2019 is the year of SAP Fiori 3.0
This blog answers questions such as: Is SAP joining the AI First movement with Fiori 3.0? And can SAP keep up with the fast pace of a rapidly changing landscape?
In 2013, Fiori transformed the existing image of SAP. Suddenly, SAP was offering its users an attractive user interface. Work could be done on various devices, with a user experience that meets today’s standards.
This first version of Fiori was primarily known as “a set of apps” that you could easily use on various devices and that included the most commonly used SAP functionalities. Fiori 1.0 marked the beginning of a rapidly evolving SAP product.
With Fiori 2.0, which was released in 2016, the product became more complete and mature. The set of apps was expanded, and with the “User” and “Notification” areas, users now had a fully-fledged replacement for SAPGUI. With this version, SAP won the prestigious “Red Dot” award for best design concept.
Now, in 2019, we’ve reached the next step: SAP Fiori 3.0
Is SAP joining the AI First movement with Fiori 3.0? And can SAP keep up with the fast pace of a rapidly changing landscape?
FIORI 3.0
With ” “—the latest version of Fiori—SAP is focusing on three key areas.
- A consistent user experience by applying the same Fiori look and feel across the entire SAP product line;
- An intelligent system created by integrating SAP CoPilot into the Fiori Launchpad and adding machine learning capabilities to a range of features in Fiori;
- Increasing integration of tasks and data from various SAP products, including in a prioritized task list.
SAP chose to implement Fiori 3.0 in a fully phased approach for the first time. The first features became available in S/4HANA 1909 (SAPUI5 version 1.65) and S/4HANA Cloud 1909.
QUARTZ
In addition to the concepts mentioned above, Fiori’s appearance has also been given a modern look with the new Quartz theme.
What immediately stands out when you look at the Fiori Launchpad in the latest version of SAPUI5 is that the Quartz theme has a minimalist, neutral look that aligns with modern ideas about a good user interface. These design components are common across all major UI frameworks.
: The Main Differences:
- The header bar has become much smaller ;
- The “User” icon has been moved from the left to the right;
- The SAP logo on the left can now always be used to navigate back to the Fiori Launchpad;
- As a result, the “Home” icon has been removed from
- Finally, the app name “ ” is no longer centered in the header bar; it has been moved to the left side . It still provides access to the “All My Apps” feature.
SAP CoPilot
One of the intelligent features of Fiori 3.0 is SAP CoPilot. This feature allows you to ask the SAP system a question using voice or text. SAP CoPilot will then attempt to provide the correct answer through a variety of options, such as displaying specific statistics, navigating to a particular feature, or simply answering your question via voice or text.
SAP CoPilot will occupy a prominent position within the Fiori Launchpad, in the center of the header bar, and will always be available. CoPilot will be available by default in a future release, but is already available to a limited extent in certain (cloud) versions of S/4HANA.
With the acquisition of the chatbot platform Recast (https://recast.ai), SAP now has the technology and expertise to further optimize SAP CoPilot. Recast was rebranded as SAP Conversational AI in early 2019. This functionality allows you to design your own chatbot implementation. You can try it out with a trial account at https://cai.tools.sap.
SAP CoPilot and Fiori 3.0 will utilize machine learning. What this means in practice is not yet entirely clear. However, SAP states that this will help identify “Situations”—critical business situations that require action. SAP learns from the actions the user takes, which ultimately enables the system to automatically take over certain tasks from the user. This eliminates repetitive tasks, allowing the user to focus on more strategic and creative tasks. According to SAP, machine learning will also become increasingly embedded in various SAP processes.
Consistent & Integrated
More and more SAP products are adopting the Fiori look and feel. This allows users to do their work faster and more easily because the same principles are applied across the board. This consistent user experience will ultimately be implemented across the entire SAP product line. In addition to the look and feel, data from different systems is also becoming easier to integrate. This can lead, for example, to the consolidated task area—an overview of prioritized tasks from various SAP products in a single task list.
Conclusion
By incorporating “intelligent” concepts such as machine learning and chatbot technology into Fiori 3.0, SAP is indeed aligning itself with the “AI first” movement that has emerged globally. This means that every process and every action will ultimately be influenced by some form of artificial intelligence. This strategy ensures that Fiori—and SAP in general—continue to play a relevant role in the market.
