SAP Fiori, UI5 & The Mobile Application Revolution

​In the world of mobile applications, hot topics quickly become yesterday’s news, forcing developers to keep up with evolving UI and UX trends. 
2018’s Mobile World Congress showed how machine learning, digitisation, and AI all provide companies with the ability to redefine the customer experience and be a part of the mobile application revolution. 
Leading that revolution is SAP with SAP Fiori and UI5 that have dramatically affected the market by:
•Creating a new niche;
•Redefining the skills developers need to remain on the cutting edge of technology, and;
•Opening up new projects linked to different SAP implementation projects. 

Here's the story so far.

SAP Fiori

SAP Fiori is a collection of apps offering a seamless UX across SAP software functions on desktops, tablets or smartphones. It utilises modern UX designs to deliver a role-based consumer-grade user experience across the business and integrates seamlessly with S4/HANA, Ariba Mobile and SAP Cloud for Customer. (C4C).

In 2016, SAP partnered with Apple to forge what it has described as an ‘unparalleled mobile work experience’ through SAP Leonardo and Apple technologies. It enables companies to create intelligent enterprise apps for Apple iOS based on the SAP Fiori for iOS design guidelines working with the SAP Cloud Platform SDK (Software Development Kit) for iOS. That gives developers the vital tools and scalability to rapidly build enterprise-grade apps for iPhone and iPad. 

Furthermore, the SDK enables developers to leverage its mobile services to meet the increasing demands of today’s digital enterprises.

In June 2018, SAP announced a major release of SAP Fiori Cloud for S/4HANA, comprising over 6,000 apps and covering over 30 industries and 13 lines of business (LoB). This is intended to enable more rapid innovation without impacting on-premise core business systems. 
The top 5 Fiori features, according to SAP S/4HANA customers are:

•Fiori Enterprise Search
•Fiori Notifications
•Fiori Default Values
•Fiori Personalization
•User Assistance

UI5

SAP Fiori is based on SAP UI5, SAP’s strategic UI technology, which allows SAP apps to operate on mobile browsers and devices. SAP’s SAPUI5 JavaScript toolkit allows developers to build SAP web applications using HTML5 development standards. UI controls adapt themselves to the capabilities of each individual device to ensure a consistent user experience. 

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The future of SAP Fiori in the Intelligent Enterprise 

The intelligent enterprise was central to this year’s SAP Sapphire conference and the future of Fiori was a focus within that context. The main themes related to an increased emphasis on the user experience, with more options to scale and simplify app development. 
Some of the reported highlights include :

•SAP Fiori, SAPUI5 and SAP Screen Personas are being targeted towards ERP implementations to enhance the user experience.  Standard SAP Fiori apps can be adapted through the SAP S/4HANA platform. 
•More scalable elements are now available to enhance the user experience for SAP Fiori and deliver consumer-grade interface models. 
•More choice and toolkits will be made available by SAP to enhance the Fiori apps in terms of build, extension, adaption, and scalability to ensure a fast and consistent delivery. 
As the mobile application revolution gathers pace, businesses will need developers who possess relevant Fiori skills to tap into the possibilities of these new technologies. In the meantime, SAP Fiori will continue to play a key role in the rise of the intelligent enterprise. 
 

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