What is SAP Fiori?

Uptake of SAP Fiori has been increasing, but there is often confusion over whether it is a mobile application or an interface. Launched in 2013, SAP Fiori is a user interface / experience (UX) for SAP software and applications that can replace the SAP GUI, on both desktop and mobile devices.

SAP devised the Fiori UX for user friendliness and ease of use, using tiles to encapsulate standard tasks. Fiori displays backend information for users in a uniform UX, across different platforms and applications, using pre-defined layouts. SAP Fiori operates at the top UI level, pulling data from the lower application or database layers to display data to users.

Developed on SAP U15 framework, SAP Fiori is not based on SAP transactions, instead it is built for a specific role, with a specific task. SAP Fiori provides more than 300 role-based applications that are used in regular business functions, such as work approvals, financial apps, calculation apps and various self-service apps.

SAP Fiori apps are divided into three categories:

• Transactional Apps: used to perform SAP transactions such as leave requests, travel requests, purchase orders etc, on mobile devices
• Fact Sheets: used to drill the key information and contextual information in business operations, while also allowing navigation to transactional apps
• Analytical Apps: used to monitor KPIs in real-time, while performing complex calculations and aggregations, allowing immediate reactions to market conditions

Fiori is often seen as a competitor to other mobile solutions, however many companies develop and offer applications using SAP Fiori UX. SAP Fiori is an excellent UX solution for simple workflows and non-specialised tasks, but there are no applications for complex supply chain processes.

For many supply chain transactions, applications using Fiori will need to be built from scratch, which is when customers may benefit from utilising an out-of-the-box mobile solution specially developed for a specific supply chain process.

For further information on mobile applications using SAP Fiori UX, please get in touch.