extending sap applications to blackberry wireless devices

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Extending SAP Applications toBlackBerry Wireless Devices

Understanding the Opportunities and Development Options


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Contents

Contents..........................................................................................................................1Introduction .....................................................................................................................3

Audience......................................................................................................................3

Purpose .......................................................................................................................3Understanding the Opportunity ....................................................................................3

Overview of BlackBerry and SAP Technologies ..............................................................5Overview of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and Wireless Application Development5

Introduction to BlackBerry ........................................................................................................ 5BlackBerry Wireless Devices ................................................................................................... 5BlackBerry Enterprise Server................................................................................................... 6BlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS)................................................................. 6

Overview of SAP Applications and Infrastructure .........................................................8Introduction to SAP .................................................................................................................. 8SAP Applications and Modules ................................................................................................ 8SAP Infrastructure and Developer Tools.................................................................................. 8SAP Mobile Technologies ........................................................................................................ 9

Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry: Understanding the Options ........................10Introduction to Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry .........................................10Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry Using a Browser-Based Model ................10

SAP Mobile Sales Online for BlackBerry ............................................................................... 11

SAP Web Dynpro ................................................................................................................... 11SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer......................................................................................... 13SAP Portal Development Kit and iViews................................................................................ 13SAP Business Explorer (BEx) Web Application Designer ..................................................... 14SAP ABAP Workbench and Web Dynpro for ABAP .............................................................. 16Third Party Web Development Tools ..................................................................................... 17

Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry Using a Rich-Client Model .......................18BlackBerry Java Development Environment.......................................................................... 18BlackBerry MDS Studio and SAP Web Services ................................................................... 22

Leveraging the BlackBerry and SAP Partner Communities ........................................27Working with SAP SI and ISV Partners.................................................................................. 27Working with BlackBerry SI and ISV Partners ....................................................................... 27

Summary.......................................................................................................................29Additional Resources ....................................................................................................30


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BlackBerry Enterprise Solution components ..............................................................30SAP Mobile Developer Tools and Applications...........................................................30BlackBerry Developer tools........................................................................................30Third Party Applications available for BlackBerry .......................................................30


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Introduction

Audience

This document is intended for existing SAP customers, ISV partners and Systems Integratorswho are interested in gaining a better understanding of how to access SAP applications onBlackBerry wireless devices. It is written for SAP developers, analysts and system architectsand assumes a general knowledge of SAP applications and developer tools. However, it doesnot assume any previous knowledge of BlackBerry or wireless application development.

Purpose

The goal of this document is to help you understand what the current options are for mobilizingSAP applications to BlackBerry devices using various SAP modules including BusinessIntelligence (BI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources (HR), Financeand Supply Chain Management (SCM). It will focus on helping you understand what developertools are available from both Research In Motion (RIM), creators of the BlackBerry solution andSAP to help you build custom applications for BlackBerry devices. Both browser-based and rich-client development approaches will be discussed along with tips and best practices for building

optimized applications for BlackBerry. All of the various development approaches presented inthis document can leverage the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for secure connectivity from theBlackBerry device to the corporate intranet, so the emphasis is placed on developing effectiveuser-friendly applications rather than managing wireless data connections and security.

Understanding the Opportunity

Many large organizations rely on SAP technology and applications to manage their criticalbusiness processes, such as sales force automation, supply chain management, financialplanning and employee human resource management. Traditionally, the majority of theseapplications have been designed for use on a desktop computer or personal laptop with a largescreen size and a reliable high-speed connection over a local area network (LAN). However,many organizations are now deploying wireless handheld devices such as BlackBerry to providetheir employees with seamless access to corporate email, calendaring and other applicationsvirtually anywhere, anytime. And with recent advancements in device processing power andwireless network bandwidth, there is now a great opportunity to extend these existing SAPapplications and processes to BlackBerry devices to improve access to information andstreamline business processes.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution provides a unique opportunity to mobilize SAP applicationsquickly, securely and at a low cost to develop and deploy. You can provide your users orcustomers with seamless remote access to SAP applications to view important information orreports, submit data from the field or receive notifications and alerts. Some common examples ofhow organizations are extending SAP applications to BlackBerry include:

Delivering BI reports and analytics to mobile executives for immediate viewing

Enabling remote access to workflow and approvals from HR and Finance, such as time and

expense management or purchase order approvals Providing remote access to customer information including orders, shipments and

opportunities

Providing remote access to SCM information such as inventory, exception alerts and reports

By mobilizing these types of applications, organizations are starting to realize a variety of benefitsincluding reduced costs, increased competitiveness, new revenue opportunities and increasedproductivity.


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To better understand how to deliver these types of applications to BlackBerry, it is important tofirst understand how the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution works and how it can enable seamlessand secure wireless access to your SAP applications. It is also important to understand whatSAPs products are for custom application development and which of these are relevant toBlackBerry.


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Overview of BlackBerry and SAP Technologies

Overview of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and Wireless ApplicationDevelopment

Introduction to BlackBerry

The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution, developed by Research In Motion (RIM), is a wirelesssolution for organizations that are looking to empower their mobile employees with wirelessaccess to corporate data and applications. The solution consists of handheld devices, seamlesswireless network connectivity, secure access to the corporate intranet, handheld managementtools and wireless application development tools. Central to the BlackBerry Enterprise Solutionare the following three components:

BlackBerry Wireless Devices

BlackBerry Enterprise Server

BlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS).

The following diagram illustrates the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution architecture and

components:

BlackBerry Enterprise Solution Architecture

BlackBerry Wireless Devicesprovide users with an optimized handheld device for wireless voiceand data applications. The BlackBerry Enterprise Serverprovides the underlying secureconnectivity that enables BlackBerry devices to connect to the intranet, as well as the core

integration with the corporate email and Personal Information Management (PIM) solution. TheBlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS) represents the additional components andtools that enable you to build and deploy custom applications for BlackBerry beyond email andPIM.

BlackBerry Wireless Devices

BlackBerry devices operate on a variety of wireless networks worldwide, includingGSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA 1xRTT/EvDO, iDEN and Mobitex wide-area wireless networksas well as 802.11 local-area wireless networks. They provide the user with a core set of wireless


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applications including email, contact list, calendar, tasks, web browser and phone. There aremany different models of the BlackBerry device with the main differences being the network thatthey operate on, screen size and resolution, amount of available memory, and so on. However, itis important to understand that all BlackBerry device models support the same sets ofapplications and the same core operating environment for running custom applications,independent of the network operator or network type.

For delivering new applications and content to your end-users, BlackBerry devices include anintegrated web browser that supports rendering of standard HTML and WML web pages.BlackBerry devices also include a Java-based runtime environment that supports the JavaMicro Edition (Java ME) MIDP 2.0 standard for developing custom rich-client applications. Thesetopics will be discussed in more detail during the following discussion on the BlackBerry MobileData System.

For more detailed information on the different BlackBerry device models, please refer to thefollowing site: http://www.blackberry.com/products/handhelds/

BlackBerry Enterprise Server

The BlackBerry Enterprise Server is installed behind the corporate firewall to provide a securewireless gateway for all BlackBerry devices in the organization to access corporate email andPersonal Information Management (PIM) data. Currently it supports Microsoft Exchange,IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise messaging and collaboration platforms. TheBlackBerry Enterprise Server also provides the following key features:

Data encryption and compression

Handheld management and monitoring utilities

Simplified application provisioning and policy control

Integration with corporate Instant Messaging solutions including Lotus Sametime, MicrosoftLive Communication Server (LCS) and Novell Groupwise Messenger

To enable the devices web browser and custom wireless applications to access resourcesbehind the firewall, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server also includes the BlackBerry MDS Services.This component will be discussed in more detail during the following discussion on the BlackBerryMobile Data System.

For more detailed information on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, please refer to the followingsite: http://www.blackberry.com/products/enterprisesolution/

BlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS)

The BlackBerry MDS represents the various developer tools, runtime environments andconnection services that enable developers to build and deploy custom enterprise applications forBlackBerry. These components enable you to develop custom applications that leverage the

unique features of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry devices. BlackBerry MDSconsists of the following main components:

BlackBerry Browseron the BlackBerry device for browser-based applications

BlackBerry Java Development Environmenttoolkit and Java Virtual Machineon theBlackBerry device for custom rich-client Java applications

BlackBerry MDS Studiotoolkit and BlackBerry MDS Runtimeon the BlackBerry devicefor custom rich-client applications developed using a drag-and-drop methodology


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BlackBerry MDS Serviceson the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for proxying HTTP, TCP/IPand SOAP requests from the BlackBerry Browser and custom applications developed withthe BlackBerry JDE and BlackBerry MDS Studio

The following diagram illustrates the various components of the BlackBerry Mobile Data Systemand the architecture for accessing data and applications on corporate application servers such asSAP:

BlackBerry Mobile Data System

The BlackBerry Browseris included on all BlackBerry devices and supports rendering of standardHTML and WML content. The browser can be a simple way to access corporate data on theintranet without requiring much or any custom development. BlackBerry MDS Servicesis thecomponent on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server behind the firewall that manages the HTTPrequests for the BlackBerry Browser, enabling users to easily access intranet-based web content,such as SAP web pages.

The BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) provides all of the tools necessary to buildcustom Java applications for BlackBerry devices. Java applications can provide their own custom

user interface and local data storage model, and run locally on the BlackBerry device within theBlackBerry Java Virtual Machine. With more advanced features, Java applications can alsotightly integrate with the existing email, PIM and phone applications as well as Bluetooth-enabled peripheral devices such as GPS receivers, barcode scanners, signature capture pensand printers. BlackBerry MDS Servicesis the component on the BlackBerry Enterprise Serverbehind the firewall that manages the HTTP or TCP/IP requests from custom Java applications,enabling custom applications to easily access intranet-based applications and servers.

BlackBerry MDS Studiois a unique Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment thatenables developers to build custom rich-client applications for BlackBerry using a drag-and-dropmethodology. Applications can be designed visually using the Eclipse-based IDE, meaningdevelopers do not have to learn Java ME to build rich-client applications for BlackBerry. Forconnecting to SAP and other enterprise applications, BlackBerry MDS Studio supports the use ofweb services protocols, including WSDL, SOAP, XML, and UDDI. BlackBerry MDS Servicesisthe component on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server behind the firewall that manages the webservices connections between the handheld application and SAP (or other enterprise application),enabling custom applications to easily access intranet-based web services.

For more detailed information on the BlackBerry Mobile Data System, please refer to thefollowing site: http://www.blackberry.com/products/software/mds/


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Overview of SAP Applications and Infrastructure

Introduction to SAP

SAP is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suite that manages a variety of businessprocesses and data management tasks within large organizations. It has traditionally been a

LAN-based application suite enabling employees to enter and view corporate data from terminalsor desktops. SAP has recently evolved their product offering to include a core application server,dynamic runtime environment and custom integration tools, enabling remote access to a varietyof enterprise applications (including SAP and non-SAP applications) from a variety of clientsincluding browsers and wireless handhelds. Though each SAP implementation is customized tothe unique needs of each organization, there is a common set of core applications, developertools and infrastructure that most SAP developers and customers are now familiar with.

SAP Applications and Modules

Following is a list of some of the main SAP applications and modules that are most relevant whenit comes to delivering wireless applications:

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): HR, Finance, Operations

Supply Chain Management (SCM): Inventory Management, Procurement, etc.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Account Management, Order Entry andTracking, Sales Reporting, etc.

Intelligence (BI): Reporting and Analytics

Some of these applications, such as ERP and SCM, have been available for a number of years inlegacy SAP versions such as SAP R/3. Other applications, such as CRM and BI, have beenintegrated into more recent versions of SAP.

SAP Infrastructure and Developer Tools

SAP infrastructure and developer tools are the fundamental building blocks that enable enterprisedevelopers to customize their SAP applications. The roles and scope of the SAP infrastructurehas changed substantially over the last ten years. In 1997, SAP first introduced the InternetTransaction Server (ITS) which added the ability to create web-based interfaces into SAP R/3applications. In 2000, they introduced the mySAP Business Suite with their first enterprise portalframework and in 2003 they launched the SAP NetWeaver platform which provides a number ofkey components under a common framework, including:

SAP Web Application Server (Web AS)

SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI)

SAP Enterprise Portal and Portal Development Kit (PDK)

SAP Business Information (BI) Warehouse and Web Application Designer SAP Developer Studio with Visual Composer and Web Dynpro

SAP Mobile Infrastructure

With NetWeaver and Web AS, SAP was now in a position to provide an extensible frameworkthat supports interoperability with .NET and Java Application Servers, as well as a platform fordelivering enterprise web services. This was a very important step in creating a platform thatcould enable developers to easily customize and extend applications to a variety of disparateclients including mobile devices like BlackBerry. In 2005, SAP took another step forward in


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introducing their new Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA) platform. With ESA, SAP intends todeliver a broad set of application-independent enterprise services interfaces to make it easier andquicker for developers to build new custom applications and processes on top of their SAPapplications and data.

SAP Mobile Technologies

With NetWeaver and Web AS, SAP introduced a series of tailored products and developer toolsto enable mobile devices to easily interact with SAP applications. Though these mobiletechnologies are not always necessary to build mobile applications, they can greatly simplify theirdevelopment and management. For the most part, the SAP mobile technologies are categorizedunder three main segments:

SAP Mobile Infrastructure

SAP Mobile Web Dynpro

SAP Mobile Applications

SAP Mobile Infrastructure (MI) provides a framework for developing and deploying disconnectedmobile applications that target laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). SAP MI includesa local client that is installed on the mobile device, which manages the offline caching of data andtransactions and the subsequent synchronization of data with the SAP back-end. With SAP MI,users can interact with SAP applications while they are mobile and synchronize their data at alater time when they re-connect to the network. Today, SAP MI does not support BlackBerrydevices. Therefore, this document will not discuss using SAP MI.

SAP Web Dynpro (WDP), a component of SAP Developer Studio, provides a rich set of GUI-based development tools for publishing SAP applications and data to a web-based front-end foraccess from desktop browsers. WDP provides a common development toolkit for building webfront-ends for a variety of back-end SAP applications including BI, CRM, SCM, and ERP. WDPalso enables the development of custom web interfaces for access from web browsers on mobiledevices including BlackBerry. With Mobile Web Dynpro, developers can use these same tools topublish web pages that will be optimized for rendering on BlackBerry. Web-based applications

built with Mobile WDP are often referred to as Mobile Online Applications.SAP Mobile Applicationsrepresents a set of pre-built applications that SAP has alreadydeveloped using their own MI and Mobile WDP toolkits. The first SAP Mobile Application forBlackBerry is SAP Mobile Sales Online (MSOn). MSOn provides a pre-built web-based interfaceinto SAP myCRM that is optimized for the BlackBerry device. MSOn was developed by SAPusing Mobile WDP and provides a standard set of CRM functions to BlackBerry users. For moreinformation on MSOn, please refer to the section on Extending Applications to BlackBerry Using aBrowser-Based Model.

For more detailed information on SAP Mobile Technologies, please refer to the SAP SDN Mobilesite at: https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi.


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Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry: Understanding theOptions

Introduction to Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry

There are various options for extending SAP applications to BlackBerry using either a browser-based or rich-client approach. Because the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution provides each userwith a secure wireless connection to their corporate intranet, you can focus on building effectivemobile applications rather than worrying about how to establish a connection through the firewallor how to secure your data.

Developers can leverage the integrated web development tools from SAP to create web-basedinterfaces into their applications that are optimized for BlackBerry devices. Alternatively,developers can build custom rich-client applications for BlackBerry using the BlackBerrydeveloper tools and connect these to SAP applications using standard Internet protocols such asHTTP and SOAP. This section will provide a brief overview of the various developer toolsavailable from SAP, Research In Motion and other third party vendors that can be used to createmobile applications for BlackBerry.

Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry Using a Browser-Based Model

There are various developer tools available for publishing custom web-based interfaces into SAPapplications. Once a web-based application has been published on the intranet, BlackBerryusers can use the BlackBerry Browser to access these pages securely via the BlackBerry MDSServices. Following is a diagram that illustrates the connectivity model for accessing web-basedcontent on the intranet from a BlackBerry device:

BlackBerry Browser: Connectivity Model

The specific tools that a developer may use to publish the web-based content will depend onwhich SAP applications they are using and the version(s) of the SAP applications andinfrastructure that they are running. Many of these existing tools can be used to publishoptimized web-based applications that can be accessed from BlackBerry devices with little or noadditional skill set required. This approach can provide a fast and easy way to start buildingcustom applications for BlackBerry devices. Some of the main web-based developer toolsavailable from SAP today include:

SAP Web Dynpro


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SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer

SAP Portal Development Kit (PDK) and iViews

SAP Business Explorer (BEx) Web Application Designer

SAP ABAP Workbench and Web Dynpro for ABAP

Third Party Web Development ToolsAt the time of writing this document, SAP has also delivered the following SAP MobileApplications for BlackBerry that leverage web-based technology:

SAP Mobile Sales Online (MSOn) for BlackBerry

Following is a brief summary of each of these applications and developer tools along with anoverview of how (or if) they can be used to publish web-based applications that can be accessedfrom a BlackBerry device.

SAP Mobile Sales Online for BlackBerry

Mobile Sales Online (MSOn) is a mobile extension to SAP CRM that is based on Mobile Web

Dynpro. It targets executives, sales and account managers and provides online access tocommon CRM applications and analytics. Functionalities include account, activity, task, salesorder, contract and opportunity management, CRM Analytics reports and more. MSOn providesa number of applications that are available out-of-the-box, but also supports customization usingMobile Web Dynpro to meet the unique needs of a specific CRM implementation.

Using Mobile Sales Online with BlackBerry

MSOn is currently available for customers running SAP myCRM v3.0 or higher and requires WebAS v6.4 or higher. MSOn supports all BlackBerry devices running v3.6 or higher of theBlackBerry handheld software. MSOn software is available for SAP customers from the SAPService Marketplace. Following are some BlackBerry device screen shots that illustrate the lookand feel of MSOn for BlackBerry:

MSOn Account Management MSOn Opportunity Management MSOn Order Management

For more information on MSOn for BlackBerry, please refer to the SAP SDN Mobile site at:https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi

SAP Web Dynpro

Web Dynpro (WDP) is the SAP development environment within NetWeaver Developer Studio forcreating web-based user interfaces for business applications. It provides a model-drivenapproach that reduces the amount of manual coding required and uses visual tools to design andreuse UI components. WDP applications can contain content from various SAP applications


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including ERP, CRM, SCM and BI. It is also possible to create WDP applications that import datafrom external data sources and applications. Following is a screen shot of SAP Web Dynpro:

SAP Web Dynpro IDE

When a WDP application is developed, a platform-independent meta-data model is created and

published to the WDP Runtime running within Web AS. When a users web browser requests thecontent from Web AS, the WDP Runtime detects what type of browser is requesting the contentand optimizes the layout and formatting of the web page accordingly. Mobile WDPenhances theWDP Runtime by adding device recognition and rendering support for browsers on mobiledevices including BlackBerry and other mobile devices.

Using Web Dynpro with BlackBerry

Because the WDP Runtime has integrated device recognition and rendering support forBlackBerry devices, it offers the most intuitive and reliable framework for publishing web-basedSAP applications for BlackBerry. When a user requests a WDP web page using the web browseron the BlackBerry device, the WDP Runtime running on Web AS will detect that the user is on aBlackBerry and will automatically optimize the page for rendering on the small screen size. Itdoes this by generating web pages that contain only simple, well-formed WML content that isknown to work well on all BlackBerry device models. It also limits the number of results that aredisplayed when accessing dynamic data sets from the back-end application. Tabular data ispresented in smaller table sizes that fit on the BlackBerry screen and standard URL links arepresented within the page body for accessing more information that is typically displayed inhidden trays or tabs in a desktop browser. Following are some BlackBerry device screenshots that illustrate the look and feel of Mobile WDP applications on BlackBerry:

Logical Display of WebDynpro Application

Direct Navigation toData Definition

GraphicalView Design

Graphical ApplicationImplementation


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Mobile WDP Approval Form Mobile WDP Table with Images

When building applications with WDP, the WDP Runtime and Web AS are doing the hard work ofoptimizing the content for BlackBerry devices so that you dont have to worry about doing a lot ofcustomization and testing yourself. The WDP Runtime has been tested with a variety of

BlackBerry device models and supports connections established via all versions of theBlackBerry Enterprise Server that support the BlackBerry Mobile Data System.

For more information on Web Dynpro, please refer to:https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/webdynpro

For more information on Mobile Web Dynpro, please refer to the SAP SDN Mobile site at:https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi

SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer

Visual Composeris a visual design tool that targets Business Analysts as well as SAPdevelopers. It allows you to create model-based business applications and workflow using simple

drag-and-drop services without any manual coding required. Visual Composer can be used tobuild web-based applications that can be integrated with SAP Portal, Business Intelligence andAnalytics. Because Visual Composer is designed for simplicity and high-level process modeling,it does not provide the same level of flexibility and customization as Web Dynpro.

Using Visual Composer with BlackBerry

At the time of writing this document, Visual Composer does not support building content formobile devices. Content that is generated by Visual Studio is typically designed for viewing in adesktop portal interface and cannot be viewed on the BlackBerry or other mobile device.

SAP Portal Development Kit and iViews

SAP Portal Development Kit (PDK) and NetWeaver Developer Studio can be used to createiViews, which are small windows (or portlets) that are displayed within an SAP enterprise portal.iViews typically contain content from SAP applications, though it is possible to create iViews thatimport data from external data sources and applications as well. In a typical desktop scenario,administrators and end-users can customize their portal content by choosing different iViews todisplay within a portal page. In addition, you can also develop content for portals using othertechnologies including Web Dynpro, Visual Composer and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. Portalsand iViews are typically developed for rendering on a desktop web browser and SAP does notcurrently provide any specific tools for publishing portal content to mobile devices.


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Using SAP Portal Development Kit and iViews with BlackBerry

At the time of writing this document, the SAP Portal Development Kit does not support buildingcontent for mobile devices. The SAP portal architecture and Portal Runtime engine are designedto generate rich content that takes advantage of the large screen size of a desktop computer.Content running through the Portal Runtime engine will not display on a BlackBerry or other

mobile device.However, it is possible to use other development tools, such as Web Dynpro, to create content forenterprise portals. In this case, it may be possible to access the same Web Dynpro applicationdirectlyfrom the BlackBerry Browser without going through the Portal Runtime engine. For moreinformation on using Web Dynpro to publish content to BlackBerry, please refer to the precedingsection on SAP Web Dynpro.

SAP Business Explorer (BEx) Web Application Designer

The BEx Web Application Designer(WAD) is a development tool for creating web applications forviewing content from SAP Business Warehouse (BW) or SAP Business Intelligence (BI). UsingWAD, you can create rich HTML pages that contain tables, charts, graphs, or simple text-based

information. Though WAD has traditionally been used to create rich BW reports for viewing on adesktop web browser, it is also possible to customize your reports for optimal viewing on otherclients such BlackBerry devices. Following is a screen shot of the SAP BEx Web ApplicationDesigner:

SAP Business Explorer Web Application Designer

WAD provides the ability to create web templates, which allow you to customize the look and feelof your BW reports. The web template is an HTML document that is used to define the structureand attributes of a web application. By customizing this web template, you can control how muchdata is presented in your web application and how the information is laid out on the page. Thistype of customization is critical to ensuring that your BW reports can be viewed effectively on thesmall screen of a BlackBerry device.

Using SAP BEx Web Application Designer with BlackBerry

Some versions of SAP Business Explorer and Business Warehouse include inherent mobiledevice recognition through a feature referred to as BEx Mobile Intelligence. This component willautomatically detect when a mobile device is attempting to access a page that has been


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published using WAD, and will generate a simplified version of the page. For handheld devicesrunning Pocket Internet Explorer, BEx Mobile Intelligence will generate simplified HTML contentwithout style sheets and with limited JavaScript. For BlackBerry devices and other handheldsthat support WAP/WML, BEx Mobile Intelligence will generate text-only WML content by default.In some cases, this approach may be sufficient and offers a simple way to access businessreports generated by WAD from a BlackBerry device with no additional development effort.Typically it is worth-while to test this scenario to see if the default content generated by BExMobile Intelligence meets your needs. After testing your existing page on the BlackBerry device,you may want to update your web template to customize the data and layout to provide a betterexperience for your mobile users.

It is also possible to use WAD to deliver richer HTML content to your BlackBerry users to enablethem to view colorful graphs, charts and full tabular data. This can often provide a betterexperience for mobile users who have BlackBerry devices with color screens. To do this, youmust force the WAD application to return HTML content to the BlackBerry instead of the defaultWML, but at the same time you must ensure that the HTML that is generated will work well in theBlackBerry web browser. To force WAD to return HTML content, you can append some specialparameters to the end of the URL that the BlackBerry device uses to access the WADapplication. To optimize the HTML content, you can customize the attributes in the web templateand style sheets. Following are some quick tips on how to enable rich HTML reports from WAD

to be viewed on BlackBerry devices:(i) Forcing HTML Content to be Returned to BlackBerry

To force BEx Mobile Intelligence to return rich HTML content to the BlackBerry instead of text-only WML, you can append the following string to the end of the URL that is used to access theweb page:

&USER-AGENT=WINDOWS%20CE&ACCEPT=text/html&JAVASCRIPT=&NO_SESSION_COOKIE=X

For example, lets assume that the following URL is normally used to access the report:

http://sapbw.acme.net:8000/sap/bw/BEx?CMD=LDOC&TEMPLATE_ID=ZKCWSUBSMASTER

When accessing the report from the BlackBerry web browser, you can use the following URL toensure that full HTML content will be returned:

http://sapbw.acme.net:8000/sap/bw/BEx?CMD=LDOC&TEMPLATE_ID=ZKCWSUBSMASTER&USER-

AGENT=WINDOWS%20CE&ACCEPT=text/html&JAVASCRIPT=&NO_SESSION_COOKIE=X

When using this approach, it is typically recommended that you send the user an email with bothURLs and encourage them to use the latter URL when accessing the page from their BlackBerrydevice. If the URL for accessing the report is static, then users can bookmark this URL in theirBlackBerry web browser for quick and convenient access.

(ii) Optimizing Your Web Templates for BlackBerry

Optimizing web content for viewing on BlackBerry is more of an art than a science. Following aresome common UI design guidelines and tips on using templates effectively that can help youtailor your content for optimal use on the BlackBerry:

UI Design Considerations for BlackBerry:

Minimize Width of Tables: BlackBerry users scroll vertically, but not horizontally, so youshould try to generate smaller tables that will fit within the screen width.

Avoid Use of Large or Complex Images: Graphical images can be an important part of BI, buttry to avoid large or complex images that will not render well on a small screen size.

Simplify Navigation: BlackBerry devices do not have a touch screen and users navigate usinga trackwheel. Ensure that content can be navigated easily by scrolling the trackwheelup/down.


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Place Important Data Near the Top: Try to place the most important information at the top ofthe screen. It is often best to place graphical images at the top, followed by detailed tabulardata below.

Using Web Templates in WAD to Optimize the Layout for BlackBerry:

Reducing Table Size: Use the WAD tools to ensure that you are publishing tables that are no

more than 3 or 4 columns wide. Web template attributes can also be used to enforce thenumber of data rows and columns to be displayed.

Reducing Font Size: Style sheets can be used to specify a smaller font size.

Simplifying Navigation: Use the web template attributes to enforce only hierarchynavigation.

Suppressing Unimportant Text: Use the web template attributes to disable system messagesand warnings.

Following are some BlackBerry device screen shots that illustrate how rich HTML BW reports canbe optimized for display on the BlackBerry device:

BW Report Tabular Data BW Report Pie Graph BW Report Bar Graph

Once you have optimized and tested the web content on the BlackBerry device or simulator, youcan publish the report and send the URL to your BlackBerry users. This is typically done bysending them an email with the URL included in the message. It is also possible to push out a

custom icon that will show up on the device home screen of your BlackBerry users. When a userselects the icon, it will invoke the web browser and take the user to your web page. This can be agreat way to simplify access to web-based reports from the BlackBerry if they have a static URLaddress.

For more information on using the BlackBerry device simulator or pushing custom icons to theBlackBerry device, please refer to the BlackBerry Developer Zone at the following site:www.blackberry.com/developers

SAP ABAP Workbench and Web Dynpro for ABAP

ABAP Workbenchis a set of tools for developing enterprise resource management applicationsthat run in the R/3 subsystem from SAP. With ABAP Workbench, you can create web-basedinterfaces into standard business processes and workflow such as purchase and sales ordermanagement, employee information management, procurement processes, and so on. ThoughABAP Workbench is typically used to publish HTML web pages and Business Server Pages(BSP) that are accessed from a desktop browser, it is also possible to publish content that can beaccessed from a BlackBerry device.

Using SAP ABAP Workbench with BlackBerry


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ABAP Workbench can generate HTML and BSP web pages that can be accessed on the intranetfrom a desktop browser or a web browser on the BlackBerry device. Unlike when buildingapplications with SAP BW Web Application Designer or Web Dynpro (discussed above), there isno inherent device recognition or mobile runtime for content that is published with ABAPWorkbench. Regardless of which type of web browser requests the content, the SAP system willreturn standard HTML content to the user. Therefore, it is possible to create custom HTML webpages and simply access them directly from the BlackBerry device. However, it is important toconsider the characteristics and constraints of the web browser on the BlackBerry device whendesigning your pages in ABAP Workbench. Following are some quick tips on how to optimizeyour HTML pages for viewing on BlackBerry devices:

Optimizing Your Web Pages for BlackBerry

Optimizing web content for viewing on BlackBerry is more of an art than a science. Following aresome common UI design guidelines that can help you tailor your content from ABAP Workbenchfor optimal use on the BlackBerry:

UI Design Considerations for BlackBerry:

Streamline and Simplify the Content: Due to the limited screen size, you should simplify yourweb content and only provide very task-oriented information. Try to provide simple screensdedicated a single task within a given workflow.

Provide Buttons or Actionable Items Near the Top: Try to place buttons or links for approvalsor other actionable items near the top of the screen to reduce the amount of vertical scrollingrequired by the user.

Simplify Navigation: BlackBerry devices do not have a touchscreen and users navigate usinga trackwheel. Ensure that content can be navigated easily by scrolling the trackwheelup/down.

Minimize or Avoid Use of Tables: Large tables can be difficult to render and navigate on asmall device such as BlackBerry. Try to avoid the use of tables or limit tables to no morethan 3 or 4 columns of data.

Avoid Use of Images: For most workflow and look-up applications, images and graphics arenot important. Avoiding images can be a good way to speed up download time and improve

layout on the screen.

Avoid Use of Frames: The browser on the BlackBerry device does not currently supportHTML frames.

Following are some BlackBerry device screen shots that illustrate an HTML approval formpublished as a BSP from ABAP Workbench that has been optimized for display on the BlackBerrydevice:

Approval Email with URL Approval Details Approval Action Buttons

Third Party Web Development Tools

SAP has opened up its architecture and APIs to enable third party development tools to be usedto create front-end interfaces into SAP applications and data. For example, IBM WebSphere and


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Microsoft .NET Visual Studio can now be used to create front-end portals or web-basedapplications that deliver information from SAP.

Using Third Party Development Tools with BlackBerry

Most third party development tools that can be used with SAP can also be used to publish web-based content for BlackBerry. Some toolkits can be used to publish standard HTML pages on the

intranet. For tips on optimizing HTML pages for BlackBerry, refer to the previous section on theSAP ABAP Workbench. Some third party development platforms also provide custom tools andruntime environments for publishing optimized content for mobile devices such as BlackBerry.For example, Microsoft .NET provides Mobile Controls when designing web pages and IBMWebSphere includes wireless extensions for building portal pages and portlets that are optimizedfor mobile devices. For more information on these, and other third party development tools,please refer to documentation provided by the third party vendor themselves.

Extending SAP Applications to BlackBerry Using a Rich-Client Model

BlackBerry devices run a Java-based operating environment that supports the development anddeployment of custom rich-client applications. SAP developers, systems integrators and

independent software vendors can all build custom client/server applications for BlackBerry thatintegrate with existing or new back-end applications on the Internet or behind the corporatefirewall. As discussed earlier in this document, the BlackBerry MDS Services enable custom rich-client applications for BlackBerry devices to easily and securely connect to corporate applicationservers, including SAP, using standard Internet protocols such as HTTP, XML and web services.Currently, SAP does not provide any integrated tools for building rich-client applications forBlackBerry. Instead, developers can use the following BlackBerry developer toolkits availablefrom Research In Motion:

BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE)

BlackBerry MDS Studio

With the BlackBerry JDE, developers can write custom Java applications for BlackBerry devices

which can communicate with SAP applications using HTTP and XML protocols. Alternatively,BlackBerry MDS Studio provides a simpler drag-and-drop toolkit that can leverage web servicesprotocols to communicate with SAP applications. Using these tools, developers can build rich-client applications that run locally on the device. Thick-client applications can provide a numberof advantages over browser-based applications, such as:

Customized and optimized user interface

Local data storage

Support for offline functionality and reliable transaction queuing

Integration with local BlackBerry applications (Email, Contacts, Calendar, etc.)

Integration with peripheral hardware devices via Bluetooth

Following is a brief summary of how SAP developers can leverage these BlackBerry developertools to build custom wireless applications that integrate with back-end SAP applications.

BlackBerry Java Development Environment

The BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) is a fully integrated development andsimulation environment for building custom Java applications for BlackBerry devices. With theBlackBerry JDE, developers can build custom client applications using the Java Micro Edition(Java ME) programming language. Following is a screen shot of the BlackBerry JDE:


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BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE)

Java Micro Edition (ME) on BlackBerry

Java ME uses the same syntax and programming model as the standard Java language that isused for developing desktop and server-side applications. It is an object-oriented programminglanguage that provides a standard set of libraries and APIs that developers can use to buildcustomized applications. However, there are two main differences that you need to considerwhen using Java to develop applications for BlackBerry rather than a desktop or server:

Available Java ME and BlackBerry API libraries

Designing applications to run on wireless handheld devices

(i) Java ME and BlackBerry API Libraries

Java ME is an industry standard which defines common sets of Java APIs for different types of

mobile and embedded devices. Within Java ME there are several sub-categories, or profiles,defined which represent different classes of mobile and embedded devices. For example, theJava ME Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) was defined to address the API needs ofconstrained mobile devices with a user interface, such as cellular phones or personal digitalassistants. Other types of embedded devices, such as TV set-top box and vending machinecontrollers, are covered by other profiles within Java ME. BlackBerry devices, along with manyother wireless handhelds, support the Java ME MIDP standard. The details of the MIDPspecification are not critical for this discussion, however, it is important to understand that MIDPprovides a common API set that any wireless handheld can support, no matter what its underlying


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operating system is. Therefore, developers can often build one Java application using the MIDPstandard APIs and have that application run on many different types of handhelds.

So BlackBerry devices and the BlackBerry JDE support the Java ME MIDP standard, whichprovides a good core set of Java APIs for building mobile applications. BlackBerry devices alsosupport a large set of additional Java APIs that are not part of the MIDP specification. These are

additional APIs that RIM has exposed to provide developers with more features and capabilitieswhen developing for BlackBerry devices. It is not necessary to use these additional APIs in yourapplications, but they can often provide greater features and functionality over what is available inthe standard MIDP API libraries. Between the MIDP standard APIs and the BlackBerry-specificJava API extensions, the following types of APIs are available when developing your applications:

User Interface APIs: Used to create screens, menu items and all components of the userinterface.

Persistent Data Storage APIs: Used to store custom data locally within your application. Notethat BlackBerry devices do not provide a relational database model.

Networking and I/O APIs: Used to establish network connections and read/write data to aserver-side application

Event Listeners: Used to respond to user- or system-initiated events on the device. Application Integration APIs: Used to integrate with the existing BlackBerry email, phone,

calendar, contacts, browser and task list applications

Utilities: Additional APIs for data encryption and compression, XML parsing, Bluetoothconnectivity, etc.

(ii) Designing Applications to Run on Constrained Mobile Devices

When designing Java applications for BlackBerry devices, you must consider the inherentconstraints of running applications on a handheld wireless device. Following is a list of items toconsider when designing your Java applications for BlackBerry:

Processor Speed and RAM: Because mobile devices do not have the same processingpower as the average server or desktop computer, you should strive to optimize the

performance of your application and minimize object overhead.

Network Connectivity: Users may roam in and out of network coverage and your applicationsshould be designed to support this. As a result, you can not always rely on a permanentconnection to the server and may need to consider how to manage asynchronoustransactions.

Network Speeds and Bandwidth: Wireless networks can impose limitations on network speedand latency. Therefore, you should design your applications to send as little data as possibleover the wireless network.

Multi-Threading: BlackBerry devices provide a multi-threaded environment, allowing yourapplications to spawn background threads to manage heavy processing and networkingtasks.

Managing Wireless Connectivity and Back-End IntegrationJava applications for BlackBerry can leverage the secure connection to the intranet provided bythe BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry MDS Services. This means that you dont haveto worry about how to connect through the corporate firewall from the BlackBerry device or how toencrypt the data. Following is a diagram that illustrates the connectivity model for Javaapplications for BlackBerry:


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Java Applications for BlackBerry: Connectivity Model

When developing your applications, you must consider which protocols you are going to use toconnect to the back-end systems and how you are going to manage the exchange of data toensure reliability and data integrity.

Wireless Transport Protocols

Java applications for BlackBerry can use standard HTTP or TCP socket protocols tocommunicate with back-end applications. Most applications use HTTP as the transport protocol,using GET requests to fetch data and POST requests to submit data. Standard HTTP responsecodes are used to notify the application whether or not the connection was successful. Whenusing HTTP as the transport protocol, you have to ensure that your back-end application cansupport these connections. Thankfully most modern programming languages, including JavaEnterprise Edition, have built-in support for handling HTTP-based communications. When usingHTTP, it is up to the developer to define the formatting for the actual data within the message.Though you can use simple tokenized or delimited text strings for simplicity, it is typicallyrecommend that you use XML to format your data if possible. The BlackBerry Java APIs providean XML parser and generator to support this.

To Push, or Not to Push?

For most custom wireless applications, the client will initiate the connections to the back-endsystem. However, there may be situations where you want the back-end application toproactively push data to the client to provide a real-time notification or data update. WithBlackBerry, you can do this by leveraging the HTTP PUSH feature of BlackBerry MDS Services.The BlackBerry MDS Services provide a standard push interface that can be used by any back-end application. The back-end application simply establishes an HTTP POST connection to theBlackBerry MDS Services and provides an XML document that describes the target device, thecontent to be pushed and other configuration parameters describing how and when the datashould be delivered. When the data arrives on the device, the application is notified and can takeany type of action required (alert the user, save the data locally, etc.).

Connecting Java Applications for BlackBerry to SAP Applications

The BlackBerry JDE can be used to develop a wide variety of wireless applications that connect

to SAP applications using standard HTTP protocols. Some common ways in which Javaapplications for BlackBerry devices may integrate with SAP include:

Data Retrieval: Client application for fetching data from SAP using HTTP GET requests.

Data Submission: Form-based client application for submitting data to SAP using HTTPPOST connections.

Data Synchronization: Client application allowing offline data storage that synchronizes localupdates to the SAP back-end using HTTP POST connections.


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Data Push and Notifications: Server-side application that proactively pushes data to a clienton the BlackBerry based on an event or trigger.

Using HTTP to Connect to SAP

To get your Java application for BlackBerry to talk to SAP, you need to have a back-endapplication that can support HTTP communications. There may be several ways to do this,

depending on the specific environment, but the most common approach seems to be using aJava Servlet to handle the HTTP communications with the BlackBerry application. This JavaServlet would then use JCo on the back-end to interface with the SAP system itself. Asmentioned above, it is often best to use XML for formatting the data within these HTTPcommunications. Both the Java application on BlackBerry and the Java Servlet can be designedto parse and generate XML documents that use the same XML schema.

If you are considering using HTTP PUSH functionality in your applications, you can achieve thisin the same way as above. You simply have to write an application that can initiate an HTTPPOST to the BlackBerry MDS Services based on an event or trigger. Again, a Java Servlet orEnterprise Java Beans (EJBs) could be used for this. The Servlet or EJB would connect to SAPusing JCo to fetch the proper data and would then establish an HTTP POST connection to theBlackBerry MDS Services to push the content out. It is up to the developer to determine whatshould trigger the push, who should receive the data and what the application should do when thedata arrives.

Following are some BlackBerry device screen shots that illustrate a custom Java application forBlackBerry to manage Time and Expense information:

Time & Expense Options Time & Expense Details Time & Expense Details

Getting More Information

For more information on developing Java applications for BlackBerry, please refer to theBlackBerry Developer Zone located here: www.blackberry.com/developers

For more information on managing HTTP connections from a Java application for BlackBerry,please refer to the BlackBerry Java Developer Guide, Volume 1 located on the BlackBerryDeveloper Zone: www.blackberry.com/developers

For more information on using Java Servlets and other technologies to handle HTTP connectionsfrom an external client application, please refer to your SAP product documentation.

BlackBerry MDS Studio and SAP Web Services

BlackBerry MDS Studiois a visual application design and assembly tool that allows developers toquickly create rich-client applications for BlackBerry devices. Using a component-based drag anddrop approach, it provides developers with a set of predefined user interface, message and datacomponents that can be used as-is or customized. Wizards and editors enable applications to beassembled rapidly by connecting a series of visual components. The goal of BlackBerry MDS


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Studio is to provide developers with a simple drag and drop toolkit for building customapplications that work well on a BlackBerry device and provide a native look and feel for the user.

Using BlackBerry MDS Studio to Build Rich-Client Applications

BlackBerry MDS Studio leverages the unique features of Web Services and the Web ServicesDescriptor Language (WSDL) to simplify the design and development process. By analyzing the

back-end WSDL files in an enterprise environment, BlackBerry MDS Studio can learn whatinterfaces and data components are exposed and can assist in generating client applications thatcan access those services and present the information to the user. To ensure a good userexperience, the screens and UI components generated by BlackBerry MDS Studio are designedto match the look and feel of native BlackBerry applications. Following is a screen shot ofBlackBerry MDS Studio:

BlackBerry MDS Studio

BlackBerry MDS Studio provides the following types of components for building an application:

User Interface Components

Data Components

Messaging Components and Notifications

These components provide all of the necessary pieces to create an application that can consumeand display information from a web service, submit data reliably to a web service and store andprocess data locally on the handheld.

(i) Creating a User Interface

BlackBerry MDS Studio provides various UI controls that allow you to handle many types of inputand display fields, as well as menus, buttons, labels and images. Following are the types of UIcontrols that can be added to your application:

Text Edit Boxes, Check Boxes and Radio Button Fields


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Single- and Multi-Choice Fields

Images, Labels and Buttons

Menus and Menu Items

Repetition Fields for Displaying Dynamically-Sized Data Sets

In some cases, you can use BlackBerry MDS Studio to automatically generate a standard UI foryour application based on the information in the WSDL files. You can also use the drag-and-droptools to customize your UI and provide more advanced features and customized navigation.

(ii) Managing Transient and Persistent Data Components

BlackBerry MDS Studio provides Data components that allow you to manage transient andpersistent data objects within your application. For example, if a web service query returns acustomer object containing a first name, last name and phone number, then BlackBerry MDSStudio will generate a data component to store all of this information. As a developer you canchoose whether this data should be discarded after viewing or if it should be stored locally on thedevice for viewing at a later time. It is also possible to create your own local data components tostore information such as user credentials, personal information, and so on. This data can beused locally within the application or can be used when calling a web service.

(iii) Integrating with Web Services Using Message Components

BlackBerry MDS Studio allows you to create Message components within your applications,which define and manage the connections to the back-end web services. Using the Wizard toolsprovided, you can navigate to an existing WSDL file on the intranet and BlackBerry MDS Studiowill automatically generate a Message component for your application that will manage theconnection to this web service. Message components are generally linked to other Data and/orUI components. For example, a button on a screen may invoke a Message component to call aweb service to request some information. The data that is returned to the Message componentwill then be stored in a local Data component, and the screen may be updated to display theresults. Message components can also be used to manage data that is pushed to the devicefrom a back-end application using the Web Services Eventing protocol.

Managing Wireless Connectivity and Back-End Integration

Custom applications developed with BlackBerry MDS Studio leverage the secure connection tothe intranet provided by the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry MDS Services. Thismeans that you dont have to worry about how to connect through the corporate firewall from theBlackBerry device or how to encrypt the data. Also, the runtime environment on the device isdesigned to queue up data transactions that are made from BlackBerry MDS Studio applicationsif the device is out of wireless coverage. Therefore, you dont have to worry about how tomanage data submissions that are performed while out of network coverage the device runtimewill queue up the submission until the device returns to coverage. Therefore, you can focus yourefforts on identifying or creating the back-end web services that you will use for your applications.Following is a diagram that illustrates the connectivity model for BlackBerry MDS Studioapplications for BlackBerry:


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BlackBerry MDS Studio Applications for BlackBerry: Connectivity Model

Using Web Services

BlackBerry MDS Studio and BlackBerry MDS Services support the standard web servicesprotocols including SOAP, WSDL, UDDI and XML. When building your applications, you canleverage existing web services and WSDL files that are already available on the intranet (or

Internet) or you can create new web services in front of your back-end applications. There aremany tools available today for creating web services interfaces into your back-end systems.When creating web services for use by BlackBerry MDS Studio applications, you typically want toensure that the web services and WSDL files are as simple and well-defined as possible. Ensurethat your data components use standard, well-defined attributes and data types and avoidservices that return very large or ambiguous data sets.

To Push, or Not to Push?

For most custom wireless applications, the client will initiate the connections to the back-endsystem. However, there may be situations where you want the back-end application toproactively push data to the client to provide a real-time notification or data update. WithBlackBerry MDS Studio applications, you can do this by leveraging Web Services Eventing inyour back-end web services. Web Services Eventing is a relatively new standard and not all

systems support it yet. However, it can be a great and very efficient way to define an event ortrigger and have data published to any application that may be subscribed to the event. Onceyou have defined the event within your web service, you can use the tools within BlackBerry MDSStudio to subscribe to that event. When the event occurs, the BlackBerry MDS Services willreceive the notification and the published content will be pushed down to the application on thedevice. When the data arrives on the device, the application is notified and can take any type ofaction required (alert the user, save the data locally, etc.).

Connecting BlackBerry MDS Studio Applications to SAP Applications

BlackBerry MDS Studio can be used to develop a wide variety of wireless applications thatconnect to SAP applications using standard Web Services protocols. Some common ways inwhich BlackBerry MDS Studio applications for BlackBerry devices may integrate with SAPinclude:

Data Retrieval: Client application for fetching data from SAP.

Data Submission: Form-based client application for submitting data to SAP.

Data Push and Notifications: Server-side application that proactively pushes data to a clienton the BlackBerry based on an event or trigger.

Using Web Services to Connect to SAP

To get your BlackBerry MDS Studio application to talk to SAP, you need to have web servicesinterfaces exposed from your SAP applications. Most in-market versions of SAP, including SAP


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R/3, SAP Web Application Server and SAP NetWeaver, include support for web services withmany services provided out-of-the-box. For example, all RFC-enabled functions (so all theBAPIs) are exposed as web services by default if you are running SAP Web Application Serverv6.20 or higher. Following is a screen shot of the SAP R/3 Web Service Browser:

SAP Web Service Browser for RFC-Enabled Function Modules

It is also possible to create your own custom web services using tools provided by SAP. Forexample, the Web Service Creation Wizard within ABAP Workbench can be used to create webservices on top of existing ABAP functions. SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio also providesvarious options for exposing EJBs and Java classes as web services. Following is a screen shotof the SAP Web Service Creation Wizard in SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio:

SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio: Web Service Creation Wizard

Once you have identified or created the web services that you wish to use, you can useBlackBerry MDS Studio to create a new project for BlackBerry. Using the Quick Start approach,you can have BlackBerry MDS Studio analyze the WSDL file(s) from SAP and automaticallygenerate a first build of your application which you can then customize. Alternatively, you canuse the Bottom-Up or Top-Down approaches to analyze the WSDL file(s) and create the initialmessage and data components only, allowing you to build your own customized user interface. Ifyou are considering using Web Services Eventing functionality in your applications to enable


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push-based data delivery, you will likely have to build new web services and define the eventsyourself. Standard SAP web services today do not include eventing functionality.

Following are some BlackBerry device screen shots that illustrate a custom MDS Studioapplication for BlackBerry to access custom data from SAP R/3:

Customer Data Search Customer Data Details Customer Data Sales Orders

Getting More Information

For more information on developing BlackBerry MDS Studio applications, please refer to theBlackBerry Developer Zone located here: www.blackberry.com/developers

For more information on creating and using Web Services within SAP, please refer to your SAPproduct documentation.

Leveraging the BlackBerry and SAP Partner Communities

There is a growing community of third party System Integrators (SIs) and Independent SoftwareVendors (ISVs) who are building applications and services to extend SAP to BlackBerry. Thesevendors typically offer expertise in wireless application development, custom integration andenterprise business processes, and may provide pre-built applications and/or middlewarecomponents to aid in mobilizing SAP applications. There are two main types of partners focusedon mobilizing SAP with BlackBerry:

SAP SI and ISV partners BlackBerry SI and ISV partners

Working with SAP SI and ISV Partners

There are several existing SAP SI and ISV partnerswho have built mobile applications forBlackBerry. These vendors typically leverage integrated SAP technology, such as SAP Web ASand Web Dynpro, to build custom applications to meet the needs of each customer. Some ofthese vendors offer development and integration services while others are offering pre-builtapplications such as mobile time and expense or mobile dashboards.

Most of these vendors will leverage SAP developer tools to build browser-based applications forBlackBerry, though some are using the BlackBerry developer tools to build rich-client applicationsas well. Because these vendors have past experience with implementing and customizing SAP,they tend to offer more in-depth consulting services and expertise with SAP solutions. Workingwith these vendors may offer a good alternative to developing custom SAP applications in-house.

Working with BlackBerry SI and ISV Partners

There are also many existing BlackBerry SI and ISV partnerswho provide advanced applicationsand mobile solutions for BlackBerry devices. These vendors typically specialize in rich-client


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wireless applications developed with the BlackBerry JDE or BlackBerry MDS Studio. Rich-clientsolutions from these vendors can provide a number of benefits over browser-based applicationsas well as custom solutions developed with BlackBerry MDS Studio, such as:

Optimized local data storage to manage large data sets on the device

Reliable transaction management, seamless synchronization

Tailored user interface to improve usability and increase user adoption

Ongoing technical support during development and deployment

Following are some screen shots from typical rich-client applications for BlackBerry devicesavailable from BlackBerry SI and ISV partners:

Common Application Interfaces from BlackBerry SI and ISV Partners

Because these vendors focus on wireless solutions, they often provide robust middlewareplatforms that provide reliable wireless transaction management and back-end integration withSAP and other enterprise systems. They may also provide sophisticated wireless workflowengines that manage real-time data delivery and alerting to mobile users. These vendors willtypically use web services or Java EE to integrate their middleware with the SAP system, thoughsome may also leverage existing BAPI functions as well. Following is a diagram that illustrateshow BlackBerry SI and ISV partners leverage the BlackBerry Enterpise Solution, as well as theirown middleware applications, to mobilize SAP applications:

Architecture for Typical Mobile Solutions from BlackBerry SI and ISV Partners

Working with these vendors may offer a good alternative to developing custom rich-clientapplications for BlackBerry in-house, especially in cases where mobile users will depend on theBlackBerry application for day-to-day tasks or critical business processes such as sales forceautomation or service request management. These vendors have a deep understanding ofmobile technologies, and have invested in specialized middleware to optimize the mobileexperience for users.

For more information on BlackBerry SI and ISV partners, please refer to the following site:www.blackberry.com/products/thirdpartyapps/


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Summary

Many enterprises around the world are starting to rely more and more on wireless devices andwireless applications to stay connected to the information and applications that drive theirbusiness. Enterprises that are running SAP and BlackBerry now have a unique opportunity tostart mobilizing their existing applications and business processes quickly, securely and at a low

cost to implement. Whether you choose to build custom browser-based applications using theSAP developer tools, custom rich-client applications using the BlackBerry developer tools, orwork with a third party integrator, there are plenty of options for mobilizing any application withinSAP.

SAP developers can leverage many of the existing SAP developer toolkits to create optimizedweb-based applications for the BlackBerry device. SAP Mobile Web Dynpro, with its nativesupport for BlackBerry, provides a robust toolkit for building mobile browser-based applicationsthat provide easy access to SAP ERP, SCM, BI or CRM applications. SAP BEx Web ApplicationDesigner can be used to create optimized BW reports for BlackBerry, while the ABAP Workbenchcan be used to publish standard BSP/HTML pages that BlackBerry users can access to manageworkflow and approvals within SAP ERP. SAP also provides SAP Mobile Sales Online, the first

pre-built Mobile Application from SAP targeting the BlackBerry device.

SAP developers can also leverage the BlackBerry developer tools to create custom rich-clientapplications for BlackBerry that integrate with SAP using standard Internet protocols. WithBlackBerry MDS Studio, developers can quickly build custom applications for BlackBerry thatinterface with SAP using standard web services protocols, without having to write any customcode. Developers can also use the BlackBerry Java Development Environment to build customJava applications for BlackBerry that connect to SAP using Java Servlets or EJBs.

Finally, SAP customers can work with existing SAP partners or BlackBerry partners to build andintegrate custom wireless solutions using browser-based or rich-client technologies. SAP

partners can offer consulting and product development services, as well as pre-built applicationsleveraging SAP technology. BlackBerry partners can offer their wireless expertise and mobilemiddleware solutions to extend critical business processes and data-intensive applications toBlackBerry devices in a reliable and flexible way.

And no matter which approach you take to extending your SAP applications, you can alwaysleverage the inherent security and enterprise connectivity provided by the BlackBerry EnterpriseSolution enabling you to deploy new wireless applications quickly, securely, reliably, and at a lowcost to develop, deploy and maintain.


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Additional Resources

BlackBerry Enterprise Solution components

For more information on the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution components, see the following

resource links

BlackBerry devices: http://www.blackberry.com/products/handhelds/

BlackBerry Enterprise Server: http://www.blackberry.com/products/enterprisesolution/

BlackBerry Mobile Data System: http://www.blackberry.com/products/software/mds/

SAP Mobile Developer Tools and Applications

For more information on SAP Mobile Developer tools and applications, please see the followingresource links:

SAP Mobile Technologies on the SAP SDN Mobile site:

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi.

Mobile Sales Online Application (MSOn) for BlackBerry on the SAP SDN Mobile site at:https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi

Web Dynpro general information: https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/webdynpro

Mobile Web Dynpro information on the SAP SDN Mobile site at:https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/developerareas/mi

BlackBerry Developer tools

For more information on the BlackBerry Developer tools, see the following resource links:

BlackBerry device simulator;http://www.blackberry.com/developers/downloads/simulators/index.shtml

Pushing custom icons to the BlackBerry device: http://www.blackberry.com/developers

Developing Java applications for BlackBerry:http://www.blackberry.com/developers/downloads/jde/index.shtml

Managing HTTP connections from a Java application for BlackBerry in the BlackBerry JavaDeveloper Guide, Volume 1:http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgecenterpublic/livelink.exe/fetch/2000/8067/645045/8655/8656/1195446/BlackBerry_Application_Developer_Guide_Volume_1.pdf?nodeid=1195276&vernum=0

Developing BlackBerry MDS Studio applications for BlackBerry:

http://www.blackberry.com/developers/downloads/studio/index.shtml

Third Party Applications available for BlackBerry

For more information on the Third Party Applications available for BlackBerry, see the followingresource links:


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BlackBerry SI and ISV partner information:http://www.blackberry.com/products/thirdpartyapps/

BlackBerry Applications and information by industry, application segments:http://www.blackberry.com/solutions


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2006 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks,images and symbols are the exclusive properties of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion,'Always On, Always Connected', the envelope in motion symbol, BlackBerry, and BlackBerry EnterpriseServer are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in othercountries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of theirrespective owners.

The BlackBerry device and/or associated software are protected by copyright, international treaties, andvarious patents, including one or more of the following U.S. patents: 6,278,442; 6,271,605; 6,219,694;6,075,470; 6,073,318; D445,428; D433,460; D416,256. Other patents are registered or pending in variouscountries around the world. Visit www.rim.com/patents.shtml for a current list of RIM [as hereinafter defined]patents.

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