2.4 SAP Fiori User Interfaces
SAP developed its traditional SAP Business Suite applications assuming that users access the ERP system using a specifically assigned frontend computer. The component used for this frontend access is SAP GUI. Through a time-consuming process, SAP GUI had to be installed at all workstations in the enterprise because the applications could only be used with the appropriate and latest version of SAP GUI on the user’s desktop computer.
In the 2000s, SAP wanted to provide users with role-based access to the increasingly complex business processes. For this purpose, central portals were successfully implemented, allowing users access via a browser. Connections to the SAP ERP system were established through dedicated frontend applications deployed on the central portal.
Despite this progress, the interfaces in the SAP ERP systems seem to be outdated—in particular if you compare them to the omnipresent interfaces of smartphones, tablet computers, and modern computers. SAP S/4HANA is based on a completely new UI concept called SAP Fiori, which combines technological changes with newly designed user concepts.
SAP Fiori comprises three different types of apps, which differ with regard to their focus and requirements for the infrastructure:
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Transactional apps
These apps enable you to perform transactional tasks such as creating leave requests for employees. Transactional apps provide focused views for users to interact with business processes and solutions. -
Fact sheets
Fact sheets display context information and the most important aspects of central objects (for example, a purchase info record fact sheet provides information about the purchase info record business object). From a fact sheet, you can drill down to detailed information about the relevant object. -
Analytical apps
With analytical apps, you can monitor relevant key figures in real time and use them to make decisions.
You can find a list of available SAP Fiori apps in the SAP Fiori apps reference library. By choosing SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, you can display the SAP Fiori apps that are available for SAP S/4HANA.
Thus, when migrating to SAP S/4HANA, you should consider implementing SAP Fiori. To facilitate this migration, SAP has ensured the compatibility of the new product: You can still use SAP GUI to access applications. However, users can only access the traditional SAP ERP applications via SAP GUI but not the newly developed SAP S/4HANA functions, which run on SAP Fiori.
[+] Flexible User Access
SAP S/4HANA, on-premise, also enables users to access traditional transactions via SAP GUI.
This compatibility allows for a gradual migration: Chapter 4 goes into further detail.
2.4.1 Technological Changes
One major change with SAP Fiori is that no GUI component is locally installed. A web browser is used to access the SAP S/4HANA system, eliminating the time-consuming process of setting up local SAP GUI installations.
Consequently, users can basically use any Internet-enabled device to access SAP applications and are not bound to their workstations but can use a smartphone or tablet to access the SAP system. For this purpose, the SAP S/4HANA application instances are supplemented by a central frontend server as shown in Figure 2.7.
Figure 2.7 Architecture of SAP S/4HANA
SAP Web Dispatcher establishes the connection to the frontend server. On the frontend server itself, you can find the SAP Fiori launchpad and the SAP Fiori applications. These main components of the frontend server are complemented by an installed search function and SAP GUI for HTML, which is available for compatibility reasons. SAP Gateway is responsible for distributing the browser requests of the frontend server across your various application systems (backend systems). You can implement SAP Gateway separately or as a part of the frontend server.
Although you can install the frontend server on the central instance, in most cases, you should install the frontend server separately as a central frontend hub. SAP recommends installing the frontend server on the central instance (embedded) only for single-system landscapes, such as proof of concept installations or small production systems. Figure 2.8 illustrates the basic distribution of the required system instances.
Figure 2.8 Connecting an SAP Fiori Frontend Server to an SAP System Landscape
2.4.2 Operating Concept
The operating concept behind SAP Fiori can be summarized in one word: simplicity. With SAP Fiori, SAP provides simplified access options for all users. You’ve already come across one element of this simplified access: access from any end device.
In addition, the structure of applications is simplified: The SAP Fiori launchpad (see Figure 2.9) replaces the SAP Easy Access menu of the traditional SAP Business Suite. The launchpad consists of tiles used to access applications.
Figure 2.9 Example of an SAP Fiori Launchpad
The launchpad also includes so-called live tiles, which display relevant information from underlying applications, such as aggregated key performance indicators (KPIs). As a result, users can determine directly from the SAP Fiori launchpad which applications require direct intervention.
Tiles are assigned to launchpad groups, which allows for a transparent tile structure and also enables users to directly access a group of tiles via the dropdown menu 
in the upper right area of the screen.
The availability of the tiles in the launchpad depends on the centrally assigned roles of the users. These roles are specific SAP Fiori roles that must not be confused with authorization roles in a traditional SAP Business Suite solution. Thus, when migrating to SAP S/4HANA, you should factor in sufficient time for planning or adapting your enterprise-specific role structure. In SAP S/4HANA, applications are more focused on actual work processes and try to guide users more effectively through this process than previously. You’ll also have a lot of freedom to customize the predefined design. These changes are dynamic: Settings, such as filters, affect the displayed results and available process options in real time.
In addition to a modern design for applications, including a completely new structure and order of screen elements, a search function has also been implemented. Users can search for any keywords such as long texts, parts of key numbers, names, and much more. The search is carried out across various business objects and even across system boundaries, and the results include matches related to the keyword. This powerful search function eliminates a disadvantage of the previous SAP interface, which usually only permitted users to search for individual field values via (F4) help.
If users still have questions about how to use applications, a newly designed documentation system supports self-help options: The so-called X-ray documentation approach enables users to click on the areas about which they want more information. This help system navigates the user to the relevant documentation.
Of course, you can also extend the SAP Fiori user interfaces. In contrast to extending SAP Business Suite, you usually don’t have to write any code to extend an SAP Fiori user interface: What’s called key-user extensibility allows users to add custom fields, hide or display objects, modify structures, or supplement the calculation logic, for example. Only enhancements that cannot use key-user extensibility require you to write the new code.
Officially released SAP Fiori apps can enable your enterprise or SAP partners to develop custom SAPUI5-based SAP Fiori applications using the SAP Web IDE. The browser-based toolkit can be found on the SAP Cloud Platform and includes an integrated development environment. Developing custom user interfaces is extremely important for most SAP customers. In today’s SAP Business Suite, about 50% of the interfaces used by SAP customers are custom developments.
Finally, you can assign a custom theming to your user interface to map the corporate identity on the screen (consider your company’s color scheme and logo).
[»] Additional Information
You can find further information for redesigning the SAP user experience (UX) using SAP Fiori at the following website:
For more information on SAP Fiori 2.0, go to the following website:
You can find a video covering design concepts at the following website:
You can access the SAP Fiori apps reference library at the following website:
For more information on SAP Web IDE, go to the following website:
For more information on the development guidelines for SAP Fiori 2.0, go to the following website:
All elements mentioned in this section are only available with the newly designed SAP S/4HANA. If you want to access traditional SAP ERP applications, you’ll have to follow the usual approaches. However, if required, you can also provide the traditional transactions in the SAP Fiori launchpad.
In summary, we can make the following statements: You can convert an SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA without directly implementing SAP Fiori across the entire system landscape. However, in this case, you won’t benefit from SAP S/4HANA’s significantly simplified applications and can only use the traditional SAP Business Suite applications. Thus, your SAP S/4HANA implementation project should minimally include a gradual introduction of the SAP Fiori UI concept. Because the SAP Fiori concept is role-based, you can easily select individual business areas and employee groups for conversion. Because of the benefits provided by SAP Fiori, SAP S/4HANA Cloud can only use SAP Fiori UIs.
[+] Gradual Introduction
The new SAP Fiori UI concept is controlled on the basis of roles and can thus be introduced gradually.