SAP BPC 7.5 NetWeaver BPF Configuration

How To... configure and execute Business Process Flows in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and Consolidation 7.5 version for SAP NetWeaver
Table of Contents
1. Scenario (1)
2. Background Information (1)
3. Step-by-Step Procedure (2)
3.1 Configuring BPF template (2)
3.2 Configuring BPF instance (12)
3.3 Executing the BPF (14)
3.4 Setting up Email notifications (27)
4. Appendices (30)
1.S cenario
In this guide we will explain how to configure Business Process Flows with SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version for SAP NetWeaver. Business Process Flows (BPFs) guide users through the sequence of tasks within a defined business process. Business process flows are comprised of steps ans sub steps that must be completed sequentially. We can use BPFs to guide users, depending upon their roles, through various steps. An example of a business process may be month end financial close or yearly budget approval or monthly forecast/projection cycle or financial consolidation etc. A BPC user may have to perform different roles in different business processes and thus can be assigned to various steps in the business processes that he/she is involved in. For example a user may be the reviewer of the monthly forecast step for a region but may be the main person doing month end financial close. BPF functionality elucidated here will guide that user through all the activities that he/she is associated with and can track the completion status of the activities and the business process as a whole.
The business scenario considered here consists of three steps. The first step is to seed the plan data; the second step is to enter manual changes and the third step is to ex ecute reports. The second step has three sub-steps. It requires review and can be reopened. The second step has ‘matched step regions’ as the opening criteria and the third step is set up with ‘all step regions’ as the opening criteria. While executing the BPF, we will complete the steps and sub steps; while reviewing, we will accept some steps as well as reject some steps. Also we will reopen the second step after it is completed. We will also set up email notifications. Thus this simplistic scenario has the ex amples of many possible options that are available while configuring and ex ecuting BPF.
2.B ackground Information
•Business Process Flow (BPF) functionality has been introduced in SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version for. The BPF functionality was not available in SAP
Business Objects Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for SAP NetWeaver
•The BPF functionality in SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version for SAP NetWeaver has enhanced functionality when compared to what was available in the SAP Business Objects Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for Microsoft.
• A list of BPF terminology used in this guide is provided in Appendix A with the definition of each term.
•This guide is created with SP00 and has some known issues that will be fixed in the later support packs. These issues are mentioned in Appendix B. Appendix D lists several BPF
Considerations for implementing this functionality.
•In order to configure BPF, there is a task called ‘M anageBPF’. This task controls all BPF administration actions. This does not require a role assignment. Any user with Admin client
installed can be assigned the ManageBPF task.
•For executing BPF, there is a task called ‘BP Fexe cute’. The user task profile is considered while executing any steps or sub-steps.
3.S tep-by-Step Procedure
Here we will describe the process to configure BPF template, create an instance from that template and then execute the BPF. The last section explains the set up required for realizing email notifications.
3.1Configuring BPF template
1. Log on to the Planning and Consolidation Administration client and click on ‘Business Process
Flo ws’. Click on ‘Create BPF T emplate’ in the action pane.
2. Enter the name and description of the BPF. Enter the controlling application
3. Click on ‘Instance identifier’ and select the dimensions to create BPF instances. Please note
that only time type dimension is preselected by the system and is the only required dimension.
However it is a best practice to select at least two dimensions to define an instance.
4. Click on ‘Set Access’ to select either the users or teams who should have access to this BPF.
5. Click ‘Nex t’ to create the steps and sub steps. Click ‘A dd’ to add a step. Enter the details as
shown below for the step to seed the 2009 plan data from 2008 plan data.
6. Please note that in this step we have set ‘Allow reope n’ to ‘No’ and Opening criteria as ‘All step
region’. ‘Allow reopen’ will allow that step to be reopened after completion. If this is set to ‘No’that step can’t be reopened during execution. Opening criteria ‘All step regions’ will enable opening of the next step only after all step regions are complete whereas in case of ‘Match ed step regio n’ when we complete a step region, the next step opens for the same step region. The first step of the BPF always opens regardless of the opening criteria. Defining these options will be important for the second step onwards. Click on ‘Define Step Region Criteria’ and enter the
details as follows.
7. Please note that we can select any property as the owner property. The property that we select
must have fully qualified user name as shown below. The same rule applies for the reviewer property also that we will use in the next BPF step.
8. Please note that the ‘Ch oose reviewer property’ is grayed out in the screen capture below
because we did not check the box ‘Enable Reviewers’ in the earlier screen. Click ‘O K’ to go back to the step and ‘O K’ again to go back to the wizard.
9. Select the dimension members as shown below. We can select up to 6 dimension members
here. The available selection formulas are SELF, BAS and DEP.
10. Similarly create another step as shown below. Please note that in this case, we are enabling
review, allowing reopen and setting the opening criteria to ‘Ma tched Step Region’. Selecting ‘Matched Step reg ion’ will enable opening of the corresponding step region from the next step after completing a step region. Please note that here we have to use the same driver dimension for this step and the next to avoid a deadlock (referred to in Appendix B).
11. Click on ‘D efine Step Region Criteria’ and enter the information as shown below. Please note
that we can choose any property to be the reviewer property. However it is a good practice to name the properties accordingly for easy identification.
12. Include the dimension members similar to the previous step.
13. Click on ‘Add new sub-step’ and add a sub-step to this step as shown below
14. Enter step 3 as follows. Please note that we have set ‘A llow Reopen’ to ‘No’ and ‘Opening
Criteria’ to ‘All Step Regions’.
15. Click on ‘D efine Step Region Criteria’ and set it up as shown below.
16. Include dimension members similar to the previous step.
17. Click ‘O K’ to go back to the step and ‘O K’ to go back to the wizard.
18. Click ‘Nex t’ to access the actions. Click on the first step to seed data and select ‘data manag er’
from the interface and DATA MAN AGER’ from the task as shown below. Please note that the default action is created automatically and we can add more actions if needed.
19. Click on the sub step ‘Enter changes for US’ and for the default action, select ‘Inte rface for
Ex cel’ in the interface and ‘Schedule library’ in the task as shown below.
20. Please note that we can select any previously saved input schedule by clicking the ‘B ro wse’
button. In this case, we are selecting a dynamic template. For each dimension, note the current view type. Since we selected Category and Time in the instance identifier, we have an option to inherit those values from the instance. Please note that the P_CC (entity type dimension) is restricted to only one value ‘US’.
21. Please note that we are entering all these actions in the tab ‘step actions’. The review actions
are not available with SP00. As a workaround, we can also use a step or sub step (similar to
ones we are creating) for review actions. In this simplistic scenario, we will be skipping the
review actions.
22. Enter a second action in the same sub-step to recheck and send the data. Please note the task
selected (SEND ACTIVE WORKSHEET).This is an ex ample of entering multiple actions for the same step/sub-step.
23. Click ‘Back’ to go to earlier screen to define steps and sub-steps. Click on the sub-step ‘Enter
changes for US’ and click on ‘Cop y’ button. Enter the name as ‘Enter changes for Canad a’ and click OK. Similarly copy the sub-step to ‘enter changes for Germany’.
24. Click ‘Nex t’ to go to actions. Click on the sub-step ‘Enter rates for Canada’ and change the
P_CC member from US to Canada as shown below. Similarly for the sub-step ‘Enter changes for Germany’ ch ange the P_CC member to Germany.
25. Click ‘Sav e’ to save the BPF template. You may receive messages as shown below. Select
‘Yes’ to save the template.
26. Click on the BPF template that was saved and click on ‘Validate BPF template’.
27. Answer ‘Yes’ to the following question.
28. You may receive validation errors if you have missed a step or mistyped it or if there is some
other inconsistency. Otherwise, you will receive a message as follows.
3.2Configuring BPF instance
1. In the previous section, we created a template. In this section, we will use that template to
create a BPF instance that we will ex ecute in the next section.
2. Click on the BPF validated in the above step and then click on ‘Create BPF Instance’.
3. Please note that the dimensions that we set as the instance identifiers are displayed in the first
step. Select the pertinent dimension members.
4. In the next step, we select the instance owner. The instance owner can reopen a step
regardless of involvement in the step.
5. Click on ‘Create BPF instance’.
6. We will be presented with a preview as shown below. We can update the owner or reviewer
here.
7. Click ‘Finish’ to end the process.
8. Click on ‘Ma nage BPF instan ce’. The default filter setting is to show active BPF instances and
the one that we created in the above step may not show up here.
9. Change the filter setting to ‘inactiv e’ and click ‘r efres h’. The newly created BPF instance will now
be displayed as shown below.
10. Click the checkbox next to the instance and click on the ‘Activa te’ button to activate it. Change
the filter setting to ‘Active’ and click ‘Refresh’ again. The newly activated instance shows up in the list of active instances.
11. Now we are ready to execute this BPF instance.
3.3Executing the BPF
1. Click on ‘Interface for the W eb’
2. Click on ‘Business Process Flo ws’
3. The business process flow opens up with the first step already opened.
4. Click on the step and that will take us to the next screen as shown below.
5. Click on the step name ‘Se e d’ and that will launch Excel interface with the Data Manager
actions as per the settings in the BPF action.
6. . Please note that the values that we hard coded in the action screen of the BPF template have
been passed correctly (for example P_Activity = A005, P_CC = US etc).
7. However the values that we set as ‘inherit from BPF instance’ have not been inherited properly -
this is a known issue which will be corrected in future support packs.
8. We can change the current view suitably and then execute the step to copy data from 2008 to
2009
9. After completing the step, we can click ‘Back to B PF’ to take us back to the BPF.
10. Clicking ‘complete’ will complete this step now.
11. Click on ‘back to my activities’ to go back and view the status of our activities.
12. Please note the status of the steps now. Only ‘M aintenance price’ data region is open for
entering changes. The ‘Pe rsonnel price’ data region is not yet open for entering changes. This is because we created the enter changes step with ‘matched step regio n’ criteria for opening the step.
13. Click on the open step for ‘enter changes’ for ‘m aintenance price’ and we will get the screen as
shown below.
14. We get the three sub-steps as we had created. Please note that the description of the sub-step
that we created was ‘Enter changes for US’ but the sub-step displayed truncates the ‘for US’part. This is something that we should be aware of while entering descriptions of the sub steps.
15. Click on the first sub-step and that will open the interface for Excel with the template that we
provided in the action setting as shown below.
16. Please note the available tasks are as per the action settings. In this step we can make the
changes to the seeded plan data and send the data after verifying the values as the sub step suggests.
17. Click on ‘Back to BPF’ after sending the data. Please note that this step should be reported
complete only after all the three sub steps are done. Click on the second sub step and that will open up the input schedule to make the changes for Canada. Make the necessary changes and send the data.
18. Similarly complete the sub step 3 for Germany.
19. Since we are done with all the sub steps here, we can complete this step.
20. Click ‘complete’ and then the status will change to ‘submitted’ as shown below.
21. This step requires review and hence the reviewer will get the screen as shown above where
he/she can accept or reject the changes entered by the planner in the above step.
22. If we want to see the status of the BPF at this stage, we can click on ‘back to my activities’. The
status of the BPF in ‘My activit ies’ will be as follows at this stage
23. Please note that the upper portion of the ‘my activities’ screen will show the overall progress of
the BPF as shown below.
24. If the reviewer wants to reject the changes, he or she can click on the ‘reject button. That will
change the status of the step to ‘Reje cted’ as shown below.
25. The ‘my activities’ screen will also show this status as shown below.
26. At this stage, the planner can review the changes he/she has made, and complete the step so
that it is resubmitted for review.
27. If the reviewer now accepts the changes by clicking ‘a cce pt’ button, the status will change as
follows
28. The ‘my activities’ screen will show the status as follows:
29. Please note that the step execute reports for ‘maintenance price’ data region is still pending
though the preceding steps for that data region are complete. This is because the ‘e xecute reports’ step is created with ‘all’ criteria. Hence it will open up only after the preceding step is complete for all data regions and not just the matching data regions.
30. We can now complete the ‘see d’ and ‘ent er changes’ steps for ‘per sonnel price’ data region is
similar way.
31. After the reviewer accepts the changes for ‘per sonnel price’ data region, the ‘e xecute reports’
step will open up as shown below.
32. Click on the execute reports step for ‘Maintenance pric e’ and that will open up the step as
shown below. Please notice the action ‘re-open step at the right hand top corner. We are able to see this because the earlier step was created with ‘allow re-ope n’ as ‘yes’.
33. We will now see the re-open feature of BPF. The business scenario is that we have completed a
step and proceeded to the next step (as we have proceeded to Step 3) and then we want to go back to the completed step (step 2 in our case) and make changes. Please note that we can go back only one step at a time here. So, if we have say 6 steps in the BPF, out of which steps
2,3,4,5 are re-open enabled and we want to reopen step 2 after we have completed step5, then in that case, we have to go back sequentially. Hence in that situation, we will re-open step 5,4,3 and then 2 in that order. In our example here, we are opening only one step.
34. Click on re-open step. This will open the earlier step of enter changes and change the status of
the current step of ‘execute reports’ to ‘delayed’ as shown below.
35. The status of the BPF in ‘my activities’ will now be as shown below.
36. Please note that the status of enter changes is ‘reopened’ and not just ‘open’.
37. The planners can now enter changes and the reviewer can review those changes as we did in
the earlier step.
38. After the step ‘e xecute reports’ is open again, click on ‘execute reports’ for ‘mainte nance price’
region
39. Click on ‘e xecute reports’. That will open up the report as per the action settings for that step.
40. After verifying the reports, click ‘compl e te’ button to complete that step. The status of the BPF is
now as shown below.
41. Similarly execute reports for ‘p ersonnel price’ also and complete the step.
42. The top portion of the BPF now shows that all the steps are complete.
43. After all the steps of the BPF are complete, the BPF owner has an option to ‘Finalize the BPF. In
order to do that, click on ‘Mo nitor’.
44. The BPF instance owner will have the option to ‘Fin a lize’ the BPF by clicking the ‘Finalize
proc ess’ button.
45. Once the BPF is finalized, it can be seen in the monitor and in ‘My activities’ screen with status
filter set to ‘Finalized’.
46. Once the BPF is finalized, it is no longer active. The finalized BPF can be archived from the
‘Manage BPF instance’ action in the BPC Admin console.
47. Please note that BPF ca n’t be deleted. They can only be archived to remove them from the BPC
Admin console.
48. The archived BPFs are available for reporting if needed. In order to report on archived BPF,
click on ‘Archived instances report’
49. It will show the BPF instances by template.
3.4Setting up Email notifications
1. In order to maintain the email notification template, go to transaction se38 in SAP GUI and enter
program name UJB_MAINTAIN_EMAIL_TMPL
2. Click ‘execute’ and enter the template id, the email template type C and ‘Is active’ as Y.
3. Maintain the email template for the email notification
4. The available variables in the email template include %INSTANCE_NAME%, %STEP_NAME%,
%URL%, %STEP_REGION_NAME%. These variables will be replaced at run time with real values.
5. The email server name to send the email notifications is maintained in the server manager
6. The email notification is received as shown below. The URL in the email can be used to access
the BPF directly. It takes us to the ‘my activities’ screen.
7. The conditions for email notifications as well as recipients for each condition are listed in
Appendix C.
4.A ppendices
4.1Appendix A – BPF Terminology
4.2Appendix B – Recipients of Email notifications
4.3Appendix C – BPF Considerations
We have the following BPF considerations for using Business Process Flows in SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version for SAP NetWeaver with SP00. These considerations can be categorized into three categories namely sizing, BPF template and BPF instance.
•Considerations regarding sizing restrictions
0 Up to 1 million step regions per BPF instances can be defined. The step regions can be
calculated as a product of the number of steps and number of regions.
0 Up to 1 t housand steps per BPF template/instance can b e defined.
0 Up to 100 BPF templates per appset can be defined.
0 Up to 24 BPF instances per BPF template can be allowed
•Considerations regarding BPF templates
0 The controlling application governs both t he t ime dimension for BPF instances and t he
available dimensions for step regions.
0 We have to define the BPF instance identifier separately and it will not default to the
current view
•Considerations regarding BPF instance
0 The end-user can use ‘re open’in the user interface to reset a BPF instance step.
0 Only end-user tasks are available t o define a BPF and not administrative tasks.
0 The first step will always be opened, regardless of how the opening criterion for the step
is defined in the BPF template.
0 Reopen function is available only for the prior step than the current one. Hence the last
step of a process ca n’t be reopened once that step is completed.
0 We can deactivate and archive a BPF instance to manage the display of active and
inactive BPF instances.
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