Considering What is Required to Setup Fiori
Executive Summary
- SAP makes it seems as if Fiori is very easy to set up or even works “out of the box,” however, Fiori must be set up for it to be used.
- What is critical to understand about Fiori and moving past the fantasy of Fiori.
Video Introduction: Setting Up Fiori
Text Introduction (Skip if You Watched the Video)
How easy is Fiori to set up and use? SAP tries to sidestep the effort involved in setting up Fiori, and Fiori is the only user interface for an application we have ever seen that does not ship “out of the box” but requires a special setup. SAP consulting firms also hide the effort involved in setting up Fiori as they want to obtain implementation business and they pick up the Fiori implementation work. You will see some informed quotes from a reliable source on this topic and how much work it is to set up Fiori.
Our References for This Article
If you want to see our references for this article and other related Brightwork articles, see this link.
Notice of Lack of Financial Bias: We have no financial ties to SAP or any other entity mentioned in this article.
The History of Fiori
When SAP’s Fiori was first released, it was actually a charged product by SAP. After customers pushed back on SAP, SAP switched Fiori to being free. However, the catch was that SAP stopped producing Fiori apps that would work with AnyDB. Therefore, Fiori was used as an enticement to purchase HANA….even though there was no technical reason for Fiori to be restricted in this way.
What Fiori Is
- Fiori is a critical component of SAP’s overall S/4HANA strategy.
- Fiori is often explained as a replacement for SAPGUI, the user interface used throughout the SAP suite.
- Fiori is one of the linchpins to understanding the value proposition of SAP applications like S/4HANA, and it is an integral part of SAP’s overall messaging on S/4HANA.
- Hasso Plattner has repeatedly said that Fiori is the future of the SAP user interface.
However, many issues are unknown, or at least unknown, about Fiori.
This article will cover many of these areas, including the following:
- What is Fiori?
- The SAP GUI
- The Fiori Marketing Message
- The Critical Things to Understand About Fiori
- Moving Past the Fantasy of Fiori
- Is Fiori an Out of the Box Replacement for SAP GUI?
What are the SAP Fiori Apps?
The first question to answer is what Fiori is. However, this issue cannot be solved by the information provided by SAP. A very high percentage of people who work in SAP and SAP sales don’t understand what Fiori is themselves, not in detail. It is unclear how much SAP has shared with account executives on the topic of Fiori. But upon performing this research, it became apparent that Fiori’s real story is not what is expressed in the market. When it comes to getting consultants with knowledge of the SAP Fiori Apps, very few have ever used Fiori, which is a shallow well of information.
This article will frequently refer to something called the SAP GUI. Those that are new to the topic or who are not familiar with the term, the SAP GUI, or SAP Graphical User Interface, is the standard user interface that SAP uses with almost all of its applications.
Here is an example of the SAP GUI, something that will be instantly recognizable to those that have used or at least seen SAP.
Unappealing right? Well, it is worse than it looks. The SAP GUI has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult to use and taking a lot of time to accomplish things. I use both SAP and other applications. When I compare the amount of time required to do any task, it always takes me longer in SAP. That has been true since I started using SAP in 1997.
History of the SAP GUI
The SAP GUI goes back decades, and while it has been significantly enhanced during this time, it is based on a design that goes back to 1992 and predates the web interfaces that are becoming so popular with SaaS vendors.
SAP takes a lot of criticism for SAP GUI. Hasso Plattner was blunt interviews on Fiori’s topic in saying that customers had told SAP that the SAP UI “sucks.”
SAP often presents what appears to be excellent Fiori screens.
The SAP Fiori Apps Marking Message
Fiori is indeed a nice looking set of apps, and the app quality is considered high by those that specialize in app development. However, SAP’s marketing message is that the bad old days are gone, and that SAP GUI is no longer a problem because Fiori will replace SAP GUI completely. That is not true, as I will cover in detail in this article. But it is also certainly not true currently because 99.9% of the planet is still using the SAP GUI when they use SAP. Therefore, SAP GUI is still very much a problem for user productivity and system uptake.
SAP also states that Fiori is a universal new user interface that works equally well on a computer or a mobile device (hence the picture above). I can’t find the exact quote, but I do recall Hasso saying that primarily now, SAP had the best user interface in enterprise software. Implying that it “is” rather than “will be” or “might be.” So Fiori has been and is being used to motivate or sell customers on to moving to S/4HANA. But there is some deliberate confusion being generated by Hasso as to how broadly Fiori can be expected to be used.
The Catch
Now, for those who have read my previous articles on HANA and new SAP products based upon HANA, you might be thinking that there is a catch to what I just wrote above. And you would be right. However, before we get to that, let us move on to discussing what makes up Fiori technically.
Fiori is a nice looking set of apps, and the app quality is considered high by those that specialize in app development and those we interviewed for this story. SAP’s marketing message is that the bad old days are gone and that SAP GUI is no longer a problem because Fiori is mostly going to replace SAP GUI completely.
SAP also states that Fiori is a universal new user interface that works equally well on a computer or a mobile device (hence the picture above). I can’t find the exact quote, but I recall Hasso saying that mainly now SAP had the best user interface in enterprise software. I looked for this quote online and could not find it. But I am sure that I recall reading Hasso say this.
So Fiori has been and is being used to motivate or sell customers to moving to S/4HANA.
Fiori Components
Fiori is based on the following components.
- HTML5
- HTTPS (OData)
- SAP Gateway
- ABAP Backend Server
- Database Layer
Of course, for people that don’t focus on user interface technologies, this obviously will not mean a great deal. The list above describes the components between the user interface, HTML5, and the database layer.
The Critical Things to Understand About SAP Fiori Apps
The crucial aspects of knowing about Fiori are entirely left out of the sales presentation of Fiori. When I supported several sales pursuits, our prospects were not told any of the following information. This can’t be an isolated example — that is, I assume that this information is left out of most sales presentations to this day, as I had to dig to find this information. And none of the SAP’s sales and marketing literature explains any of the following bullet points. Nor does almost any of the essays written by analysts on this topic.
Items to Understand
- Fiori is not a full user interface the way that says SAP GUI is. Fiori is instead a series of apps. You can see the app’s library for yourself here.
- When one buys Fiori, say along with S/4 HANA, only a minimal number of screens encompassed in ECC are included – that is, all of the app screens in the SAP Fiori apps. At the time that I published this article, there were 811 Fiori apps. In the space of one month, Fiori grew by 15 apps.
- Fiori is not inherently designed to replace the multiple areas of SAP GUI. The most accurate way to think of Fiori is that it is a mobile user interface.
- Fiori is not a platform for new app development. Fiori is not providing an environment to create new apps, so one must use SAP apps.
- If you look at each of the apps on the Fiori app library, they each state whether they work with AnyDB (or any database). And alternatively, if they only work on HANA. However, the vast majority of Fiori apps only work on HANA. I will cover why SAP has done this and what it has meant for Fiori adoption in a future article.
- Fiori’s future is not assured. SAP has a history of bringing out new UIs only to see them fall by the wayside. Personas, SAP Mobility, UI, Duet, etc…
- Gartner wrote an article titled “SAP Fiori UX: It Is Not a Matter of If, but When and How,” However, the logic presented in this article is feeble, which I will cover in a future article in detail. Furthermore, I believe SAP ghostwrote at least some of this article. However, this article is routinely referenced in other internet articles without the slightest effort expended to determine if what Gartner is saying makes any sense. If Fiori is primarily written for HANA and HANA continues at its low level of adoption, it is hard to see Fiori’s inevitability, as presented by Gartner in this article. I cover Gartner’s history of technology prediction in my book on Gartner.
So these are some disappointing aspects to Fiori, which are not known.
Comparing Fiori Apps
Let us compare what I have written on SAP Fiori Apps above to a statement made by Hasso Plattner on the topic of Fiori.
“Despite S/4HANA offers a new UI (FIORI based), the customer can choose to have the old UI still available to assist the users in the transition.”
- This is inaccurate, and it is incorrect because it gives the impression that the overall UI for S/4 HANA is Fiori.
- Fiori cannot now and cannot, in the future, be a replacement for the SAP GUI. The reason is that Fiori is primarily for mobile applications. For example, SAP ECC has so many complex transactions that it’s not reasonable to create them in Fiori.
The scope of SAP GUI is explained in the following quotation from the book SAP Nation 2.0.
Ending Fiori?
“SAP users are using, by SAP’s estimation, some 300,000 different input screens that were designed for different product lines, numerous product versions, different vertical industry requirements, etc..These screens were developed using approximately 30 different software tools (emphasis added)”
Those people that declare SAP GUI as a goner do not understand the extent of what has gone into the SAPGUI. Those presenting Fiori as an SAP GUI replacement know better is actively producing false information.
Therefore to say that S/4HANA offers a new UI and that the old UI (SAP GUI) will still be available misstates or obscures the issue. And it seems to do so quite deliberately. This allows implementation teams to explain why Fiori is not the day one user interface used by the project, which is implementing, say….S/4HANA. It is not because the client is not ready or because of comfort issues. Instead, it is because Fiori is not a substitute for the SAP GUI.
Moving Past the Fantasy of SAP Fiori Apps
The reality is that Fiori is a user interface development environment combined with a series of apps that can be used with S/4 HANA or with ECC, for that matter, for doing relatively simple things for mobile devices or for doing things like building dashboards. However, mostly it is just a series (and a large number of) apps.
Fiori’s primary use would be for simple applications, for mobile applications — applications with high display content and limited user interaction.
It is impossible to use S/4HANA exclusively with Fiori, and there is no way around the SAP GUI. The SAP GUI is the primary user interface for S/4 HANA. Fiori would merely be used alongside SAP GUI.
- Why SAP Fiori Apps only Work with HANA
- Should SAP Fiori Apps only Work with HANA from a technical perspective?
SAP Fiori Apps
There are a few SAP Fiori apps that will work with AnyDB or any database. However, it is an interesting question of why SAP has made Fiori primarily compatible with HANA. We will get into this topic in this article.
SAP Fiori Apps Library
If you look at each of the apps on the Fiori app library, they each state whether they work with AnyDB (or any database) or only on HANA. However, the vast majority of Fiori apps only work on HANA.
Why is it So Rare to See SAP Fiori Apps in the Field?
The problem is that because HANA is not selling well, and because many of the Fiori apps connect to S/4 HANA, there are just not many customers who are even in a position to use Fiori apps, even if they loved the apps.
SAP Fiori Apps as the Razor?
Fiori is the “razor” in the well known “razor and razor blade strategy.” This is where one item is sold very inexpensively, and the company makes money on the other thing that you can’t use the first point without.
SAP’s Evolving Strategy with SAP Fiori Apps
SAP used to charge for Fiori, but they were not successful in selling Fiori apps when they charged. However, now Fiori apps are free, but you have to buy HANA. If you want to use the ERP-oriented apps, you have to buy S/4 HANA (ERP on HANA), which almost no one has done. Therefore Fiori apps are being used much even though SAP no longer charges for them (charged for them directly).
Is There a Reason SAP Fiori Apps Should be Limited to HANA DB?
The answer is no, and this is 100% a marketing strategy on the part of SAP. User interfaces are not dependent upon the database.
Digging Into the SAP Fiori Apps
Fiori has been very narrowly adopted up to this point. Still, most buyers do not know the information presented, and only a few analysts have dug down what Fiori is.
Customizing the SAP Fiori Apps?
The proposal that is made is that customer can write their applications with Fiori. That sounds great, but not when one realizes that it’s a lot of work, and a minuscule proportion of all of the screens for S/4HANA has been written. And this gets into a topic of development effort and timelines.
SAP and its partners routinely estimate very long and expensive development for anything in Fiori. This brings up a question that is absent from every Fiori article that I could get my hands on — and that question is, “What is the development productivity within Fiori’s development environment?”
The biggest problem is that SAP is presenting Fiori as a UI when, in fact, it is not providing that much total UI coverage to customers and is mostly giving them a prescribed development environment.
Open Competition for Custom User Interface Application?
Since most of the work of developing the custom screens will be put onto the customer, the customer has some options to select from to connect to SAP. That is, if Fiori were ready to go “out of the box,” then SAP would be providing a complete user interface (much like they do with SAPGUI), then customers should only purchase Fiori. However, Fiori is not some out-of-the-box replacement for the SAPGUI. That is not what SAP is doing with Fiori.
SAP has no particular advantage or known capability in creating customized user interface development environments over other vendors in the market. However, there is a vibrant market for customized user interface development tools. Customers should compare Fiori against competitors like AppsFreedom, Mendix, Caprica, or Koni by cost, functionality, development ease, development productivity, etc.. That is Fiori would be put through a software selection as an independent component from SAP. If it is compared in this way, Fiori will not fare well in this open competition. Therefore, Fiori has to be sold under a lot of heavy smoke.
Not an Out of the Box UI Solution
Fiori is not some out of the box replacement for the SAP GUI. Instead, SAP is primarily selling apps with a UI development environment — although not saying it — and in that case, Fiori is in open competition with some UI software vendors. SAP has no particular advantage or known capability in creating customized user interface development environments over other suppliers in the market. SAP is now competing in space; it has no experience competing in. That is a bad thing because SAP’s real value is when it stays at its core. Its core is applications with complex business logic. That is what built SAP. Not databases, not application integration, not custom user interface environments. Let us look at history to see why this is the case. Every time SAP has deviated from its core after the fanfare has passed. SAP has ended up with a lagging product. CRM, PLM, PI/XI, Duet, Portals, and I could go on. But these are just a sampling of what happens when SAP gets out of its sweet spot.
Recommendation
Therefore, customers should compare Fiori against competitors like AppsFreedom, Mendix, Capriza, or Kony by cost, functionality, development easy, development productivity, etc.. That is, Fiori would be put through a software selection as an independent component from SAP.
About Fiori as a Free Product?
“When I discussed the free or not free for Fiori argument with a colleague, he intelligently commented that ‘no change is free’. I thought about it, and in particular for on-premise, that rings true. Even if you do want Fiori apps, you will need to add NetWeaver Gateway to your landscape, add some server side add-ins, open up access via internet (reverse proxys, firewall changes etc.), instantiate a (hopefully small) project or initiative to get it all done. To leverage some Fiori apps, you may need to even upgrade your system or even put HANA underneath it! Check here for the list of apps and their dependencies. So, irrespective of the SAP list price, implementing Fiori is not free.”
This is an excellent point. Fiori costs to implement, which is different from other user interfaces that are baked into the application. Therefore, with SAP core products (the acquired products don’t use Fiori), one has two user interfaces.
- SAPGUI: “Which is the baked in” interface.
- Fiori: Which must be “implemented.”
Fiori’s Related Layers
SAP and their surrogates will present implementing Fiori as only the cost of Fiori’s license (which is free). However, they leave out associated costs.
“And it is not just about licensing of Fiori, there are licensing layers above (to the user) and below (to the application and persistence layer) you may need to add. As John Appleby mentioned, you still need end-user licenses to leverage Fiori in addition to the Fiori app price (to my understanding it is not built into the Fiori price), you need licenses for underlying applications (of course)”
Customers find out about these costs later in the process, and they are, of course, surprised.
“For Fiori analytics apps you need HANA as the persistence, which means to take advantage of these you need the appropriate HANA license …. and be careful, I have seen a customer which paid for HANA on BW which doesn’t qualify for these apps … they were informed they would need to purchase HANA on ERP (of course, everyone needs to check with their account executive). And finally, to improve the load performance of Fiori apps, SAP is recommending the use of Kapsel which comes with a SAP Mobile Platform license. So customers need to have deep pockets when you add all this up, not to mention the actual implementation costs from my previous point.”
Conclusion
The most important thing to know about Fiori is that the SAP Fiori Apps will not replace SAP GUI. Fiori only has a minuscule amount of coverage over the collection of screens that make up SAP GUI. Therefore, any S/4 HANA implementation will not be assisted here and there by SAP GUI; it will be the primary user interface of S/4. The customer may use some Fiori apps, the client may develop more apps using Fiori, but that is Fiori’s extent.
Fiori has been talked about and written about for years, and there has been a tremendous amount promised on the SAP Fiori Apps. Many of the articles written on Fiori now look silly, or should I say hopelessly optimistic, because the SAP Fiori Apps is still barely used on accounts and has no momentum in the marketplace. And most of the authors did very minimal research into what Fiori. They seemed to have gone to an SAP press conference and then merely typed what SAP said. This is the problem with so many analysts or reporters that write on topics — only using the SAP as a source or use an analyst — who has not investigated the SAP Fiori Apps in any detail as a source.