What is Actually in the Fiori Box?

What This Article Covers

Shaun Snapp

Published in

Brightwork SAP HANA

16 min readApr 6, 2016

What is SAP Fiori?
The SAP GUI
The Fiori Marketing Message
Critical Things to Understand About Fiori
Moving Past the Fantasy of Fiori
Digging Into Fiori
Customizing Fiori
Open Competition for Custom User Interface Application?
Is Fiori and Out of the Box UI Solution?

Introduction

Fiori is a critical component of SAP’s overall S/4HANA strategy.
Fiori is often explained as a replacement for SAPGUI, the user interface that is 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 important 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 is Fiori. However, this issue cannot be answered by the information provided by SAP. In fact, a very high percentage of people that work in SAP and SAP sales don’t understand what Fiori is themselves, at least 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 the real story on Fiori 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, so that is a shallow well of information also.

In this article will frequently refer to something called the SAP GUI. For 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 which will be instantly recognizable to those that have used or at least seen SAP.

The SAP GUI

Unattractive right? The SAP GUI has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult to use and taking a lot of time to accomplish things within. I use both SAP and other applications. When I compare the amount of time required to do any task, it always takes me far longer in SAP. That has been true since I started using SAP in 1997. You get faster with the interface with experience of course, but the productivity will always be capped at a low level if the SAP GUI is used.

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 has known the SAP GUI was a weakness for some time, and it is common knowledge in consulting partners of SAP as well. When I worked in a presales capacity, we would try to emphasize things like analytics, so that we could counteract the appearance of the SAP GUI.

SAP has spent lots of time and money attempting to address it’s perceived weaknesses. For instance, it has also tried to counteract the perception that it is complex — something I will cover in a future article.

SAP often presents the future of the SAP interface with what appears to be beautiful Fiori screens that look like the following:

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 within. 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.

The SAP GUI goes back decades, and while it has been significantly enhanced during this time, it is based upon 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 SAPGUI. Hasso Plattner was blunt interviews on the topic of Fiori in saying that customers had told SAP that the SAP UI “sucks.”

SAP often presents what appears to be beautiful Fiori screens that look like the following:

The SAP Fiori Apps Marking Message

Fiori is certainly 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 is essentially going to 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% 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 on a mobile device (hence the picture above). I can’t find the exact quote, but I do recall Hasso saying that essentially 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.

Now, for those of you that 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 that 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 essentially going to replace SAP GUI completely.

So Fiori has been and is being used to motivate or sell customers to moving to S/4HANA.

Fiori is based upon 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. This list above just describes the components that lay between the user interface, which is 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 literature written by analysts on this topic.

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 apps library for yourself here.
When one buys Fiori, say along with S/4 HANA only a very small number of screens, that are encompassed in ECC are included — that being 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. In fact, 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. That is Fiori is not providing an environment to create new apps, so one must use the apps provided by SAP.
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. In a future article, I will cover why SAP has done this, and what it has meant for Fiori adoption.
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 extraordinarily weak, which I will cover in a future article in detail. Furthermore, I believe at least some of this article was ghostwritten by SAP. This article is nonetheless 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 the inevitability of Fiori 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.

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 the reason it is incorrect is 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. SAP ECC, for example, has so many transactions that are complex, 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.

“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 that are presenting Fiori as a SAP GUI replacement — that know better are 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 away 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.

The primary use for Fiori would be for simple applications, for mobile applications — applications with high display content and limited user interaction.

That is, it is impossible to use S/4HANA exclusively with Fiori, and there is no way around SAP GUI being the primary user interface for S/4 HANA, Fiori would simply 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 why SAP has made Fiori primarily compatible with HANA. We will get into this topic in this article.

Below I have a screen shot of one SAP Fiori app on the Fiori App Library.

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, this means that 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 (that is ERP on HANA), which almost no one has done this. Therefore Fiori apps are being used much even though SAP no longer charges for them (that is charged for them directly).

Is There a Reason SAP Fiori Apps Should be Limited to HANA DB?

The answer is no. 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 just presented, and only a few analysts have dug down in 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 its a lot of work and a minuscule proportion of all of the screens for S/4HANA have been written. And this gets into a topic of development effort and timelines.

SAP and their partners routinely estimate very long and expensive development for anything in Fiori. This brings up a question which 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 the work of developing the custom screens is going to be put onto the customer, then 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 in customized user interface development tools. Customers should compare Fiori against competitors like AppsFreedom, Mendix, Caprica or Koni by cost, functionality, development easy, 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. In fact, 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 with 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 as 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.

Conclusion

The most important things to know about Fiori is that the SAP Fiori Apps will not be a replacement for SAP GUI, and Fiori only has a minuscule amount of coverage over the collection of screens that makeup 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 the extent of Fiori.

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 a SAP press conference and then simply 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 simply use an analyst — who has not investigated the SAP Fiori Apps in any detail, as a source.

SAP has changed its strategy on Fiori, from one of charging for the SAP Fiori Apps, to making Fiori as part of a packaged deal — that is packaged with HANA.

This is what is known as a Faustian bargain. It does not allow the SAP Fiori Apps to succeed on its own merits, but instead unnecessarily ties Fiori to HANA. However, there is no technical reason for this to be the case. SAP has put a large amount of effort into Fiori, but Fiori has a very poor future if SAP continues to limit the use of Fiori apps to customers that are running HANA.

Overall SAP is presenting customers with a risky product in Fiori. I cover the topic of enterprise software risk in great detail in the book Rethinking Enterprise Software Risk: Controlling the Main Risk Factors on IT Projects, and the fact that Fiori is offered by a large software vendor like SAP does not change these risks.

References

I cover Gartner in depth in the following book.

Gartner and the Magic Quadrant: A Guide for Buyers, Vendors, and Investors

How to Figure Out How to Effectively User Gartner

Whether you are a software buyer, a large or small vendor, or are wondering how Gartner can help you make better investment decisions, this book will give you new insights to Gartner’s research. By studying the methodology behind such popular analytical tools like the Magic Quadrant, you will understand how a vendor earned its rating and whether or not the ratings are justified!

Understanding Gartner, It’s History, and It’s Incentives

Starting with the history of Gartner and how it compares to other IT analyst firms, this book gives a realistic assessment of the value of Gartner research to a company and provides ideas about other resources that could complement Gartner’s analysis. You will also have the tools to level the playing field between large, medium and small vendors when using Gartner’s analysis in selecting software.

Chapters

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: An Overview of Gartner
Chapter 3: How Gartner Makes Money
Chapter 4: Comparing Gartner to Consumer Reports, the RAND Corporation, and Academic Research
Chapter 5: The Magic Quadrant
Chapter 6: Other Analytical Products Offered by Gartner
Chapter 7: Gartner’s Future and Cloud Computing
Chapter 8: Adjusting the Magic Quadrant
Chapter 9: Is Gartner Worth the Investment?
Chapter 10: Conclusion
Appendix a: How to Use Independent Consultants for Software Selection
Appendix b: What Does the History of Media Tell Us About This Topic
Appendix c: Disclosure Statements and Code of Ethics

Risk Estimation and Calculation

See our free project risk estimators that are available per application. The provide a method of risk analysis that is not available from other sources.