Mastering Enterprise SOA with SAP NetWeaver® and mySAP™ ERP

Mastering Enterprise SOA with SAP NetWeaver® and mySAP™ ERP

by Scott Campbell, Vamsi Mohun
Released October 2006
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780471920151

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

* SAP is investing billions to redesign its flagship R/3 product line based on its ESA, and that ESA will become the standard framework for developing all new SAP ERP applications with NetWeaver
* This book provides an overview of the core building blocks of SAP's new ESA, and shows how ESA works with the NetWeaver platform as well as mySAP ERP
* A step-by-step action plan proposes ideas for designing ESA-based SAP applications
* The companion Web site contains in-depth case examples that show how to build various SAP services and applications using the NetWeaver development tools, plus third-party tools
* Some of the SAP tools covered include NetWeaver Developer Studio, WebDynPro and NetWeaver Portal, NetWeaver BI, and the SAP Composite Application Framework

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Authors
  3. Credits
  4. Foreword
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction
    1. Why This Book Was Written
    2. Who Should Read This Book
    3. What This Book Covers
    4. How This Book Is Structured
      1. Part I: Understanding SAP’s ESA Strategy
      2. Part II: Evaluating ESA Capabilities and Planning Your Adoption Road Map
      3. Part III: Realizing ESA Through SAP NetWeaver
    5. What You Need to Use This Book
    6. Reader Guidelines and Final Considerations
  7. One. Understanding SAP’s ESA Strategy
    1. 1. ESA Is Coming
      1. A New Blueprint for SAP Solutions
      2. Why ESA Is Critical to SAP
        1. ESA Is a “Bet the Company” Strategy
        2. ESA Was Triggered by Major Technology Changes
        3. ESA Is Focused on Delivering Business Solutions
      3. Some Misconceptions About ESA
        1. Myth: ESA Is More Marketing Than Real Change
        2. Myth: NetWeaver Is Just Repackaging of Old Ideas and Products
        3. Myth: ESA Is Just an SAP “Thing”
        4. Myth: ESA Is Just SAP’s Nickname for SOA
        5. Myth: The SAP NetWeaver Platform Is Not as Good as Other Application and Integration Products You Have Seen
        6. Myth: You Have to Wait Until ESA Is “Finished”
        7. Myth: You Have to Upgrade Your ERP or Business Suite Applications to Begin with ESA
      4. Some Key Consideration Regarding ESA Adoption
        1. Characteristics of Your Organization
        2. Roles Within Your Organization
          1. Business and IT Leadership
          2. Business Process Owners and Analysts
          3. Enterprise Architects
          4. SAP IT Owners, Architects, Developers, and Administrators
          5. Non-SAP IT Application Architects and Developers
          6. Product Management and Technology Leadership Within ISVs
          7. Systems Integrators and Consulting Partners
        3. Goals for Making ESA Applicable to Your Enterprise
          1. Making ESA Business Advantages Relevant
          2. Aligning the SAP Group with Enterprise Architecture Considerations
          3. Rationalizing Your IT Portfolio in Terms of True Cost/Benefit Options
      5. Summary
      6. References
    2. 2. ESA in Context: The Emergence and Benefits of SAP’s “Applistructure”
      1. Motivations for the New SAP Architecture
        1. Overcoming the Problems with Packaged Applications
          1. High Costs of Customization and Maintenance
          2. Difficulty in Addressing Processes That Span Functional Applications
          3. Slow Adoption of New Standards-Based Technologies
        2. Overcoming the Problems with “Best of Breed” Architectures
          1. The Explosion of Middleware
          2. A Cost and Complexity Treadmill
        3. Overcoming the Problems with Managing the Business of IT
          1. The Typical IT Report Card
          2. Determining the Role of IT in Your Organization
          3. How SAP’s ESA Approach Helps Improve the Business of IT
      2. Industry Consolidation and the Evolution to “Applistructures”
        1. Emergence of Application Platforms
          1. The Benefits of an Application Platform
          2. Marketplace Requirements for Platforms
        2. Maturity of Packaged Business Applications
        3. Enter SOA as a Disruptive Technology
        4. Business Applications and Platforms Coexist
        5. “Applistructures”: Business Applications and Platforms Unite
          1. “Best of Breed” Technology Market Shrinks
          2. “Best of Breed” Applications Market Consolidates
          3. The Application Platform Market
          4. The “Applistructure” Market
      3. The Capabilities of the SAP ESA “Applistructure”
        1. The “Applistructure” Impact on SAP’s Business Applications
        2. The “Applistructure” Impact on SAP’s Technology Platform
        3. Emerging SOA Capabilities Supporting SAP’s “Applistructure”
          1. Enterprise Services Inventory
          2. Service-Oriented Infrastructure
          3. Model-Driven Composition and Development
          4. Business Process Management
          5. Event-Driven Architecture
          6. Intelligent Infrastructure and Virtualization
      4. The Value of SAP’s ESA “Applistructure”
        1. Business Alignment Through Process Visibility and Flexibility
        2. Better Usability and User Productivity
        3. Better Process Execution Through Embedded Analytics
        4. Improved Lifecycle Management and Governance
        5. Expanded Functionality from Ecosystem Partners
        6. Lower Solution Implementation, Integration, and Maintenance Costs
        7. An “Applistructure” Illustration
      5. Where Do You Go from Here?
        1. A Fork in the Road
        2. Picking Your Path
      6. Summary
      7. References
    3. 3. Enabling ESA: The Evolution of NetWeaver and mySAP ERP
      1. The Evolution of the NetWeaver Platform: From Components to IT Practices
        1. SAP Integration Technologies Before NetWeaver
        2. The Launch of SAP NetWeaver
        3. The Rise and Fall of the Component View of NetWeaver
        4. The New NetWeaver Platform: IT Practices–Driven
          1. Understanding IT Practices and Scenarios
          2. NetWeaver Implementation Units
            1. Usage Types
            2. Engines
            3. Clients
          3. Understanding Usage Types
          4. Putting It All Together
      2. How NetWeaver Evolves into a Business Process Platform
        1. The Emerging Technical Capabilities of a Platform for ESA
        2. The SAP NetWeaver Platform Road Map
          1. NetWeaver as an Application Platform
          2. NetWeaver as an Integration Platform
          3. NetWeaver as a Composition Platform
          4. NetWeaver as a Business Process Platform
          5. Other Key Themes Within the NetWeaver Road Map
      3. The MySAP ERP Applications Road Map
        1. Evolution of the ERP Technology Foundations
        2. The mySAP ERP 2005 Architecture
        3. Composite Applications
      4. The Road Ahead for the SAP Architecture
        1. Full-Service Enabling of the mySAP Business Suite
        2. Ongoing Refactoring of the Applications
        3. New Editions of Business Applications
        4. Unified Modeling and Development Environments
      5. Summary
    4. 4. The SAP ESA Ecosystem: Enabling Collaborative Innovation
      1. Why an Ecosystem Is Critical to ESA
        1. Integrating End-to-End Business Solutions
        2. Delivering a Complete Technical Foundation for ESA
        3. Focused on Customers
      2. Ecosystem-Enabled Business Innovation
        1. SAP Industry Business Units and Industry Value Networks
        2. Tackling the Solutions White Space
      3. The Enterprise Services Community
        1. The Need for Coordinating Service Definitions
        2. How the Enterprise Services Community Operates
          1. Enterprise Services Community Request Definition Groups
          2. Enterprise Services Community Review Definition Groups
          3. Future Considerations for SAP
      4. The Technology Platform Ecosystem
        1. The Role of a Technology Platform Ecosystem
        2. Leading Platform Ecosystem Partners
        3. An Ecosystem Infrastructure Example: The Adaptive Computing Controller
      5. New Ecosystem Application and Certification Options for Partners
        1. Applications Deployed on the SAP NetWeaver Platform
        2. Partner Applications Integrated with SAP NetWeaver Portal
        3. Applications Pre-Integrated with mySAP Business Suite Applications
          1. Packaged Composite Applications and xApps
      6. SAP and the Standards Bodies Ecosystem
        1. Technology and Business Standards Organizations
      7. Practitioner Community Ecosystem
        1. The SAP Developer Network
        2. SAP User Group Communities
      8. Ecosystem Considerations for Customers and Partners
        1. Implications for Customers
          1. Working with Other Business Application Solution Providers
          2. Working with Platform and Infrastructure Vendors
          3. Addressing Licensing Considerations
          4. Tackling Your Enterprise Services Model
        2. Implications for Partners
          1. Becoming a “Go-To” Partner
          2. Determining Your Level of Ecosystem Commitment as an ISV
          3. Determining Your Ecosystem Role as a Systems Integrator
      9. Examples of ESA Ecosystem Product Collaboration
        1. Duet for Microsoft Office and SAP
        2. Vendavo Price and Margin Management Solutions
        3. Pavilion Technologies Model Predictive Control Solutions
        4. Mercury
      10. Summary
  8. Two. Evaluating ESA Capabilities and Building Your Adoption Road Map
    1. 5. Understanding SOA Foundations and SAP’s ESA Infrastructure
      1. An Introduction to SOA, Web Services, and Enterprise Services
        1. Understanding SOA and the Relationship to Web Services
          1. SOA Is a Style of Computing
          2. SOA Offers Many Potential Benefits
          3. Web Services Help Support the Realization of SOA
        2. How Web Services Work — The Basic Profile
          1. The Web Services Basic Profile
          2. Web Services Interaction Models Using the Basic Profile
        3. The Benefits and Limitations of Web Services
          1. The Benefits of Using Web Services
          2. Limitations of Web Services
        4. Enterprise Services Versus Web Services
          1. Characteristics of Enterprise Services
          2. The Concept of Service Granularity
          3. Categories of Enterprise Services
        5. An Example of Enterprise Services
      2. Technical Requirements for Services in an ESA World
        1. Web Services Extensions
          1. Reliable Messaging
          2. Security
          3. Transactions
          4. Policy and Metadata Management
        2. Business Process Orchestration and Execution Standards
        3. Solution Composition Standards
      3. Finding and Governing Services with Registries and Repositories
        1. Service Registries
        2. Service Repositories
          1. The Basic Purpose of Service Repositories
          2. How Repositories Help with Governing Services
      4. Service Intermediaries
        1. Functions of a Service Intermediary
        2. Architecture and Design of Intermediaries on a Service Network — The ESB Debate
      5. SAP’s Enterprise Services Inventory and Infrastructure
        1. SAP’s Enterprise Services Inventory
          1. How the Enterprise Services Inventory Is Managed
          2. The Relationship of Enterprise Services Inventory and SAP Business Applications
          3. Previewing the Enterprise Services Inventory
            1. The Enterprise Services Workplace
            2. Pre-Built ESA Servers and Environments
        2. Enterprise Services Repository
          1. Process and Integration Models
          2. Services
          3. Business Object Models
          4. Data Types
        3. Implementation and Composition Tools
          1. Modeling and Managing Enterprise Services
          2. Application Development — ABAP and Java
          3. Composite Application Assembly
        4. Enterprise Services Run-Time Infrastructure
      6. Summary
      7. References
    2. 6. ESA and End-to-End Business Process Management
      1. An Introduction to BPM
        1. The Difference Between BPM, BPMS, and a BPP
        2. From Functional Silo Applications to Process Management with ESA
      2. The Benefits of BPM Solutions
      3. Enabling Capabilities for BPM
        1. Process Modeling Tools and Repository
        2. Process Execution Engine
        3. Workflow
        4. Business Rules Management
        5. Integration Capabilities
        6. Business Activity Monitoring
        7. Process Analytics and Simulation
        8. UI Development and Delivery
      4. How SAP Delivers End-to-End BPM Capabilities
        1. Design-Time BPM Capabilities
          1. High-Level Process Modeling and Configuration
          2. Process Execution Modeling
            1. Process Orchestration & Integration
            2. Workflow
            3. Guided Procedures and Composite Application Modeling
          3. The Future of BPM Modeling
        2. Run-Time BPM Capabilities
      5. Business Process Experts Community
        1. Defining the Business Process Expert
        2. The Business Process Management Lifecycle
        3. What the BPX Community Can Offer
      6. Summary
    3. 7. ESA Adoption: The Role of Enterprise IT Architecture
      1. The Purpose of Enterprise Architecture
        1. Classical Enterprise Architecture
          1. The City Planning Analogy
          2. What Enterprise Architecture Delivers
          3. How Enterprise Architecture Is Typically Practiced
        2. At What Level Do Enterprise Architecture Activities Take Place?
      2. Why Enterprise Architecture Initiatives Are Critical for Successful ESA Adoption
        1. What Changes with ESA — The Big Picture
          1. Where Does SAP NetWeaver Fit In?
          2. How Does ESA Change the Thinking Around EA?
        2. Setting Your Perspective on ESA Adoption
        3. How SAP NetWeaver and ESA Affect the Architecture
      3. Why Enterprise Architecture Activities Succeed or Fail and What This Means to ESA Adoption
        1. Determining the Right Level for Enterprise Architecture Decisions
        2. Getting the Right Input to Support Enterprise Architecture Decisions
        3. Ensuring the Enterprise Architecture Deliverables Are Useful, Usable, and Actionable
          1. Making Enterprise Architecture Artifacts Actionable
          2. Ensuring Enterprise Architecture Artifacts Are Available
          3. Communicating Enterprise Architecture Decisions and Results
        4. Having the Right People and Collaboration in Enterprise Architecture Roles
        5. Enforcing Enterprise Architecture Decisions
        6. Gaining Leadership Support for EA-Related Activities
      4. Enterprise Architecture Frameworks and Related Tools, Methods, and Processes
        1. The Value of EA Frameworks
        2. Popular EA Frameworks and Methods
        3. Lighter Weight Enterprise Architecture Considerations
        4. Enterprise Architecture Maturity Measurement
        5. Enterprise Architecture Tools
        6. Enterprise Architecture Training and Certification
      5. Summary
      6. References
    4. 8. Planning Your ESA Adoption Program and Pilot Projects
      1. The Role of an SOA Adoption Program
        1. Typical Phases in ESA Adoption
        2. The Basic SOA Adoption Program Process
        3. SAP’s ESA Adoption Program Service Offering
        4. Crafting Your Adoption Program
          1. ESA Adoption in Conjunction with mySAP ERP Upgrades
          2. Defining Your Unique Program
      2. Establishing a Strategic Business Process Perspective for ESA Adoption
        1. Shifting Your Focus to Business Processes and IT Investment Alignment
          1. Why Business Processes Change
          2. The Notion of Core and Context Processes and the Influence on IT
          3. The Lifecycle of Business Process Differentiation
        2. How ESA Adoption Can Better Align IT Investments with Business Processes
      3. Selecting Major Themes for ESA Adoption
        1. Optimizing Key Business Processes
        2. Consolidating Applications & Infrastructure
        3. Modernizing IT Capability
      4. Launching Your ESA Adoption Program
        1. Picking the Initial Program Management Team
        2. Setting Goals and Planning Your Program
          1. Team Briefings and Training
          2. Goal Setting, Scoping, and Planning Workshops
      5. Selecting and Running Pilots and Projects
        1. Managing and Executing Pilots and Projects
          1. Engaging and Training the Implementation Team
          2. Implementing the Pilot Projects
      6. ESA Adoption Program Management Activities
        1. Performing Post-Project Reviews
        2. Running the ESA Communications and Training Campaign
        3. Enabling ESA Governance
          1. Managing the Enterprise Models
          2. Managing the Infrastructure
          3. Governance in Design and Implementation Activities
          4. Instilling Governance
        4. IT Project Lifecycle and Organizational Changes
          1. Changes in the Project Planning, Management, and Delivery Methodology
          2. Identifying New Roles and Responsibilities
        5. Controlling ESA Adoption Risk
        6. Measuring ESA Adoption Value
          1. ESA Economic Value Within IT
          2. ESA Economic Value Within the Business
        7. Summarizing the Results of ESA Program Management
      7. Balancing General SOA Adoption Practices with SAP-Centric ESA-Based Adoption
        1. Characteristics of an SAP ESA-Centric Approach
        2. Characteristics of a Vendor-Neutral Approach to SOA
        3. Characteristics of a Hybrid Approach to Adopting ESA and SOA
        4. Major Considerations in Balancing SOA- and SAP-Based ESA Adoption
          1. Governance of Service Models
          2. Composition Environments
          3. SOA Run-Time Infrastructure
        5. Some “Rules of Thumb” for Decision-Making
      8. Summary
      9. References
    5. 9. Analyzing ESA-Based Solutions Architectures
      1. Introducing the Business Scenarios
        1. Summary of Process Needs and Opportunities
        2. ESA Benefits Over Traditional Approaches for These Scenarios
      2. Scenario #1: Enhancing Processes with Manufacturing Analytics
        1. The Overall Composite Solutions Architecture
      3. Scenario #2: Providing Information Workers and Customers with Front-Ends to SAP
        1. Defining the Development and Composition Architecture
        2. ESA-Based Solution Architectures
          1. Managing Master Pricing Information
          2. Customer Self-Service
      4. Scenario #3: Integrating Suppliers for More Efficient and Effective Procurement
        1. The Self-Service Procurement Challenge and the Role of Supplier Networks
      5. A Hypothetical ESA-Based Solutions Architecture for Supplier Networks
      6. The Role of These Solutions in ESA Adoption
      7. Summary
  9. Three. Realizing ESA Through SAP NetWeaver
    1. 10. An Introduction to ESA-Development with SAP NetWeaver
      1. An Overview of ESA-Based Development
      2. The SAP NetWeaver Platform Architecture
        1. Development Tool Architecture
      3. NetWeaver Developer Studio
        1. Eclipse Platform
          1. Workspace
          2. Project
          3. Perspective
          4. View
        2. NetWeaver Developer Studio Plug-ins
      4. Java Dictionary
      5. Web Services
      6. XI
        1. Integration Repository
        2. Integration Directory
        3. XI Run-Time
      7. SAP NetWeaver Portal
        1. Portal Content Studio
        2. Portal Development Kit
        3. Java PDK
      8. Composite Application Framework
        1. Concepts
        2. Guided Procedures
        3. Composite Application Services
        4. User-Interface Patterns and Web Dynpro
      9. Web Dynpro
        1. Web Dynpro Plug-in
      10. Visual Composer
        1. Visual Composer Modeler
      11. Summary
      12. References
    2. 11. Developing Enterprise Services
      1. The Enterprise Services Infrastructure
      2. Enterprise Services as Mediated Web Services
      3. Creating a Service Using the Inside-Out Approach
        1. Developing the Web Service
          1. Implementing the Business Application
          2. Generating the Web Service
          3. Activating and Deploying the Web Service
        2. Developing the Mediated Web Service
          1. Download WSDL Using WebServices Navigator
          2. Create Namespace in XI
          3. Create External Definition in XI
          4. Create Message Interfaces in XI
          5. Generate WSDL for Mediated Web Service
      4. Creating a Service Using the Outside-In Approach
        1. Developing the Enterprise Service Interface
          1. Create the Namespace and Data Type
          2. Create the Message Type
          3. Create the Message Interface and Generate the Proxy
        2. Developing the Server Proxy
      5. Summary
      6. References
    3. 12. Orchestrating Business Processes
      1. Business Level Modeling
      2. Prerequisites to Effective Business Process Orchestration
        1. Governance of IT Assets for Business Process Modeling
        2. Key Standards for Enabling BPM
        3. Web Services
        4. XML
        5. SOAP
        6. WSDL
        7. BPEL
      3. Process Execution in XI
      4. Integration Processes
        1. Step Types
        2. Graphical Process Editor
        3. Creating an Integration Process
          1. Creating Data Types, Message Types, and Message Interfaces
          2. Creating the Integration Process
          3. Creating the ReceiveCreatePO Step
          4. Creating the SendCreatePO Step
          5. Creating the Control Step
          6. Creating the ReceiveCreatePOResp and SendCreatePOResp Steps
        4. Business Process Patterns
      5. Integration Scenarios
        1. Creating an Integration Scenario
          1. Creating Application Components
          2. Creating Actions
          3. Creating Connections
      6. Summary
      7. References
    4. 13. SAP’s Composite Application Framework and Guided Procedures
      1. Business Task Management — Core Capabilities
      2. A Solutions Perspective
        1. Example Scenario
        2. Design
      3. CAF Core
        1. Creating the Project
        2. Creating an Entity Service
        3. Creating an Application Service
      4. Creating Guided Procedures
        1. Setting the Endpoint Alias
        2. Creating a Callable Object
        3. Creating an Action
        4. Creating a Block
      5. Summary
      6. References
    5. 14. Creating Additional User Interfaces Using Services
      1. Concepts
      2. Creating a User Interface with Web Dynpro
        1. Web Dynpro Component
        2. Creating the Web Dynpro Component
      3. Creating a User Interface with Visual Composer
        1. Business Packages in Portal
      4. Summary
    6. 15. Embedded Analytics
      1. Understanding Embedded Analytics
        1. Closing the Loop
        2. Example #1: Creating Context for a Vacation Request
        3. Example #2: Creating Context for a Goods Return Request
      2. Designing Embedded Analytics
        1. Data Strategy
        2. Case Study and Design
      3. Building Embedded Analytics
        1. Analytics with Visual Composer
        2. Implementation
      4. The Outlook for Embedded Analytics
        1. Business Event Networks and Event-Driven Architecture
        2. High-Performance Analytics
        3. New Front-End Technologies
        4. Dynamic Service Composition
      5. Summary
      6. References
    7. 16. ESA Today and the Road Ahead
      1. Reviewing the Strategic Direction for ESA
        1. Technology Direction for ESA
        2. The Impact on SAP Solutions
          1. New Features of the SAP NetWeaver Platform
          2. New Approach to Business Solutions
        3. Customer Implications
        4. Partner Implications
      2. Scenarios Where Organizations Are Leveraging ESA Today
        1. Consolidation and Process Optimization Scenario
        2. Process Composition Scenario
        3. SOA Adoption Scenario
        4. Ecosystem ISV Partner Scenario
      3. Future Industry and Technology Trends That Will Affect SAP’s Strategy and Solutions
        1. Modeling of Business and IT
        2. Greater Unification Inside the SAP NetWeaver Platform
        3. Improved Business Service Semantics
        4. Technology Standards
        5. Service-Oriented Analysis and Design Methods
        6. Enhanced Infrastructure Capabilities
        7. Advances in the Discipline of Enterprise Architecture
        8. Maturity of the SAP Ecosystem
      4. Conclusion and Additional Resources
      5. Summary
  10. A. Abbreviations and Acronyms

Product information

  • Title: Mastering Enterprise SOA with SAP NetWeaver® and mySAP™ ERP
  • Author(s): Scott Campbell, Vamsi Mohun
  • Release date: October 2006
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780471920151