| Status | Approved |
| Owner | |
| Stakeholders |
Issue
The current standard SAP PPM application provides a fragmented and inefficient user experience. Users are required to navigate across multiple applications and screens to create and approve a PPM item, resulting in complexity, reduced usability, and process inefficiencies.
Early in the program, it was agreed that an improved, streamlined user experience would be required to support effective PPM item creation and approval. This Key Design Decision (KDD) therefore aims to evaluate the available technical options to deliver a new UI. Following are the options evaluated as part of the KDD.
Develop a custom application in-house – Design and build a tailored solution aligned to business and governance requirements.
Purchase and implement a partner solution – Leverage an existing third-party product to provide enhanced PPM UI capabilities.
Enhance the standard SAP UI using SAP Screen Personas – Simplify and optimize the current screens with required backend changes.
Recommendation
It is recommended to proceed with Option 3: Custom In-House Development based on the following factors:
- Stronger user acceptance
- Full alignment with the Syway development approach for complex builds
- Complete control over design to ensure business requirements are fully met
- Easy to Support in BAU compared to other options
While Option 2: SAP Screen Personas presents a slightly lower upfront implementation cost, the difference over a five-year horizon is minimal. This marginal saving would come at the expense of a compromised user experience and would not provide the guided, modern interface expected by the business. In addition, applying Screen Personas to a requirement of this complexity would not align with Syway development standards, which position Personas for simple screen enhancements rather than complex application solutions.
From a support and sustainability perspective, a custom-built Fiori application can be supported by the existing Fiori development team, ensuring consistency in skills, standards, and long-term maintainability. In contrast, Screen Personas requires specialized skills that are not widely used in other developments, introducing unnecessary complexity and long-term dependency on niche expertise.
Accordingly, Screen Personas is not recommended.
Background & Context
The “Portfolio Items” app is the primary transaction used to execute PPM processes in S/4HANA. However, the standard UI presents several significant shortcomings:
- It is based on legacy WebDynpro technology and is not aligned with modern Fiori design principles.
- Screens are convoluted, poorly structured, and not user-friendly.
- Creation of a PPM item requires multiple manual steps, including navigation between S/4HANA and SAC Planning.
- The standard UI does not guide users through the end-to-end process and provides no visibility on data completeness or required inputs.
Business expectations for the future-state user experience are influenced by the current WeGo/Accolade and Colmar tools, which provide a significantly more intuitive and streamlined interface. In addition, KDD096 – Replacement of Accolade assumes that an improved user interface will be delivered as part of the target solution.
SAP has confirmed that there are no planned UI improvements for Portfolio Items on their product roadmap. As a result, following alternative approaches must be evaluated.
Option 1: Partner Solution – SophisTex Add-On: SAP has suggested a certified partner solution from sophisTex that provides a more flexible and user-friendly interface. The following features are included:
- S/4HANA certified Add-on by SAP ICC
- Achieves Clean Core, no impact on S/4HANA EPPM upgradability
- Delivered with a default set of configuration to reduce implementation time
- Flexibility to further customize and enhance
- Stage Gate approval functionality is incorporated.
Option 2: SAP Screen Personas: SAP Screen Personas offers the capability to reformat and simplify existing WebDynpro screens. This approach would improve layout and usability but would not fundamentally redesign the process or have elaborate guided workflow capabilities.
Option 3: Custom In-House Development: An alternative approach would be to develop a custom application in-house. Combined with the SAP Consulting solution for Stage Gate approvals, this option could deliver equivalent functionality, including guided process steps, improved usability, and integrated approval management, fully tailored to business requirements.
Assumptions
It is assumed that:
- All options will require internal custom development for:
- Integration with OpenText
- Integration with SAC
- Automation of follow-on actions on Stage Gate approval
- The sophisTex solution will be fully tested and relatively bug-free, while an in-house development will inherently require more effort in testing and resolution of bugs.
- A dedicated UI developer would be required for a fully custom UI build.
- There will be approximately 2000 users of PPM
- SAP PPM licenses will be required regardless of the UI
Constraints
N/A
Impacts
The decision on UI does impact up-stream or down-stream processes or data.
The main impacts of the decision are:
- Financial (both to the project and ongoing BAU costs)
- In-house development team capacity
- Time to deliver
- Testing effort
Financial Impact
The following section outlines the financial impact of each option evaluated as part of this KDD. The analysis reflects the total cost of ownership over a five-year period, including implementation costs, licensing (where applicable), enhancements, and ongoing support and maintenance.
Option 1: sophisTex Partner Solution
| Approx. Cost (5 years) | Project Cost | Ongoing Cost | Total 5 years |
=€ 450 *20 users *2 years during build & test | €18,000 | ||
=€140k *1 year for go-live (2000 users) | €140,000 | ||
=€140k *2 years post go-live (2000 users) | € 280,000 | ||
| =40 days * €1500 for sophisTex consulting during build (OT integration, SAC integration, workflow, other enhancements) | € 60,000 | ||
| =20 days * €1500 for sophisTex support during SIT/UAT/cutover | € 30,000 | ||
| =15 days * €1000 for in-house design for complex WRICEF | € 15,000 | ||
| =20 days * €1000 in-house build - custom PPP configuration | € 20,000 | ||
| =30 days in-house build * €1000 for approval workflow solution | 30,000 | ||
| € 313,000 | € 280,000 | € 593,000 |
Option 2: Screen Personas
| Approx. Cost (5 years) | Project Cost | Ongoing Cost | Total 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| =20 days design for very complex WRICEF | € 20,000 | ||
| =25 days build for custom fields and validations | € 25,000 | ||
| =15 days * 1000 EUR for in-house UI build | € 15,000 | ||
| =10 days* 1000 EUR for in-house OT integration/enhancement | € 10,000 | ||
| =20 days SAP build for approval workflow solution | € 40,000 | ||
| =30 days in-house build for approval workflow solution | € 30,000 | ||
| =ongoing cost 10% of the build cost per year | €14,000 | ||
| € 140,000 | € 14,000 | € 220,000 |
Option 3: In-house Development
| Approx. Cost (5 years) | Project Cost | Ongoing Cost | Total 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| =20 days design for very complex WRICEF | € 20,000 | ||
| =80 days * 1000 EUR for in-house UI build | € 80,000 | ||
| =20 days SAP build for approval workflow solution | € 40,000 | ||
| =30 days in-house build for approval workflow solution | € 30,000 | ||
| =ongoing cost 10% of the build cost per year | € 15,000 | ||
| € 170,000 | € 15000 | € 245,000 |
Option 4: Do Nothing - Keep the existing Standard Webdynpro screen
| Approx. Cost (5 years) | Project Cost | Ongoing Cost | Total 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| =20 days design for very complex WRICEF | € 20,000 | ||
| =20 days* 1000 EUR for in-house OT integration/enhancement | € 20,000 | ||
| =25 days design for custom fields and validations | € 25,000 | ||
| =20 days SAP build for approval workflow solution | € 40,000 | ||
| =30 days in-house build for approval workflow solution | € 30,000 | ||
| =ongoing cost 10% of the build cost per year | €11,500 | ||
| € 135,000 | € 11,500 | € 192,500 |
Business Rules
N/A
Options considered
Option 1: sophisTex Partner Solution
The sophisTex PPP solution provides a customizable user interface for PPM Item creation and maintenance. It is offered as a subscription-based model, with costs scaled according to the number of users.
The solution delivers an enhanced, flexible UI and includes embedded Stage Gate approval functionality. However, additional custom development would be required to address the following requirements:
Ability to navigate directly into SAC Planning for maintaining project financials
Integration with OpenText workspace
Automation of follow-on actions triggered by Stage Gate approval
The vendor has confirmed that these enhancements are feasible within the solution framework.
Refer to the linked solution pack for detailed functional and technical specifications.
Option 2: Screen Personas
SAP Screen Personas would be used to simplify and reformat the existing WebDynpro-based screens to improve usability.
This approach would deliver:
Simplified screens for Item creation and changes
Direct navigation to SAC Planning for project financial maintenance
However, further custom development would be required to enable:
“Save as Draft” or “Copy from Existing Item” functionality
Integration with OpenText workspace
Integration with the SAP Consulting Solution for Stage Gate approvals (cost included in the estimate)
Automation of follow-on actions after Stage Gate approval
While this option improves layout and usability, it remains dependent on the underlying WebDynpro framework and the custom development to support all the required functionalities.
Option 3: Custom In-house Development
Under this option, a new custom application would be developed to replace the standard Portfolio Items UI.
The application would be designed using modern Fiori principles and would provide a guided, end-to-end user experience aligned with business expectations and the replacement of Accolade (KDD096).
The solution would include:
Fiori-based user interface aligned with SAP design standards
Guided item creation process with validation and completeness checks
Direct navigation to SAC Planning for maintaining project financials
Integration with OpenText workspace
Integration with the SAP Consulting Solution for Stage Gate approvals (cost included in the estimate)
Automation of follow-on actions triggered by Stage Gate approval
This approach enables full alignment to business requirements and provides maximum flexibility for future enhancements.
Option 4: Standard Webdynpro
This option retains the standard WebDynpro application but introduces targeted enhancements.
The following capabilities would be implemented:
Custom fields and validations within the existing WebDynpro framework
Integration with OpenText workspace
Integration with the SAP Consulting Solution for Stage Gate approvals (cost included in the estimate)
Automation of follow-on actions triggered by Stage Gate approval
While this approach minimizes architectural change, it does not fundamentally modernize the user experience and continues to rely on legacy WebDynpro technology.
Evaluation
All four options were assessed against defined evaluation criteria, including functional fit, implementation cost and effort, UI flexibility, business acceptance, and alignment with the Syway development approach.
| Evaluation Criteria | Option 1 - sophisTex Partner Solution | Option 2 - Screen Personas | Option 3 - In-house Development (recommended) | Option 4 - Standard WebDynpro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fit to Standard |
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| Implementation Cost |
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|  Medium implementation cost, minimal ongoing cost | Medium implementation cost, minimal ongoing cost |
| Implementation Effort |
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| Design & UI Flexibility |
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| Full flexibility to incorporate business requirements |  No option to customize |
| Business Acceptance |
| Meets most business expectations/requirements | Meets all business expectations/requirements | Does not meet business expectations/requirements |
| Alignment with Syway Development Approach |
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| Meets Syway approach for complex requirement build | Not aligned with Syway development approach |