Model-Driven Selection, Implementation and Customization of SAP Standard Software

Model-driven development is a great way of effectively designing software development processes. On the one hand, this applies to the development of individual solutions. On the other hand, the model-driven approach can be easily transferred onto the lifecycle management of SAP standard solutions.

The Challenge

Customers are faced with challenges right from the selection of an SAP solution. e.g. they need to decide whether a generic SAP ERP is suitable for business applications in the area of customer relationship management, whether a functional extensive SAP CRM is needed or whether a non-SAP system which already exists should be extended. Once this decision has been made, the solution selected can then be customized for the requirements. It is a good idea to customize the SAP standard solution so that product and service leadership, and excellent production and operating processes can be achieved. These processes make the company a cut above the competition so that the processes can be identified and the various implementation variations can be assessed. The versions which are the most advantageous need to be implemented efficiently, transparently and with traceability.

MID Solution

With its SAP Solution Manager plug-in as an extension of  Innovator for Business Analysts and the MID Modeling Methodology for SAP (M³SAP), MID provides an efficient, transparent decision and implementation support in lifecycle management of SAP solutions. MID's M³SAP profile provides a Domain Specific Language (DSL) specially designed for the SAP world as contents for each relevant abstraction level. Alternative selection and implementation scenarios can be modeled on the technical level using this DSL. Portfolio and potential analyses can be generated from these modeled scenarios; these then enable business evaluation and comparison. SAP best practice solutions and existing processes can then be reused in the SAP Solution Manager. Contents is imported for this and automatically shown as BPMN diagrams. The M³SAP profile provides a special DSL at the system-technical level; this is based on the SAP NetWeaver terminology. The system modeler can create SAP-specific architecture and design models; ABAP program source is then created automatically from these. As a modeling methodology, M³SAP is completely geared towards the SAP ASAP implementation methodology and can be used in it.