SAP Portal as Mobile Gateway

Intro

This short post will give you an example of how SAP portal can provide collaboration tools with third parties. Click here to read more about collaboration through SAP Portal.

Before

This was my first mobile-oriented project, based on SAP portal. My customer (Sonol, gas station operator) was looking for a solution for insufficient workflow they had - all gas station malfunctions were processed manually by back office, interaction between all parties (gas stations, back office and technicians) was done by phone, which was unbearable. 

Gas stations had no tool to report malfunctions, technicians had no tool to process those malfunctions, and there was a back office in the middle, connecting between the two. You can imagine how inconvenient it was for everyone:

• Reporting malfunctions took a lot of time due to back office overload
• Assigning technicians required checking their availability and location
• Technicians' inventory was hardly maintained

After

The tool chosen for a end-to-end solution was SAP portal (Java WebDynpro applications), while system core is based on SAP ERP (CS module). Final solution included: 

1. Portal-based back office application to map service requests to technicians, monitor open requests and process them if needed
2. Convenient mobile application for personnel in the field

Integration of these components provides a perfect solution for all Customer Support requirements.

One of project goals was to provide a system convenient enough to be used by everyone without any training, without being familiar with SAP transactions and procedures, altogether with utilization of CS functionality embedded in the SAP ERP system. Nowadays the system allows the company to control all ongoing technical support routines.

Here is a general scheme of solution workflow:

Added values gathered as a result:

• Fast response time, and better Customer Support as a result
• More accurate problem descriptions, and faster malfunction resolutions as a result
• Control over inventory used by technicians in the field
• Work processes transparency and optimization
• On-line accurrate documentation
• Ability to fit SLA
• Strengthening the connection between involved parties

Vision

As part of portal upgrade and Portal On Device features, we are planning to add more functionality and improve the solution with new features. Subscribe to get updates about upcoming innovations, or contact me directly.

Short description (EN) at our company web site: click here

Project overview (HE) at People & Computes web site: click here