John Moy discusses his experiences and insights on mobility within SAP, emphasizing the rapid evolution of mobile technology and its impact on developers. He outlines various mobile architecture options available in SAP, including native and hybrid approaches, and highlights the challenges posed by the fast-paced nature of mobile development. The document serves as both a personal exploration of mobile development and a technical overview for other SAP developers.

1. Mobility and SAP –
A Developer’s Perspective
John Moy
March 2012

2. Firstly, a disclaimer …
Thoughts and opinions expressed here
represent my own and not those of SAP
or my employer
All content provided in this
presentation is for informational
purposes only. The author makes no
representations as to the accuracy or
completeness of any information in
this presentation. The author will not
be liable for any errors or omissions in
this presentation nor for the
availability of this information.
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3. A little bit about me …
Earlier years as ABAPer, Java & Web developer, SAP Portals
consultant
Worked in professional services for 15 years, now working
for a large SAP customer
Current SAP UI & Mobility Architect (with SAP customer)
SCN Contributer, SAP Mentor
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4. Personal forays into Mobile …
myHelp
iOS Co-author
Parcel SAP Mentors
App
Track iOS Outreach
Native App iOSiPhone +
(prototype SAUG iPad edition
only, never Summit (with Bjorn Weigand
and John Astill)
published) Presentation SUP 2.0 trial
(MAM, Blackbay etc.)
2009 2010 2011 2012
My first real
Smartphone
iPhone 3GS
Reading, Uber Geek jQuery myHelp TechEd 2011 Experiments
Tutorials, Native Mobile, Native Las Vegas with latest SUP 2.1.2
Prototypes iOS App HTML5, Android co-presenter using SUP Developer
(night hours) PhoneGap App & demo Center (on CloudShare)
prototypes (with Sascha
Wenninger)
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5. But …. I am not an expert!
Mobile technology is evolving so
quickly that mobile developer
skills and expertise depreciates at
an alarming rate
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6. Mobility in the context of Pace Layering
Mobile UI technologies, SDKs & Devices (FASTEST)
Mobile Abstraction & Management
Middleware (eg. SUP + Afaria)
REST enablement
(eg. NW Gateway)
Core SAP (SLOWEST)
Pace of mobile evolution presents an enormous challenge
for SAP product development, and for mobile developers.
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7. Deconstructing SAP’s Mobile Architecture …
(As at 1 March 2012)
Devices
Sybase Relay
Server
Sybase Sybase Unwired
Afaria Platform
(Mobile Device Management)
Other Data Sources
SAP NetWeaver - JDBC (Databases)
- Web Services
Gateway - REST Services
- SAP RFC
Core SAP Business
Suite
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8. Option #1: Using MBOs + Native Clients
(As at 1 March 2012)
Native development
Devices using Client Object APIs
Design time: Generate
baseline native app code (optional) development
Sybase Relay in Unwired Server
-Result set filters
Server -Result checkers
- Custom transforms
- Data change notifications
Sybase Sybase Unwired
Afaria Platform
(Mobile Device Management)
Other Data Sources
Design time: Model mobile - JDBC (Databases)
business objects - Web Services
- REST Services
- SAP RFC
Core SAP Business
Suite
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9. Option #2: Using MBOs + Hybrid Web Container
(As at 1 March 2012)
Mobile Workflow Package
Devices Customize with HTML/CSS/Javascript
(optional) development
Sybase Relay in Unwired Server
-Result set filters
Server -Result checkers
- Custom transforms
- Data change notifications
Sybase Sybase Unwired
Afaria Platform
(Mobile Device Management)
Other Data Sources
Design time: Model mobile - JDBC (Databases)
- Web Services
business objects and - REST Services
define form layouts - SAP RFC
Core SAP Business
Suite
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10. Option #3: Using NW Gateway + OData Channel*
(As at 1 March 2012)
Native OData SDK
Devices (iOS/Android/Blackberry)
Sybase Relay
Server SUP serves as
on-line data proxy
Sybase Sybase Unwired
Afaria Platform (lite)
(Mobile Device Management)
NW Gateway Config
SAP NetWeaver + ABAP (if necessary)
Gateway
Core SAP Business
* This architecture currently
supported only for on-line apps
Suite
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11. Find me on Twitter
@jhmoy