Leveraging Power Apps as an alternative to Fiori in order to maximize SAP Investment
Low-code app development platforms have become increasingly popular in recent years. In fact, research indicates that 25% of enterprise apps were built using low-code technologies in 2020, and that number is projected to reach 75% by 2026. However, not all platforms offer the same price-to-value ratio.
For instance, if you're utilizing SAP as your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, you've likely explored SAP Fiori and recognized its benefits, such as device-agnostic app accessibility and enhanced user experience. However, the financial investment required for SAP Fiori implementation can be significant.
Considering this, we want to explore a strategic alternative: adopting Power Apps for front-end tasks while maintaining SAP as your primary back-end system. Power Apps is a user-friendly, low-code platform that enables effortless creation of bespoke business applications for your users. Its robust interoperability with SAP positions it as an excellent choice for businesses striving for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Power Platform vs. SAP Fiori comparison
| Features | Power Apps | SAP Fiori |
|---|---|---|
| Usability | Highly user-friendly and accessible for low-code developers | User-friendly, but with a steep learning curve that requires knowledge of the SAP ecosystem |
| Integration | Seamless integration with Microsoft suite and extensive third-party support through hundreds of connectors | Seamless integration within SAP ecosystem, but limited flexibility with third-party applications |
| Community | Global, accessible community with resources tailored to low-code users. | Strong community, though resources are often more technically oriented, making them useful only for SAP experts |
| Cost | Flexible, cost-effective plans catering to various business needs | Potentially higher costs, especially for smaller organizations |
| Deployment Speed | Rapid development and deployment, allowing businesses to quickly react to changes | Deployment may be slower due to the platform's complex architecture, but it is designed to accelerate development for those with SAP expertise |
Connecting Power Apps to SAP
If the points above appeal to your needs, let’s dive deeper into how we would implement a Power Apps front-end to manage processes with SAP as a back end.
SAP's Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs) enable third-party software to communicate with SAP systems, which allows us to connect an SAP instance to a cloud-based Power App. This not only allows for the reading and writing of data to and from SAP but also paves the way for enhanced business process automation and optimization.
To illustrate, consider a scenario where an organization uses SAP for its backend processes and Power Apps for placing orders in a user-friendly, web-based front-end. When a new order is placed in the app, a cloud flow can be triggered that saves all the collected data into SAP. Showing data already in SAP (like a list of existing orders) can follow the same pattern, but relying solely on on-the-fly calls for all in-app actions might result in subpar performance. For enhanced efficiency, we suggest utilizing Dataverse to establish a speedy cloud database, thereby ensuring near-instantaneous data display within your application. This database can be set to synchronize with your SAP data regularly, i.e., every five minutes, to maintain up-to-date information.
The following diagram illustrates the data flow process, showcasing how user-made alterations within the application are instantaneously recorded in both SAP and Dataverse. Any modifications performed directly in SAP, which ideally should be infrequent, are updated in an asynchronous manner according to a predetermined schedule.
Security
If your permission model is integrally defined within your SAP system, you can synchronize this model with your app via the regular synchronization method discussed earlier. This approach ensures that the same permissions and security measures implemented in SAP are consistently applied within your app, maintaining the integrity and security of your data.
However, there is also the alternative of establishing an app-specific permission scheme. This approach is particularly useful if you want to enforce different or additional security measures within your app compared to your SAP system. These app-specific permissions could be defined and stored in Dataverse, making them easily available for your app and maintaining a secure environment for operations performed within the app.
Starter kit
Microsoft provides a prebuilt SAP integration solution, covering Order to Cash, Procure to Pay and other functions. It includes Power Apps, Power Automate flows, and additional new functionalities that can act as starting points for solutions tailored to your specific needs, reducing your investment even more. Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/sap-integration/solutions
Conclusion
Power Apps offers a compelling alternative to SAP Fiori for your front-end app development needs. While maintaining your SAP backend operations, Power Apps can leverage its user-friendly interface and integration capabilities to increase agility for your business at an attractive price point. If you have questions or need assistance in integrating Power Apps with SAP, do not hesitate to reach out to our team at hello@automatify.ch.
