As organisations begin to look seriously at SAP Fiori, the need arises to consider the entire user experience. In this update we explain how the use of Floe can extend your SAP UX strategy to e-mails generated from Fiori apps.

Some Fiori apps are designed to replace SAPGUI transactions, in which some information is posted into SAP synchronously from the app. Many business transactions, however, do not exist in isolation, but form part of a managed business process. For example, scenarios such as:

  • Request / Approve
  • Create or Change / Notify
  • Multi-step or collaborative processes (such as many MDM and HCM scenarios)

For these kinds of requirements we expect notifications throughout the business process, in order to prompt users into taking action. There are various methods available for such notifications, including:

  • E-mail
  • App notification (e.g. Leave Approval app)
  • Inbox app / UWL
  • SMS
  • Instant messaging service such as Skype / iMessage / Facebook Messenger

Whereas some users work with an inbox as part of their job, in many cases it is necessary to send a message to users, and e-mail is often the best business tool.

So for organisations investing in UX improvements, e-mail generation is as relevant as data capture, retrieval and reporting.

It is historically difficult to manage HTML e-mail output from SAP, and many SAP-generated e-mails tend to be plain, with minimal HTML content (such as the inclusion of hyperlinks).

Fiori apps that are hooked into SAP Workflow rely on the SAP Workflow e-mails, which can often deliver an unpleasant user experience. Other Fiori apps which trigger SAP updates don’t trigger any notifications and should.

Introducing Floe

Floe is an HTML e-mail management system for SAP. With Floe you can send HTML e-mails based on e-mail templates, and dynamically generate content based on SAP data and business logic.

Floe is an Add-on product to SAP, enabling developers to manage e-mail templates, content and business rules.

Floe can be used for any SAP e-mail output such as document output and process notifications.

Example Floe output: Payment Advice in the body of the e-mail

Floe and Fiori

Floe can be used with Fiori in two different ways:

  • Floe for SAP Workflow notifications
  • Floe for Stelo notifications

SAP Workflow
For apps that trigger an SAP Workflow, the Workflow can be configured to trigger Floe to compose the e-mail, using any information in the Workflow container.

Floe provides a much easier way to manage the email body content, which can be different based on the type of app and data.

Transforming Workflow notification with Floe

Stelo
Stelo is a Fiori app generator for the accelerated delivery of custom Fiori apps. Stelo includes Floe integration out-of-the-box, so that Floe notifications can easily be triggered without the need for any development in ABAP, SAP Workflow or SAP Gateway.

Floe notification from Stelo

The combination of Stelo and Floe can therefore deliver increased business benefit, not only in slicker, more efficient business processes, but also through better UX in more touchpoints in the end-to-end process.