Frontend Strategies for SAP Sales Cloud V2: An Arc...

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Introduction

As an SAP architect, I’m sharing my perspective on choosing the right frontend technologies and design strategies for SAP Sales Cloud V2. Selecting the appropriate frontend is not just about framework preference—it impacts user experience, integration, maintainability, performance, scalability, and adherence to SAP’s design principles.

While SAP Fiori provides a standardized and proven design framework, Sales Cloud V2 introduces a modern, non-Fiori-based UI. In this article, I’ll provide guidance on balancing Fiori compliance, lightweight frontend frameworks like React, seamless backend integration, performance, and scalability, along with best practices for extensions, mashups, and side-by-side scenarios with S/4HANA.

Understanding SAP Sales Cloud V2's UI

SAP Sales Cloud V2 introduces a modern, intuitive UI designed to enhance user experience and productivity. Unlike traditional SAP Fiori applications, V2's UI is not strictly Fiori-based. It leverages contemporary design principles to provide a seamless and engaging user interface.

For a visual overview of SAP Sales Cloud V2 UI.

Frontend Development Considerations

1. Aligning with SAP Fiori Design Principles

SAP Fiori offers a set of design principles aimed at creating consistent and user-friendly interfaces. While V2's UI is not Fiori-based, developers can still adhere to Fiori's design guidelines to ensure a cohesive user experience. Key considerations include:

Consistency: Maintaining uniform design elements across applications.
Efficiency: Optimizing workflows to reduce user effort.
Intuitiveness: Designing interfaces that are easy to understand and navigate.
Performance: Ensuring fast rendering and responsiveness.
Scalability: Designing the frontend to handle growing user loads and data volumes efficiently.

2. Choosing the Right Frontend Technology

The choice of frontend technology should align with the application's requirements and the desired user experience. Consider:

Fiori Elements (CAP / UI5): Ideal for OData-based applications requiring standardized Fiori UI patterns. Leveraging SAP BTP CAP best practices, Fiori Elements provide:
- Metadata-driven UI generation (List Report, Object Page, Analytical List Page)
- Out-of-the-box CRUD operations
- Automatic audit log and change history of business object tracking.In CAP, with simple annotations and minimal effort, audit logging tracks user and system actions for compliance, while change history tracking records the actual data changes in business objects — capturing before and after field values for complete business transparency.
- Attachment management support
- Event-driven integration through SAP Event Mesh
- Extensibility for custom fields and actions
- Built-in navigation, filtering, and sorting features
- Validations and field-level rules defined in CDS models are automatically enforced, ensuring consistent data integrity across UI and backend.
- Support for multitenancy, authentication, and authorization using SAP BTP XSUAA.
- Integration with OData v4, REST, and messaging-based endpoints.
- Note: If Fiori Elements annotations do not fully meet business requirements, teams should agree with business stakeholders to address those scenarios using custom UI extensions. This is not a limitation of CAP or Fiori Elements but reflects a custom requirement beyond the framework’s standardized scope.
UI5 Web Components for React: Use Fiori-compliant components within a React app to combine flexibility with consistency.
Documentation
React with Custom Components: For applications requiring highly customized UI aligned with Sales Cloud V2 look & feel.
UI5 Freestyle (SAPUI5): For deep integration with SAP backend and traditional Fiori look & feel.

When to Choose Fiori Elements for Sales Cloud V2

Backend services are OData-based
Standard UI patterns like List Report, Object Page, or Analytical List Page meet requirements
Minimal custom UI is needed
Out-of-the-box features (CRUD, attachments, audit/change history) are beneficial
Strict adherence to Fiori design guidelines is required
Faster delivery and lower TCO is a priority
Extensibility for custom fields and actions is needed

Balancing Look & Feel vs Out-of-the-Box Fiori

When integrating with backend services, consider:

Use Fiori Elements: When OData backend, standard UI patterns suffice, and business prioritizes rapid delivery, TCO, and built-in CAP features.
Use Custom / Lightweight Frontend: When business requires UI to match Sales Cloud V2 look & feel, heavy customization, or mashups.
Hybrid Approach: Combine CAP Fiori Elements for standard functionality with custom/lightweight frontends for specialized UI requirements.

Comparison Matrix

Aspect Fiori Elements Freestyle/UI5 Apps

Development Effort	Low – uses templates and OData annotations; minimal coding required	High – requires custom coding, UI5 expertise
User Experience Consistency	High – standard SAP Fiori UX is automatically applied	Variable – depends on developer adherence to guidelines
Flexibility / Customization	Limited – constrained by templates; complex interactions harder to implement	High – complete control over UI, personas, workflows, and visualizations
Time-to-Market	Faster – rapid deployment using standard templates	Slower – longer development cycles for custom design
Maintenance & Upgrades	Easier – standard templates simplify future upgrades	More complex – custom components may require refactoring
Performance & Best Practices	Optimized – built-in SAP performance standards	Dependent on developer implementation
Use Case Suitability	Standard CRUD apps, analytical or reporting apps, apps requiring consistent SAP UX	Highly specialized apps, innovative UX, unique workflows, complex integrations
TCO Impact	Lower – reduces overall Total Cost of Ownership	Higher – more development and maintenance effort

Guidelines / Recommendations

Follow SAP Standard Fiori Elements wherever possible to ensure consistency, rapid deployment, and reduced TCO.
Adopt low-code/no-code approaches (Fiori Elements, annotations, SAP Business Application Studio templates) to accelerate development and reduce complexity.
Follow central architecture and management directions:
- Align with global architecture standards and SAP Best Practices.
- Ensure compliance with governance, security, and upgrade strategies.
Use Freestyle/UI5 Apps only when necessary:
- For highly customized workflows, innovative UX, or complex integrations that cannot be achieved using standard templates.
Prioritize maintainability and scalability:
- Prefer standard templates and components to simplify future enhancements and upgrades.
Ensure consistent and high-quality user experience across applications.

Backend Integration Considerations

OData Services: Standard SAP protocol for frontend-backend communication
GraphQL: Flexible alternative to OData
REST APIs: For external service integration

Choose the backend service type that aligns with your frontend framework to ensure seamless integration, optimal performance, and scalability.

Extensions, Mashups, and SAP Build Apps

SAP Sales Cloud V2 supports extensions and mashups to enhance functionality:

Sales Cloud Extensions: Built on SAP BTP to extend V2 capabilities
Mashups: Embed external apps or services into Sales Cloud interface

Mashup-Based HTML UI

Work List: Mashup as work center feature
Detail View: Display detailed info in context
Quick View: Summarized data for fast access

Extensibility Using SAP Build Apps

SAP Build Apps enables no-code/low-code apps for all form factors. Extensions can be embedded in Sales Cloud V2.

Included for tenants with 100+ users
Additional licensing required for fewer than 100 users

References for Mashups and SAP Build Apps

Recommendations

Use Fiori Elements (CAP/UI5) for OData-based apps with standard UI patterns and built-in features (CRUD, attachments, audit)
Use React / custom frontend to match Sales Cloud V2 look & feel when business requires visual consistency or heavy customization
Use UI5 Freestyle for deep SAP backend integration and traditional Fiori UX
Consider hybrid approaches combining Fiori Elements and custom/lightweight frontends
Extensions and mashups should prioritize performance, consistency, security
Side-by-side scenarios with S/4HANA: maintain SAP UI5 for OData backend integration
Backend service type (OData, REST, GraphQL) influences frontend choice and integration approach

References

Key Takeaways

Choosing the frontend technology for SAP Sales Cloud V2 requires balancing look & feel, performance, scalability, and integration capabilities.
For Fiori-compliant UI, Fiori Elements (CAP/UI5) or UI5 Freestyle are preferred for OData-based apps.
For customized, lightweight UI aligned with Sales Cloud V2, use React or other modern frameworks.
CAP Fiori Elements provide out-of-the-box advantages: CRUD, attachments, audit/change history, navigation, filtering, and extensibility.
Hybrid approaches can combine standard Fiori Elements with custom frontends for specialized UX needs.
Backend service type (OData, REST, GraphQL) influences frontend technology choice.
Extensions and mashups should prioritize consistency, performance, and security.
Side-by-side scenarios (Sales Cloud V2 & S/4HANA) benefit from using SAP UI5 technologies for OData backend integration.