even when developers have no or
By broadening the scope of its integration- limited knowledge about SAP data and structures.
product family across SAP Gateway technology,
Figure: Architecture of SAP Gateway for Microsoft, which supports a number of enterprise
readiness features
Microsoft Visual Studio (Developer Productivity)
Consumer Layer
Microsoft
.NET C# Microsoft
ASP.NET Office
applications Windows 8
2010/2013
SAP® Gateway for Microsoft
with ADO.NET Add-On
Governance (SAP Solution Manager)
Security (Identity Providers)
ADO.NET Server* ADO.NET Client
X509/ Enterprise Readiness Enterprise Readiness
SAML (Single Sign-On, (Single Sign-On,
OData4SAP* OData4SAP*
Lifecycle Management, Lifecycle Management,
and Supportability) and Supportability)
X509/
SAML SAP NetWeaver® Technology Platform
SAP Gateway
Business Systems
(Including SAP Business Suite, SAP HANA, and SAP BW)
*In planning stage
SAML = Security Assertion Markup Language
7. Various, including Microsoft Visual Studio blog, informal Microsoft responses on Quora based on early 2013 estimates.
8. Microsoft Corporation, .NET TechNet Library note.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
5 / 12
By enhancing the robust architecture of SAP •• Reduce cost of ownership: Overall TCO is
Gateway, SAP Gateway for Microsoft combined minimized by leveraging previously made
with ADO.NET provides a number of additional investments in both Microsoft and SAP soft-
features: ware technologies and skills and by reducing
•• Smooth integration: An enhancement of OData development costs.
developed by SAP allows bidirectional annota- •• Monitoring and supportability integration:
tions to data structures. Combined with addi- The SAP Solution Manager application manage-
tional extensions and development templates ment solution enables end-to-end tracing
accessed through Microsoft Visual Studio, devel- with a unique SAP object ID. The application
opers can tap into business-critical information management solution facilitates error tracking
from SAP software, such as the SAP HANA plat- and IT system audits, such as segregation of
form, the SAP BW application, and SAP Business duties for Sarbanes-Oxley and related gover-
Suite software. nance requirements.
•• Quick development: Once OData services are •• Flexible use scenarios: Development templates
exposed and discovered in Microsoft Visual for most common business scenarios and
Studio, developers can select an automated application environments – such as Microsoft
code generation feature to quickly provide Outlook and Microsoft Excel – ease the launch
enterprise-ready connectivity from Microsoft of productive scenarios.
productivity tools to SAP Data Services software.
•• Ease of business use: Solutions developed While SAP Gateway for Microsoft currently lever-
with SAP Gateway for Microsoft are deployed as ages the ADO.NET client protocol, future plans
add-ons to Microsoft productivity applications. include leveraging the ADO.NET server layer to
•• Secure user access and policy management: enable connectivity to cloud-based Microsoft
To help prepare the enterprise with single sign-on Office 365 or Microsoft Azure applications.
(SSO), SAP Gateway for Microsoft serves as a Backward compatibility exists for enterprises
conduit for secure data connectivity with SAP still taking advantage of Microsoft Office 2010
enterprise services, sophisticated data encryp- environments.
tion, centrally managed and integrated group
security polices, and X-CSRF token handling.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
6 / 12
With SAP data and developer templates stored SAP applications, will find that SAP Gateway for
in the Microsoft Visual Studio environment, Microsoft complements their Microsoft environ-
Microsoft development teams can quickly access ment. While Duet Enterprise continues to remain
critical data from an SAP source without the an excellent method for integrating Microsoft
need to learn SAP development skills, such as the SharePoint with SAP applications, SAP Gateway
ABAP® programming language. Development of for Microsoft allows for tighter integration of sce-
certain functions that normally take considerable nario and business processes across multiple
time can now be created with configuration Microsoft environments. SAP data is displayed,
options prior to generating code automatically. updated, created, and deleted based on the OData
For example, a developer may select specific services and SAP authorizations, directly from
forms to add as part of a workflow scenario – Microsoft productivity tools without having to log
choosing forms as an SAP service reference on separately to SAP business applications. In
through SAP Gateway. combination with this secure and unified platform
architecture, Microsoft users can use an SSO
Organizations that are currently using other ele- approach to access productivity applications that
ments of SAP Gateway technology, such as Duet® contain critical, SAP-based information.
Enterprise software for Microsoft SharePoint and
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
7 / 12Key Benefits for Users, Developers, and
Line-of-Business Owners
As part of a comprehensive integration approach •• High value-to-cost ratio when considering
for Microsoft applications, SAP Gateway for business-process enablement across multiple
Microsoft provides users of all areas critical Microsoft applications and SAP software.
advantages, such as: Line-of-business leaders of cost-center driven
•• A consistent UX and process-driven data flow organizations can decrease IT operating costs
from their Microsoft application environment. and increase user productivity – boosting
Without the need for training or development profitability.
of data queries, business users can focus on
executing tasks associated with their daily One of the quickest ways to realize value when
responsibilities. introducing new work, processes, and systems is
•• Use of the already-familiar Microsoft Visual the adoption of incremental benefits in an organi-
Studio environment – with SAP data exten- zation, where need is great and user levels would
sions and a built-in developer toolkit. This be high. Over the years, companies are allowing
capability enables .NET developers to create time for a proof of concept to introduce changes
solutions that integrate with the native SAP data in small, defined work communities to test a new
environment quickly and efficiently. And with approach to processes and systems before under-
development templates, this practice is further going an enterprise-wide implementation. SAP
accelerated. Because SAP Gateway for Microsoft Gateway for Microsoft helps companies scale up
auto-generates security features for quick con- from a proof of concept to a large-scale productive
nectivity to SAP Data Services, developers are implementation by providing enterprise-ready
no longer required to learn security and support- features such as SSO and supportability.
ability aspects of systems integration.
•• High-value benefits and low TCO by employing
a secure, integrated environment to replace
costly point-to-point solutions. IT manage-
ment can achieve additional ROI by reducing
maintenance costs when replacing complex
third-party or custom-built environments com-
monly used for integration solutions. Auditing
and legal requirements are fulfilled with greater
ease with built-in integration with SAP support-
ability and monitoring software, including SAP
Solution Manager and the system landscape
directory of the SAP NetWeaver® technology
platform.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
8 / 12In addition, SAP Gateway for Microsoft provides With the flexibility to facilitate these scenarios,
a number of development templates that cover SAP Gateway for Microsoft allows companies
common scenarios, including: with investments in both SAP business software
•• Contact – Oversee customer or vendor records and Microsoft applications to integrate their data
directly from Microsoft Outlook. together on one complete platform.
•• Calendar – Manage common calendar-based
scenarios, such as applications for leave
requests or time tracking.
•• Workflow – Expose any decision-making
workflows, such as approvals for purchase
orders or vacation leave.
•• Microsoft Excel – Manage mass data, including
multiline updates of SAP data directly from
Microsoft Excel.
•• Unlimited possibilities with custom scenarios –
Construct other applications by using OData
protocols in Microsoft Visual Studio to enable
enterprise requirements across Microsoft
productivity tools and SAP Data Services.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
9 / 12Getting Started and Realizing Value Quickly
The following scenarios are available with devel- steps. Each progression updates the given
opment templates provided by SAP Gateway for state of the purchase, vendor information, and
Microsoft. Additional extensions may be added approvals, which are then updated in the SAP
as feature customizations. vendor master record.
Purchasing optimization with contacts and Product data management through a develop-
workflow development templates ment tool based on Microsoft Excel
Vendor management enables teams to define Master-data information for products can change
daily activities such as meeting scheduling and quite frequently. Updating one product can easily
contact management, while operating in an be done. But when prices go up, descriptions
enterprise-wide environment. With this scenario, have to be altered or other changes are required,
business users access critical vendor information, which impact all products. As a result, it is possible
schedule interactions, and record notes based that thousands of lines of data would need to be
on these interactions. All of this information updated. This also includes customer-facing
can be stored offline and online in a central online product catalogs, as well as supplier-facing
SAP data repository. requirements for components and subassemblies.
In addition, product development groups often
Team members who access Microsoft Outlook use Microsoft Excel to locally update bills of mate-
can quickly identify vendors, contact groups, and rials (BOMs), which can then become an engineer-
other information stored in the vendor record. ing BOM, manufacturing BOM, and service BOM
Users can pull vendor contact information directly by pulling from the product data master and the
from SAP software into Microsoft Outlook and material data master records.
make it available online and offline in real time.
This avoids the cost and confusion of maintaining Combining relevant SAP data with Microsoft
separate contact lists in personal Microsoft Excel allows end users to work on the data by
Outlook .ost files, which are traditionally migrated, using a spreadsheet. Standard Microsoft Excel
cleansed, and stored in vendor databases. When functionality – such as formulas, sorting, filter,
vendor information changes or a new contact is and auto-fill – can be applied to the data. Plus,
added, the contacts database located in an SAP SAP-specific functions – including data-type
back-end system is updated directly by Microsoft validation, the Help Value drop-down function
Outlook. By using Microsoft Outlook tasks to within the SAP system, and conflict resolution –
facilitate workflow integration, purchasing teams enable multiple people to work on the same
can manage vendor contract documents, approv- set of data at the same time.
als, and other basic contracting and fulfillment
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
10 / 12In a software landscape that includes SAP maintenance or working on a repair creates
Gateway for Microsoft, OData commands can the imperative to manage capital and human
map specific SAP part and material master data resources. The SAP Plant Maintenance Rapid Mart
and information from other Microsoft Excel package gives workers the ability to schedule
sources without the need for integrating third- equipment downtime and assign resources
party business intelligence solutions. By having to maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO)
the ability to quickly upload product and material activities.
data chances, engineering teams can help ensure
engineering, manufacturing, and service BOMs Schedulers can use the Microsoft Outlook calen-
are correct with the SAP data source. This dar with enterprise-ready commands found in
enables users to avoid waiting for planned engi- SAP Gateway for Microsoft to define the start
neering review cycles and to proactively alert and end times of maintenance and repair activi-
manufacturing areas to necessary machinery ties. The calendar item can also incorporate con-
and tooling changes as new part changes are tacts found in Microsoft Outlook to publish an
logged within the SAP system through the event of the activity. Using a Microsoft Outlook
SAP Production Planning Rapid Mart package. task, approval workflows for the MRO activity
Planned updates and revisions can be entered can then be delivered to plant management
by using Microsoft Excel. and service departments for final sign-off. Once
approved, the scheduled MRO activity is then
Plant maintenance and repair by using calendar, updated within SAP Plant Maintenance Rapid
contacts, and development-workflow templates Mart. This process shortens the scheduling cycle
Plant maintenance activities are regularly and allows plant maintenance teams to focus on
scheduled events across industries, such as maintaining equipment and gathering necessary
manufacturing and utilities. Proactively scheduling personnel to complete MRO activities.
© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
11 / 12Conclusion
High-performing companies that understand
the value of supporting knowledge-worker
environments with intuitive, enterprise-ready
systems and processes can achieve a competitive
advantage by operating in a more focused,
regimented manner. By bringing together the
power and accuracy of real-time critical informa-
tion from SAP with the familiarity of Microsoft
productivity tools, organizations can build the
workplace of tomorrow while applying existing
in-house development skills and IT investments.
For more information about SAP Gateway
for Microsoft, visit
www.sap.com/interoperability-microsoft.
Studio SAP | 29423enUS (14/05) © 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
12 / 12© 2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. Please see http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices. Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. National product specifications may vary. These materials are provided by SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP AG or its affiliated companies shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP AG or SAP affiliate company products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. In particular, SAP AG or its affiliated companies have no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this document or any related presentation, or to develop or release any functionality mentioned therein. This document, or any related presentation, and SAP AG’s or its affiliated companies’ strategy and possible future developments, products, and/or platform directions and functionality are all subject to change and may be changed by SAP AG or its affiliated companies at any time for any reason without notice. The information in this document is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates, and they should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.
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