Following the VNSG webinar “Central Point of Access with SCP Launchpad” on September 22, 2020, I (Julian Kuipers) took a closer look at the SAP Cloud Platform Launchpad (SCP Launchpad). The technology promises a single point of access to all the applications and services users need to perform their daily tasks. This applies to both SAP and non-SAP products. But what exactly is the concept and technology behind SCP Launchpad? And what benefits does using SCP Launchpad offer you?
The Launchpad: Efficiency
We’re already familiar with the Launchpad from SAP Fiori. Now this concept is being rolled out more widely so that other SAP products can also benefit from the Launchpad. SAP outlines its vision of improving productivity and efficiency through a single entry point for all applications. This is a welcome idea for bringing order to SAP’s many products. Think of Analytics, SuccessFactors, S/4 HANA (Cloud), Business Suite, Enterprise Portal, Cloud Platform, and so on. On top of that, there are also the applications and services that aren’t from SAP but that you use every day. The biggest advantage of SCP Launchpad is therefore the easy access to all necessary apps, content, tasks, and notifications, both in the cloud and on-premise. The Launchpad follows the SAP Fiori design guidelines, ensuring a consistent and intuitive user experience. In addition, users can personalize their homepage so that it best suits their needs. The SCP Launchpad uses intuitive role-based navigation with flexible content, similar to what we’re familiar with from the Fiori Launchpad. The theme can also be customized to align with the organization’s brand and corporate identity. Combined with Single Sign-On, we expect a seamless user experience. All in all, this sounds promising.
SCP Launchpad: How It Works
Let’s take a look at how the SCP Launchpad works. The SAP Cloud Platform runs a number of core services that support the SCP Launchpad, including the theme designer, inbox, notifications, and security & SSO. In addition, various types of content are exposed to the Launchpad from within SCP itself (such as SAPUI5 apps) and from external sources, such as other cloud products or on-premises products (via the cloud connector). See below for a high-level architecture overview.
The products are standalone and can continue to be used as such. In this case, the SCP Launchpad serves purely as a hub and gateway. It displays content from all connected sources and navigates to the relevant source when clicked. If an SAP product is a source, these products will share their content structure with the SCP Launchpad in a Common Data Model (CDM). The SCP Launchpad reads this model to correctly display the content, ensuring that all connected sources can display their content on the central launchpad.
Standalone applications can be configured manually, such as by assigning them to a Fiori application. For more advanced integration, the administrator can use the CDM format to link applications to the SCP Launchpad.
Tools are available for administrators to create and manage multiple Launchpads, such as those for different departments, customers, employees, and suppliers.
Conclusion
Many aspects of the SCP Launchpad can be traced back to SAP’s other Launchpads. SAP has cleverly expanded the concept of the existing Launchpads to encompass all products. This ensures that all advancements from the other products are incorporated into the SCP Launchpad, allowing it to launch as a relatively mature product. Many customers who started using Fiori in the “pre-S/4HANA era” will actively use—or have used—the central hub deployment of the Fiori Launchpad. They will recognize this central scenario with a single Launchpad. Now that more and more customers are migrating to S/4HANA, the Launchpad is embedded, and many standard apps are offered directly through it. Many customers have multiple SAP Fiori Launchpads simply because of the existing hub deployment, in addition to various S/4HANA systems.
The Cloud Platform Launchpad as a Service offers the ability to integrate—often seamlessly—into a single central launchpad via the CDM feature described above. Of course, this integration is most convenient for a user when they need multiple apps as part of their role, so they don’t have to navigate to different launchpads to find and open a specific app. This means you only need one launchpad. This is just one example. In addition, due to the various SAP Cloud solutions, there are often already multiple launchpads within an organization. Consolidation is definitely a must, especially from the user’s perspective.
There is also the issue of maintenance. SAP maintains the Launchpad and handles upgrades as well. When the Launchpad is deployed on-premises, the in-house IT team is responsible for all maintenance of the SCP Launchpad, in addition to all other IT management tasks.
What became clear to me during the webinar is that SAP is investing heavily in the development of the SCP Launchpad. The Launchpad isn’t finished yet, so integration with an S4 system isn’t possible just yet, unfortunately. However, this is at the top of SAP’s priority list and is expected as early as the beginning of 2021. Integration with a slightly older gateway system (central or embedded) will follow shortly thereafter.
I can’t wait to see how quickly SCP Launchpad will evolve into the single point of access to all SAP products and other applications, allowing users to perform all their tasks from a single location. There’s also a major benefit for administrators: now they only need to manage one type of Launchpad instead of multiple Launchpads for different SAP products. Want to learn more about the SCP Launchpad? Or would you like to share your experience? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
