Updated: March 27 2019
Introduction
SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud provides business configuration through Configure Your Solution in the Manage Your Solution App. Self Service Configuration User Interfaces (SSCUIs) are used. The first place for project teams to look for information and instructions is the existing customer presentation that is available in SAP Activate at this link:
https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/SAP_Activate/S4H_367%20Using%20Configure%20Your%20Solution%...
If you are new to the topic, review this content first. The presentation is updated regularly and at least with every new release each quarter. The purpose of this blog is to provide additional detailed hints and tips for experienced project team members. You may find it valuable if you need detailed guidance that is not in the presentation.
Contents
The blog covers these three topics:
1 Latest news on deleting unwanted records: useful if you have made errors or changed decisions.
2 Partial solution to download configuration: useful if you want to document your configuration.
3 Mandatory country-specific SSCUIs
4 Create multiple configuration records quickly
5 Requirement where IMG would be used in on-premise
6 Can I see Expert Configuration done by SAP?
7 Common usability issues: may be of value if you get stuck using SSCUIs.
There is a conclusion, that covers what to do if you have unanswered questions.
1 Latest news on deleting unwanted records
A deletion feature will be enabled SSCUI by SSCUI over a number of releases starting with 1902. You can delete records that you have created yourselves in certain Web GUI SSCUIs. Deletion of records provided by SAP is not possible and deletion is not possible in Fiori SSCUIs.
If the record was transported to the Production System, the record will also be deleted from the Production System when a transport is done. Depending on the SSCUI, some deletions will not be allowed in order to prevent damage in the Production System. For example, if the setting is used in live Finance data.
2 Partial solution to download configuration
It is possible to download configuration from a Web GUI SSCUI. This does not work for "View Cluster" SSCUIs that have a hierarchy. In these, only the content for one selected level can be downloaded. It is also not possible in Fiori SSCUIs.
Use menu:
More > Table View > Print
Then menu:
More > List > Export > Spreadsheet
Click
Continue
Click
Choose
Click on the Excel
3 Mandatory country-specific SSCUIs
If you have more than one country in your project, it is useful to see which configuration steps (SSCUIs) are mandatory for each country.
In the system, set the country in Manage Your Solution. Open Configure Your Solution and use the download feature to create an Excel list of SSCUIs. Use the filter feature in Excel
: Category = Mandatory. Country Dependent = Country Dependent or Localized.
Alternatively, use the SAP Activate Reference Excel for SSCUIs in SAP Activate:
https://go.support.sap.com/roadmapviewer/#/group/BE47098A-617A-43EF-A27E-DFD801D70483/roadmap/IMPS4H...
Set filters for: C
ategory = Mandatory. Country Dependent = Country Dependent or Localized. Specialized for certain countries contains the country code e.g. AE.
4 Create multiple configuration records quickly
New configuration records cannot be created in all SSCUIs: some SSCUIs only allow you to change existing records whilst others only allow you to change records you have created yourself.
In some cases, you may need to create many new records. Web GUI SSCUIs allow you to copy and paste multiple records at a time. For example, 30 to 50 rows.
- Create your configuration in Microsoft Excel with columns that match the SSCUI.
- Click on the New Entries button in the SSCUI and ensure the browser font is small enough to see all the new rows.
- Count how many new rows are available in the SSCUI.
- Use CTRL-C to copy this number of records from Excel.
- Use CTRL-V to paste these into the IMG Web GUI SSCUI and then save and repeat.
There is no feature to upload configuration into SSCUIs from Excel.
5 Requirement where IMG would be used in on-premise
You have a business requirement or solution gap. If you were using an on-premise solution you might look at configuration in the IMG but in cloud there is no equivalent SSCUI. For example, you may want to understand the meaning of certain drop-downs in an application field.
The cloud application scope and available SSCUIs have been carefully designed. If there is a gap, SAP would like to know about it. Possible changes might be a change in the application, additional documentation or an extra SSCUI. For this reason, please create a customer incident explaining the pure business requirement and impact. You could add which IMG activity you would consider using in on-premise.
SAP might offer an alternative cloud-specific approach and/or update standard documentation. In some cases, SAP might do some expert configuration behind the scenes in your Quality system. Typically, an SSCUI is then released for that topic in a later release.
6 Can I see Expert Configuration done by SAP?
SAP has undertaken some expert configuration in the Quality System. Can I see it?
SAP has decided to only share configuration settings through SSCUIs accessed from Configure Your Solution. Any other configuration setting, including settings that have been changed through expert configuration, are not made available.
If expert configuration is suitable for all customers, an SSCUI is usually delivered for the IMG activity within the next few releases and you will be able to see all (or some) of the configuration. The business impact of the configuration should be tested with a test case in the quality system, and then repeated as part of regression testing for each release. This should be done before and after the SSCUI becomes available.
7 Common usability issues
Here are some hints about common usability issues.
7.1 Confirm mandatory SSCUIs
In the first project sprint in the Realize phase, all mandatory SSCUIs must be confirmed in order to transport configuration from Q to P. The system moves to a Deploy phase and then to a Change phase. This is confusing because the project is actually still in the Realize phase. This is a work-around that must be done. Originally, all configuration in S/4HANA was transported at the end of the Realize phase. Now transports are done in sprints.
The confirmation of mandatory SSCUIs currently has no meaning: in the first sprint many SSCUIs will not be complete. There is no selective transports of configuration; all configuration that has been done with SSCUIs is transported. There is no firm plan to change this yet.
7.2 Some apps related to configuration are outside Configure Your Solution
Some apps related to configuration are available in Fiori launchpad tiles within the SAP Business Role SAP_BR_BPC_EXPERT. They are not in Configure Your Solution. Others apps are available in other roles e.g. SAP_FIN_BC_CM_CONF_PC or GL_ACCOUNTANT. There is no firm plan to move these into Configure Your Solution yet.
7.3 Tracking Configuration
A detailed change log is available for Web GUI SSCUIs. In 1902, 95% of SSCUIs are Web GUI SSCUIs. Currently, a detailed change log is not available for Fiori SSCUIs in the system. It is not possible to get a list in the system of SSCUIs that have been changed in a sprint. Refer to this SAP Activate page for advice on this topic.
https://go.support.sap.com/roadmapviewer/#/group//roadmap/IMPS4HANACLDENMGMT/node/901B0E6D3F441ED89F...
In 1905, the plan is to add a new column to the Excel download feature called "Comment". This will contain the last comment added to each SSCUI. This can be used to help track which SSCUIs were changed and when. You can adopt the standard of adding the sprint number or change project to the comment each time an SSCUI is changed. By downloading the Excel, you can see which sprint an SSCUI was last changed in.
7.4 Country Dependent Configuration
If you have more than one country in your project, the country can be selected in Manage Your Solution: the country selection impacts all users.
Web GUI SSCUIs allow records for all countries to be configured by any user. The country in Manage Your Solution is ignored.
Some Fiori SSCUIs have country dependent records and only show the records for the country selected in Manage Your Solution.
You can only see the SSCUIs that are relevant for the selected country. For example, you cannot see the localized SSCUIs for Brazil when the country is set to France.
When working with Fiori SSCUIs, you must co-ordinate the country change and all users must work on one country at a time. Typically, one country is chosen as the lead country and configuration is done for this country first. Two different countries must not be configured with Fiori SSCUIs simultaneously. Changes for multiple countries can be done within one change project. However, best practice is to configure and test in sprints one country at a time.
Fiori SSCUIs are being phased out release by release. The plan is to eliminate country dependent Fiori SSCUIs with the exception of the organization structure SSCUI.
7.5 Cancel from error
You get an error message while editing an SSCUI and the cancel button at the bottom of the screen disappears. Use the menu
More > Cancel or press the
Esc key.
7.6 Search options not obvious
When you are presented with a search help screen, you can click on the three dots ... to see more search options.
7.7 Selection menu unclear
The options
all changed entries and d
isplay deleted entries work before the
Save button is pressed. Once saved, the selection is cleared.
Conclusion
If you still have a question, you can reach out to an experienced SAP consultant. Double check the presentation linked at the top of this blog which is regularly updated. Many aspects of SSCUIs are similar to the SAP on-premise solution.
Alternatively, you may have a SAP Product Expert who can help. Bugs or issues can be reported using the Application Component ID as described in the presentation.
If you have suggestions to improve configuration, you can create a request in the Customer Influence Portal under
SAP S/4HANA Cloud End-to-End Deployment Experience with SAP Activate.
