As a sales person, when you want to convince a customer on buying your product, you make sure that you really love this product to bits before walking into your sales meeting. Otherwise, your customers will quickly figure out that you are not fully behind it – and this is not a good thing for your sales career.  

Luckily SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C) is a product you can easily fall in love with; my colleagues and partners, who have been selling C4C know what I am talking about. I became instantly passionate about C4C when I saw it for the first time two years ago, and I am still pumped up and super excited every time I walk into a meeting to talk about C4C, even a hundred customer meetings later.

And yet, we all have preferences, and things that we’d like to have a bit different, a bit more “my way”.  When I was  in sales, getting a product a bit “my way” was not easy. This year, I made the big switch moving from sales to the product development organization, and I have a chance at making C4C a bit more “my way”!

On May 5, 2015 we are launching a new product called “SAP Digital forCustomer Engagement”, and since I am an SAP guy who loves 3-letter-acronyms, I call it “D4C” for shorts. D4C is the smaller sibling to C4C, with fewer capabilities, but with a few exciting additions!

Up and Running in 15 Min - D4C allows you to go live within 15 minutes. From the moment you locate the product on the new SAP store, to purchasing using your credit card, receiving your personal tenant, logging in, and easily loading up your data.  Within minutes you can schedule the first call with one of your customers or create the first sales lead in the application, and get your sales people on it.

Easy Onboarding - The onboarding is done via a new walk-through experience,  built-into the product – a first for an SAP product!  There is no need for training or reading a manual, you instantly know what to do, and you can use the tool immediately to sell more or to service your customers better. As simple as that!

All Inclusive Capabilities - you get to choose any combination of  the D4C capabilities - Sales, Service or Industry.  No debate or decision needed on what to buy, no more “I need mainly Sales and a bit of Service so don’t charge me for both, please”. You get it all! To keep it simple, you will only see in the product what you selected; all the extra capabilities you don’t need will be hidden, but can turn them on the moment you need them.  Clean and easy!

Simplified Buying Experience - we wanted to simplify the whole buying experience, so now you can buy D4C on the new SAP Store with just a credit card. No more big contracts. Best of all, we implemented a “utility pricing” model, so you only pay for what you use.  As you create new users, at every billing cycle you get charged for only for the active users. No more, no less! Fair and straight forward!

Competitively Priced, No Hidden fees - compared to competition we offer more functionality at a lower price point, and there are no hidden fees for add-on’s -- what you see is what you get. Our renewal terms are as short as three months, so without stressing your credit card you can become the proud owner of D4C.

Try, Buy and Grow Model - If you are still not sure, you can sign up for a 30 day free trial.  The best part is that you can load your data, use the product, and if you decide to buy a subscription you can move into production mode immediately - there is no need to migrate when signing up for the subscription at a later point of time. It is all seamless and you remain on the same tenant. If you decide that you need enterprise level capabilities, it is easy to upgrade to C4C at anytime; again no migration needed, you stay on the same tenant with your data.  With SAP you are able to scale from one user to thousands. Where else you can do that?

Responsive UI Design on Any Device - D4C runs across all devices, from desktops to tablets, to smartphones to smart-watches. You get mobility at its best, and customers are constantly telling me that our User Interface (UI) design is the best in the industry.  Oh, and did I tell you that D4C is fully localized in 23 languages from day one. Pretty exciting!

So, this is how I worked with my product development team to make the product a bit “my way”.  Actually, I hope that D4C is designed for “your way” -- easy to buy, simple to use, robust and scale-able, all for the best price you can get. See for yourself, you’ll find it at www.sapstore.com/d4c

And a final hint: If you buy before June 15, 2015 and use the promo code “SAPPHIRE15” on the SAP Store, you get 15% off the published price and go live within 15min with a product you’ll instantly fall in love with!

Want now. Buy now. Use now.

Remember that line from the movie Moneyball, “If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done”.

That’s the exact thought that crossed my mind when I was on a flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco. Moneyball taught me two things – it made me more knowledgeable of baseball (something I should have known by now according to my American friends) and second it drove home the point, why you will not get different results if you try to do the same thing over and over again.

If you are in Silicon Valley in 2015, you know that the ground beneath our feet is shifting where Enterprise software is undergoing a massive transformation. Several trends can be observed –individual users are trying before deciding to buy enterprise software. They are able to purchase the software without filling our large forms or interacting with a large account team. They are able to access the software now and do business now. And if you are lucky, they will leave you nice reviews and make you successful – similar to what Tripadvisor and Yelp have done for many businesses.

I am a firm believer that software should not get in the way but rather show you the way. And, SAP Digital for Customer engagement is our first shot at getting these right for the user by making customer engagement simple again.  With just over 12 weeks of serious agile development, I am pretty excited that we will launch the product on May 5^th 2015.  Our small team here at SAP, has been laser focused at solving one core problem – removing complexity for the end user. And we are just getting started!

Whether you are from a Small and Medium business (SMB) or from a large enterprise (LE), getting rid of complexity should be your number one priority. With the release of the first generation SAP D4C, here is what we think makes D4C worth a look,

1. Built and designed for the individual in small teams and departments.
2. Beautiful, Intuitive UI that works across all your devices
3. Rich analytics and Dashboards powered by our ground-breaking technology SAP HANA
4. Fully integrated sales and service capability
5. In-product walkthroughs to guide you at every step

So I hope you give it a try or if you are feeling lucky buy it. Go to sapstore.com/d4c

Run Simple.

Karthik SJ,                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Lead Product Manager, SAP Digital for Customer Engagement

  Source: http://assets.mytopfbcover.com/2012/02/15/2098/63777/moneyball-wallpaper-2_facebook_timeline_cover.jpg

As we know HCI comes with pre shipped content for various integration scenarios, for example SAP Cloud for Customer Integration with SAP CRM or SAP Cloud for Customer Integration with SAP ERP. The content uses standard IDOC , which sometimes need to be extended to cater to customer specific requirement.

In this blog post I will show how the extended IDOC can be  used in place of standard IDOC while retaining the mapping provided by SAP for standard elements

Assumption: you have already extended an IDOC.

Step 1: Use the report SRT_IDOC_WSDL_NS to download the IDOC definition in form of a WSDL (See NOTE 1728487)

Note: Standard report download the file with extension WSDL, which should be renamed to wsdl, else HCI will not recognize the service definition.

For example in my case the file was saved with name COD_EQUIPMENT_SAVE01.WSDL, which I renamed to COD_EQUIPMENT_SAVE01.wsdl

Step 2: Open the wsdl file with a text editor and remove the target namespace from the schema element as shown below

Before:

After:

Step 3: Replace all the occurrence of tns: with empty value

Step 4: Add maxOccurs attribute to the IDOC element to support bulking as in the original mapping

Save your service definition file.

Step 5: Copy the wsdl to the package src.main.resources.wsdl of the desired iFlow project

Step 6: Finally replace the original IDOC definition with the imported IDOC definition in the mapping editor as shown below

Step 7: Select the request message type

Step 8: Save your mapping and make sure there are no errors reported

Step 9: Verify your changes and make sure the existing mappings are retained, example: below I can see the IDOC occurrence has been set to 9999

So far with HCI end to end monitoring of messages has always been little difficult. For example in the past it was always difficult to find an IDOC and its corresponding SAP Cloud for Customer message ID. With 1505 release, now the monitoring of asynchronous messages have been made easy.

This feature has been introduced via the help of Content Modifier (Using SAP_ApplicationID header element)

For ERP->HCI->C4C we can search message based on IDOC numbers and for C4C->HCI->ERP we can search messages based on message ID available via web service message monitor in SAP cloud for Customer.

For this simply specify the IDOC no or SAP Cloud for Customer message ID in the search field Application ID as shown below

Now to see end to end monitoring in action, let's take an example scenario in which data flows from ERP to SAP Cloud for Customer via HCI. Using t-code WE05 in the back end system we can get the IDOC number and provide it as a filter in the Application ID field. This should return us the corresponding HCI message in the message monitor

Now we can open the message processing log and search for the string com.sap.sod.utils.idoc.soap.messageid, which will give us corresponding message ID for the SAP Cloud for Customer system

For the other direction in which data flows from SAP Cloud for Customer to SAP ERP via HCI, we can get the message ID using the web service message monitor in SAP cloud for Customer and provide it as a filter in the Application ID field.

Now we can open the message processing log and search for the string com.sap.sod.utils.idoc.soap.idocassign, which will give us corresponding IDOC no in the SAP back-end system.

Limitations:

1.     Currently only asynchronous messages can be monitored and

2.     Bulk IDOC monitoring is not supported

A Conclusion note: You can use the content modifier to search the message based on any other header fields or payload element.

For getting all the header fields you can write a simple groovy script, which should return all the header fields available in runtime

For searching based on payload element you can use XPath expressions.

Hello community members,

We invite you to visit the SAP Cloud for Customer YouTube channel to check out two new videos for May 2015.

• What's New - SAP Cloud for Customer - May 2015 (2m 26s)
• Getting Started with SAP Digital for Customer Engagement (1m 55s)

Enjoy watching!

Dear Partner,

We would like to invite you to the upcoming SAP enablement offering "Your Way to Cloud Support - C4C & ByD" Please use the registration button on the right to reserve your seat now!

Description

In this session you'll learn the methods and processes to interact with our Cloud Support team. You'll learn about Key user responsibilities and tools, available resources and the set up and best practices of the SAP Cloud Support team.

Agenda

1. Cloud Support Introduction
2. Key User Responsibilities & Tools
3. Incident Handling
4. Resources for Partners
5. Q&A

Target Partner:

• Services Partner
• Channel Partner
• Authorized Reseller
• Extended Business Member
• Application Development Partner
• Distributor

Roles:

• Development Consultant
• Solution Consultant
• Support Consultant
• Presales Consultant
• Partner Management
• Project Manager
• Technical Consultant

Presenter(s)

Friedrich Woltran

Event Details

Date: 19 May 2015

Time: 10:00 (GMT 2) - Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna

Mark your calendar

REGISTER

Date: 19 May 2015

Time: 17:00 (GMT 2) - Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna

Mark your calendar

REGISTER

Language(s):

English

Quicklinks

www.SAPPartnerEdge.com

Please be aware that if you are registering from the Service Market Place you must update your profile so that it has your current email address.

This is required in order to receive the reminders for this session as well as the post-event notification with presentation / recording.

You will receive a reminder with the the login information about 2 days before the session.

We look forward to having you in this session! For any questions, please contact your partner service advisor.

Kind regards,

SAP Partner Service Delivery Team

Copyright/Trademark |   Privacy |   Impressum

Partner Service Delivery

Mandatory Disclosure Statements: www.sap.com/company/legal/impressum.epx

Introduction:

While doing a C4C project I came across a problem when trying to send data to one of the webservices available on C4C. Firstly let me explain a few things about C4C. My project was as follows. ECC - PO - C4C. C4C has webservices that are active, but not yet configured. This is where this blog comes in. Will show you how to create your Communication Arrangement and how to get the WSDL of the webservice.

Error:

SOAP: Response message contains an errorXIAdapter/PARSING/ADAPTER.SOAP_EXCEPTION - soap fault: Authorization role missing for service "ServiceInterface http://sap.com/xi/CommunicationServicesManagement/Global CommunicationServicesManagementMaintainObjectIdentifierMappingIn <default> <default>", operation "Operation http://sap.com/xi/CommunicationServicesManagement/Global MaintainBundle"

This error is generated when the webservice you are trying to call has not been configured or incorrectly.

Steps:

Firstly you will need to log into C4C and go to your Administrator Page(Its on Silver Lite if you have an older version of C4C) and click on Communication Arrangement.

Secondly you will see the following screen see below and click on New.

Thirdly : You will choose what web service you want to configure(Communication Method). and Select Nexxt.

Fourthly : You will now choose you System you want to send to. For example i have chosen our Dev system.

Fifth : You need to configure how you will be authenticating against this web service. For this scenario I have chosen basic authentication.

Sixth : Review the data and select finish. This is the final step. The wsdl can now be downloaded with the endpoint already generated.

This concludes how to create a communication arrangement in C4C. Hope that is helps.

Just a few facts when using the services.

C4C monitoring help when the webservice failed because of data issue or connection error. Please remember to monitor it.

But the monitor has a limitation of only being able to see Async messages. Sync message do not appear in the monitor. This is something SAP needs to really add to the road map. But when it will be available i do not know.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions. Please let me know.

Jannus Botha

Recently we announced C4C certification.   The details are in this blog.   I just took my first test, the C4C50.   I will take the C4C10 in another month or so - I still need to study!

Here is my experience.  I hope it helps you prepare.

• When you sign up, all times are UTC.  I signed up for 1 PM, went to take the test, and it said I was a no-show.  Well, I assumed 1 PM Texas time but it was 1 PM UTC time.  Fortunately I was not penalized for this mistake.   I just got a new appointment and ensured I entered it in UTC time.

• Before taking the test,  they recommend you conduct a system test.  This includes downloading some software and launching a mock test. For me, the download of the software worked fine, but the launch of the mock test resulted in an error and then locked up my machine.   I tried several times. Even though this failed, I could still launch the test.

• At your appointment time, you go to "Exam Appointments" and select "Start".  Then the proctor comes.  There is a chat window and he ensures he can hear you while you take the test.  He provides various rules, you must show a photo ID in the web cam.  You also must take your laptop and move it around the room so the proctor can see all your surroundings.  This includes the floor and behind your knees so they can ensure you aren't cheating in any way.    All of this takes a few minutes, then you get the OK to start.

• When working on the test, I was reading the questions to myself, I guess kind of lip-syncing them.  He told me that is reading aloud and I cannot do that.  So, you must read the questions in your head, no thinking out loud or moving your lips

• The proctor is there the entire time, watching you.  I moved the window around when it interfered with reading a test question.

• On the test itself, you can mark questions you are unsure of to review later.  You can also change the font size and the contrast.

• Once I got going, it wasn't so bad.  I was a little uncomfortable with the proctor there, but understand why it is needed.

In regards to the C4C50 test, I passed!   (OK, so maybe I was involved some in the authoring of the test, but some of the questions were still a little tough!)

All of the questions come from the C4C50 course material.  If you've taken the course, study the material and review the new features, since as we update the class we also add new topics covered in the class to the test.   We will also offer delta tests so you can take the core test once and then just take delta tests to keep your certification updated.  The core test is 80 questions, the delta tests are 40 questions.

Good luck!!  The C4C10 will be harder for me - but you get 3 times to pass it!  The C4C30 test...hmm...maybe sometime next year!

About the author: Rubaneson Chandra Sekaran (Master of ERP Systems & Information Systems)

"Hi all. Welcome to my blog. I'm an ERP postgraduate student from Victoria University Melbourne. I designed this workshop as part of Assessment 1 for BCO6181 ERP Applications. Special thanks to my mentor Tony De Thomasis for inspiring me to write this blog. Thank you."

LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/rubaneson

    SAP CLOUD FOR CUSTOMER PRESENTATION BCO6181 ERP APPLICATIONS

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction to SAP Cloud for Customer

Your sales force is screaming for fast, easy sales applications that actually help them close business.You need new sales solutions designed for the way your sales people sell today – and are a breeze to use, affordable, and quickly integrate with your whole back-office operation.SAP Cloud for Customer was designed from the ground up for salespeople to work smarter, sell better and win more. Built to maximize sales productivity, it’s an easy-to-use cloud sales tool that goes beyond the traditional approach to customer relationship management (CRM).

This workshop was designed to give you an overview of the basic functionalities of SAP Cloud for Customer. There are 2 business cases & 6 tasks for you to complete.

Before beginning this workshop, you are required to download SAP Cloud for Customer. Please visit the following link to proceed with the download: http://www.sap.com/pc/tech/cloud/software/cloud-for-sales/free-trial.html

Business Case 1: You work for a renowned IT Retailer as a Sales Executive. You recently met Amir who could be a potential customer of yours. Your company has recently implemented SAP Cloud for Customer. Your task is to create a customer account, assign a contact person, schedule an appointment, create an opportunity & assign relevant products to your customer account.

Task 1: Create ‘Customer Account’

(a) You will begin this tutorial by first creating a Customer Account. This can be done by accessing the CUSTOMERS tabon the main menuas shown below.Select CUSTOMERS>>ACCOUNTS.

(b) You will be able to see a list of your customer accounts (if you have already created them). Select New at the upper right hand corner of the screen to create a new Customer Account (e.g. Victoria University Queen Campus). Fill in the required details and click on Save.

Task 2: Create & Assign ‘Contact Person’ to ‘Customer Account’

(a) In this task, you will be creating a Contact Person (the person in the organization the sales representative deals with). A contact person can be created by accessing the CUSTOMERS tab. Select CUSTOMERS>>CONTACTS.

  (b) To create a contact person, select New at the upper right hand corner of the screen. Fill in the required details. In the Account field, select the customer account you created in Task 1. Click   on Save to confirm your entries.

Task 3: View ‘Customer Account’ & ‘Contact Person’

(a) In this task, you will search for the Customer Account & Contact Person created in Tasks 1 and 2. Select CUSTOMERS>>ACCOUNTS. The Customer Account & Contact Person created in Tasks 1 & 2 should appear in the list below. SAP Cloud for Customer also provides the option to drill-down. Select the Customer Account you created to display more information.

  (b) On this page, information such as customer address, contact number, contact person, website, sales person in charge & the owner of the account are displayed.  You are also allowed to directly edit the Customer Account & Contact Person on this page. Click on Save if you have made any changes.

Task 4: Schedule an ‘Appointment’

In this step you will schedule a meeting with your customer to introduce the line of sustainable products. On the same screen, select the ACTIVITIES tab. Next, click on New and fill in the appointment details. Click Save to confirm your appointment.

Task 5: Create ‘Opportunity’ & ‘Assign Products’

   (a) Now that you've created a new contact and a new appointment to meet with your customer, you want to capture the opportunity details. You create a new opportunity and add the products your customer wishes to purchase. Click the  icon at the upper right hand corner and select OPPORTUNITIES.

  (b) Click on New and fill in the details of the new opportunity. Click Save to confirm your entries.

  (c) Click on the Opportunity you have created.

(d) Click the PRODUCTS tab. Click on Add and fill in the product details. Click OK and SAVE to confirm your entries.

Business Case 2: Your customer tells you there is a competitor and that they are very close to making a final decision. You can add the competitor to the opportunity and research the competition.

Task 6: Add & Research the ‘Competitor’

(a) Click on the SALES tab and select OPPORTUNITIES.

  (b) Select the Opportunity you created in Task 5.

(c) Click the COMPETITORS tab on the main menu. Click on Add and fill in the competitor details. Click OK and SAVE to confirm your entries.

  (d) Click the competitor name to research the competitor.

  (e) Details about the competitor are displayed. The embedded Sales Analytics feature provides information to you so you can quickly gain helpful selling insights (i.e., which sales representatives sell effectively against the competition & what your win/loss ratio is against this competitor).

Before meeting your customer, you would probably want to meet the sales representative who successfully secured a deal against your competitor. By doing so, you might gain insight into his/her unique selling skills and perhaps some tips in selling against your competitor.

  (f) Click the EMPLOYEES tab and search for the name of the sales representative who secured a deal against your competitor.

  (g) Click the icon to follow the employee.

(h) From the Feed page, you can send a message directly to the sales representative. Type the following: “Let’s meet for lunch @(sales representative’s name) regarding @(name of your customer)” . The @ character creates a reference and a link to the item allowing you and others to immediately access the item from the Feed. Post the message. Your message will now appear on the News Feed.

(i ) Log Off to exit the system.                                     

You have reached the end of the workshop. Thank you for your time :-)

Introduction:

While doing a project you are always busy with developing and testing. And it sometimes it never seems to end. But sometimes you need to do a change and ask the third party to check outside C4C and they might come back saying they haven't received the data or it is incorrect etc. So if you are a active C4C user and sending data out of the system I suggest that you learn how to monitor the integration in the system. What is coming in(Inbound) and what is going out(Outbound).

So I will try and do a quick over view of where to find this Integration Monitor and how to use it.

Overview :

Just a things that you need to know about monitoring. The most important one is that you are not able to view Synchronous messages within C4C Message Monitoring. Not sure why this hasn't been implemented from the start I do not know, but think SAP will add it shortly. For example if you are doing 360 interfaces from ECC, they are all sync interfaces and wont be able to be view on C4C.

But saying we still have a lot of Async interfaces. Creating Prospects, Customers, Contact etc.

Tutorial :

Step 1 - Go to the Integration Monitor which can be found on the Administrator(Beta) Tab.

Step 2 - When you have select Integration Monitor it will take you to a page that will look similar to the one below.

As you can see there are messages in the system. Some have posted successfully and some have failed. Let me take you through the Tabs and Filters of this monitor.

If you select filter then it will display the points below.

Status :

You will get a few types of status's when using this monitor.

• Successful
• Error
• Waiting
• Cancelled
• System Error
  

Direction :

• Incoming - Into C4C
• Outgoing - Out of C4C

Service Interface :

This is the interface that is being called or coming into the system.

Party :

This is by which Communication System it was called by or came in with.

USER ID :

This shows you what user was used to create that message or what it came in with.

CHARTS :

Next to the Filter function there is also a CHART option. To display the amount of each of the directories above(Amount of incoming and outgoing messages etc.

Advanced Filter :

In C4C there is also a function called Advanced Filter

Navigation :

This concludes how we will navigate within C4C Integration Monitor. From going to your normal filter and seeing the different type of messages. Confirm a message was successful or failed for some reason. The last piece I would like to cover is how to see what error you might have gotten and what message was generated in C4C or came into C4C.

View Payload and Error Message :

When there is message that failed in your system. C4C will generate an error. Stating why it failed and that will help you resolve the issue. Please see the view function down below. This function will give you the error in XML format.

If you drop down the view function you will see 3 options.

• Error Log
• Payload
• Child Messages

Error Log :

This will provide you with an xml that describe what error you are facing. Anything from Connectivity to data issues.

Payload Log :

This will show you what xml(payload) you received or might be sending out of your system. This also have a download function that you are able to use to download this xml.

Overview of message :

If you want to see an overview of the message in the system. You just need to select it and all the details will appear in the bottom. See below.

Restart or Cancel :

This is the last function I would like to share with you. If a message was stuck for some reason and the problem was resolved. You are able to resend the message. All this does it just tries to send the message that was in error again or if it cannot be resend you are able to cancel this message.

This concludes my findings and experience with the integration monitoring on C4C.

I hope this helps anyone that might be struggling or is looking for some information surrounding this.

Regards,

Jannus Botha

Change the Game in Customer Engagement with SAP Cloud for Customer - Retailer Demo

SAP’s vision and strategy for customer engagement and commerce, learn how SAP customers are using Cloud for Sales and Service solutions to deliver an omnichannel experience to customers, getting a holistic view of their customers across all touch points and channels and engaging with customers in a relevant and personalized fashion.

Change the Game in Customer Engagement with SAP Cloud for Customer Manufacturing Demo  

SAP’s vision and strategy for customer engagement and commerce, learn how SAP customers are using Cloud for Sales and Service solutions to deliver an omnichannel experience to customers, getting a holistic view of their customers across all touch points and channels and engaging with customers in a relevant and personalized fashion.

Customer Engagement a 9 year old can get - from SAP

Can you believe that? We can now...

Stay tuned for much more from Team C4C at SAP...

Running marketing (campaigns, promotions) on Social media platforms such as, Facebook, Google+, Twitter to name a few, have been there for quite some time now. A large no of small and medium businesses use these platforms to reach to a customer which is lot cheaper compared to other more conventional mode of advertising.  More ever the reach of social media is so huge that it becomes almost impossible to match that with other forms of advertising.

The end goal of any marketing effort is to generate sales. Although social media is a useful marketing tool, it is often difficult to quantify to what extent it is contributing to profit. ROI can be measured by comparing marketing analytic value to contact database or CRM and connect marketing efforts directly to sales activity.

This blog showcases one such scenario where a promotion on Facebook can be used to create marketing lead in SAP Cloud for Customer system. Another real life scenario can be creating service tickets based on customer complaints posted via the company twitter handle (Will try to come up with a blog in near future..)

The application has 3 major components

1. Facebook: the social media platform where we run a promotion
2. SAP Cloud for Customer : where the Marketing leads are created based on Facebook like event
3. HANA Cloud platform : Acts as a middleware integrating Facebook with SAP Cloud for Customer

To use this application we would need an app on Facebook with an associated page where promotions are run by the company. This Facebook app subscribes to an application running on HANA Cloud Platform and sends data in near real-time about feeds and events (like event for this case). Based on the data HANA Cloud Platform queries Facebook to get user details and creates Marketing lead on SAP cloud for Customer.

Important high level technical details:

1. This application uses Facebook feature to receive API Updates in Real-Time. For more information about Facebook real-time updates please refer
   to the link here.
2. Up on receiving the Facebook real-time updates the HCP app uses Facebook graph API to get relevant user details
3. Then using SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) creates marketing lead in SAP cloud for customer
4. For JSON data parsing, Java API for JSON Processing available with JDK 1.7 onwards, is used

How to deploy and use the project?

Note: Make sure all the prerequisite are met as mentioned in the README file at the github link below

1. Download the source code from this SAP github link.
2. Import as a maven project into eclipse 
3. Provide all the required values in the local.properties under directory WebContent/WEB-INF (Note: The VERIFY_TOKEN can be any arbitrary string which will be later used to register real time updates for your Facebook app )
4. Run maven build (clean install)
5. Deploy the application to HANA Cloud Platform account
6. As a final step register the FBCallBackApp servlet URL with Facebook app for real time subscription (example URL:  https://<appname><account
   name>.hana.ondemand.com/<project context>/FBCallBackApp/)

The End2End application flow

Step 1: User likes a promotion created on Facebook

Step 2: Marketing Lead is created in SAP Cloud for Customer. We can see information like user name and email address are captured from Facebook (using proper access tokens) and populated in marketing lead.

Step 3: The above Lead can also be found in the application log on HANA Cloud Platform

Step 4: Optionally you can see all the Leads generated from the HCI application start page

Note:
Since the application on HCP connects to SAP Cloud for Customer system, it will not work on HCP trial accounts because of proxy infrastructure. You should run this application on productive HCP account (at https://account.hana.ondemand.com)

That’s it for this blog. Download, build run and enjoy!!! Try extracting more information from Facebook and update the marketing lead service on SAP Cloud for Customer.

For those who are not familiar with Facebook app token please read the follow-up blog here.

As mentioned in the first part, to use the cloud-c4c-extension-sample Application for creating marketing lead we need to use various Facebook tokens. The aim of this blog is to show how to generate those tokens. To limit the size of the blog it has been divided into two parts. This blog deals with creating the app and the follow up blog shows how to create the tokens required and real time subscriptions.

Note: This document is only limited to showcase how to create a basic Facebook app to be used with for this specific scenario and how to generate the required tokens.  Development of productize Facebook App is beyond the scope. Additionally Facebook API can change over time and no guarantee the steps mentioned here will work as is. Please consult developers.facebook.com for further information and any issues you
might face.

To create a Facebook app you need to register as a developer with Facebook.

Give a Display name and use the category Apps for pages

Under Settings, add the platform as a website for this app

And provide a URL for the Website (There is a sample servlet shipped with the source code with context /FBMainApp/ which can be added here) under Site URL

Under the App Details add an app page where the campaigns will be created using Create New page button

For this demo I am using page type as Brand or Product and then follow the screen instructions to create the app page

After page is created add it to the app under the App page section

Next switch on the Website option under App Center Listed Platforms and click on Configure App Center Permissions

And request for information needed from Facebook (for our application only email is needed)

That’s all from app generation point now we will create the required tokens in the follow up blog.

To use the cloud-c4c-extension-sample Application for creating marketing lead we need to use various Facebook tokens. The aim of this blog is to show how to generate those tokens.

Note: This document is only limited to showcase how to create a basic Facebook app to be used with for this specific scenario and how to generate the required tokens.  Development of productize Facebook App is beyond the scope. Additionally Facebook API can change over time and no guarantee the steps mentioned here will work as is. As per Facebook documentation Apps that are in development mode will not receive real time
updates. Please consult developers.facebook.com for further information and any issues you might face.

Prerequisites: You already have created a Facebook as explained in the last blog.

To generate tokens we will use Facebook Graph API Explorer under the Tools & Support tab.

APP Token

App token can be generated as shown below

PAGE Token

For Page token first we need to set the relevant permissions. Click on Get token and in the Extended permissions section check email and manage_pages (optional for this app)

This will return us a short lived page token, which we need to exchange for a long lived exchanged token (expiry 60 days)

GET /oauth/access_token?grant_type=fb_exchange_token&client_id={app-id}&client_secret={app-secret}& fb_exchange_token={short-lived-token}

 
We need to provide this page token in the local.properties file

Real time Subscription

Next we need to add real time subscription for our Facebook app.

Note: Before this step can be performed make sure the HCP application is deployed

For this we need send a post request to /{app-id}/subscriptions as shown below. The verify_token mentioned here should match the verify token mentioned in the local.properties file. If the URL is registered you should see a success message in the response as shown below 

We can also verify the request in the HTTP Access Logs of your application in HANA Cloud platform cockpit. Facebook sends a GET request to the callback_url as a check for subscribing to the URL.

Final step we need to setup the Page Subscribed Apps. For this a Page Access Token is required with publish_pages permission required

That's it. Hope you enjoyed this series and happy learning.

Hi All,

I was very much interested and waiting for new May SAP C4C may 2015 update but

at certain limit I am satisfied but some question still not answered.

Some which I think they are really helpful:

       1. We can specify the End time of phone call default end time 30 Min after start.

       2. From a rout we can show location visit location on Map.

       3. In Lead we can enter free text description of product without referring product master data.

       4. New view of sales order “change history” is really helpful.

       5. Computer telephony Integration (CTI).

       6. In service record time for productive and non productive hours.

       7. Installed base management its really helpful for sales & service team we can also add

           Competitor product & we can move item within installed base or other installed base.

Some feature which I am expecting From C4C next release:

       1. If  creation of service order possible in C4C then it will really helpful and it would be

           Complete package for customer and give tough fight for Sales force.

       2. SAP should provide basic Scheduling in service.

       3. Mobile or SMS notification should be standard feature.

Thanks & Regards,

Nawed  A Khan

With our 15.05 release, we are launching a new 'Responsive UI' for SAP Cloud for Customer.

• At its core, the new Responsive UI follows the Fiori design paradigm and is at the heart of our user-first strategy
• Users of other SAP Fiori applications will instantly feel at home with the consistent and harmonized experience across SAP applications
• With this release, we are beginning the journey to fully embrace the Fiori framework of design thinking, user centric design and associated technologies to power future user interaction for end users
• We are already working hard on new user-productivity scenarios following this new paradigm and specifically keeping our mobile users in mind

Customers are constantly telling us that our UI design is the best in the industry, and with the new 'Responsive UI' - you get mobility at its best.

• It is being built ground-up to run across all devices - from desktops to tablets, to smartphones to smart-watches
• In this first release, we are focussing only on iPads, Android Tablets and Desktops only - a large percentage of our user base. With our next release, we are focussing on smartphones
• These steps are part of our journey to converge into a single user interface powered by Fiori in the future

We are launching new mobile applications so that you can experience this new UI on your tablets.

• For the iPad and Android tablets, the new "SAP Cloud for Customer, extended edition" applications are available on the App Store and Google Play
• For our desktop users, the new UI is available by simply changing the URL used to launch SAP Cloud for Customer (manually change the URL tohttps://myxxxxxx.crm.ondemand.com/sap/public/ap/ui/repository/SAP_BYD_UI/HTML5/newclient.html)

So go ahead, try out our new 'Responsive UI' send us your feedback.

P.S.: Our existing HTML5 UI remains available for use and will continue to be supported. All customizations done on the HTML5 UI are available automatically on the new Responsive UI. We’ve tried to cover the most used scenarios in the first release and are working towards increasing the coverage with each release.

Hello Everyone!!

In the past I wrote couple of blogs to share my experience from real time Cloud for Customer projects. I'm sure everyone found them useful in one way other & I hope those helped Customers in their decision making process.

It makes a huge impact & influences dramatically if you get to hear the trues story from the actual people who have experienced the implementation & the ones who have implemented a project...LIVE!!

Also, it gives clear picture to the decision makers from the specific industry on choosing the right solution, as, its a validated proof of great success, with facts & figure & how exactly a solution is impacting the overall efficiency, productivity & the overall  business value the solution brings to a business.

I would keep it very short and simple in this one, and would like to share a great platform, a Live webinar, with free registration, hoping to help the decision makers expedite their decision making process, get real insights into the Business value a Cloud for Customer solution creates for a business.

I invite one and all, be it a consultant, a partner or an Organization who are keen to understand & hear a validated proof of the real value & benefits a Cloud for Customer solution bring to your business.

Closing deals today requires technology that is responsive and relevant with real-time analytics and personalization. Your sales force needs a solution which is affordable, easy to implement and integrates seamlessly with your back-office system, allowing for improved visibility into product catalog, pricing and availability!

Please feel free to register to hear from one of our Customers on how can your Sales Organization get a 360 degree view of your Customer & engage with them in a meaningful way!

Agenda:

• How you can empower your sales team with a relevant, intuitive and easy to adopt tool
• How your sales team closes deals faster and efficiently with real time analytics, account intelligence and relevant information
• Learn about the core capabilities of SAP Cloud for Sales
• Future road-map for SAP Cloud for Sales and complete Customer Engagement and Commerce Suite
• Key features to look out for: mobility, email integration, pricing, quotes, orders, real-time reporting, etc.
• Ask for: Customized demo, workshop, special offers etc.

Here is the link for free registration for the LIVE webinar (Right click the below link to open):

Registration

Hope this contributes to some level for anyone looking to implement a C4C Solution!

BR

Ankur

Problem Description:

During iflow deployment in HCI tenant from eclipse if you are receiving following error :

[6/5/15 5:49 PM] ERROR: 'Bundle Name' name must begin with a letter and use characters (aA-zZ, 0-9, $ _ ) without any space

[6/5/15 5:49 PM] Result contains errors or warnings in the project

Solution :

Please refer following steps to resolve above issue :

1. Go to corresponding iflow in eclipse and expand META-INF folder
2. Open MANIFEST.MF file
3. Copy value of ID field in Name field
4. Save and deploy

Reason of above error :

If you import already deployed iflow content from "Runtime Archive" option into eclipse workspace. By default "Name" field has value equal to WebUI description of iflow which is usually includes white spaces. However, a name field only accept input characters (aA-zZ, 0-9, $ _ ) without any space. Hence you get above error if you try to deploy content without modifying it.

PS: You get above error only when you import any deployed iflow in eclipse which is earlier deployed via webUI.

Regards

sharad

In the old days display size did not matter when it came to application development. You interacted with your software applications via a keyboard and starred at a monitor screen which was always the same size and ratio. Maybe the resolution improved over time from 640x480 pixels to 1024x768 pixels, or maybe you could afford a 13 inch instead of 11 inch monitor, but in front of you was always a monitor screen with the same size ratio - a wider than taller display with a 4:3 ratio. This made it very easy for any application developer.  One size did fit all.

Today a MacBook screen comes with a standard 16:9 display – a wider and shorter ratio than the old standard 4:3.  An iPad display is either 4:3 or 3:4 depending how you hold it, and an iPhone display is 9:16 or 16:9.  Ok, so now a developer has a few display variables to consider. No problem, she can develop native Apps, one for the tablet and one for the phone.

It is a jungle out there!  With hundreds of different devices that come in different forms, shapes and operating systems, suddenly size matters....

Today there is only one elegant way of tackling this: write a smart App that can figure out which device it is running on, and then automatically applies a User Interface to fit the particular device, regardless of size. We call this “Responsive User Interface” (RUI) and the great news is that SAP Digital for Customer Engagement is now running with a Responsive User Interface.

In the last few days we implemented a product release focused on user experience (UX). SAP Digital for Customer Engagement is based on the new SAP user experience (UX), SAP Fiori.  SAP Fiori is role-based, responsive, simple, coherent and delightful. It works across devices and provides optimal usability on multiple devices for the best business interactions and ease of use.

Why SAP Fiori?

• Flexibility: Device agnostic – Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, Phone
• Proliferation: Updates and News features are readily available across all devices
• Usability: Consistent UI across all devices
• Gain in Productivity
• Adoption: Increase in user adoption & decrease in user error, and save in training costs

The big winners – our customers! Using this application development approach, customers benefit especially with their experience on mobile devices.

  If I peaked your interest and you want to take a look, then just open SAP Digital for Customer Engagement on any mobile device. You’ll experience a beautiful responsive user experience right from your browser and you will get SAP Digital for Customer in your size!

Earlier this year we announced SAP Cloud for Customer certification.  SAP just announced a discount available for C4C certification.  The promotion is available now thru  August - so check it out and get certified!

SAP Cloud for Customer Certifications - Be the first ones to be certified!

Do you want to?

• Gain a competitive advantage for you and your team in SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C)
• Demonstrate your competence through rigorous study and experience in your area of expertise
• Exhibit your confidence while interacting with your Customers
• Offer most value to your Customers during each and every engagement

If the answer is “Yes” then SAP Cloud for Customer Certifications are the way forward.

SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C) has been gaining market share since its launch over 3 years ago. This is a high growth Solution area with healthy projections of business growth in the next three years. With the market made up of both SAP Install Base and Net New Customers, opportunities are abound for qualified and skilled experts in Cloud for Customers.

There is clearly a good demand for experienced and skilled C4C experts. Tap into these opportunities with SAP Certifications for C4C. SAP Certifications also offer a unique opportunity for existing CRM On-Premise experts to cross train and up-skill in the latest leading edge Cloud Offerings from SAP.

SAP is transforming into the “Cloud Company” and you should be an expert in SAP Cloud Solutions too.

We are pleased to announce a 15% discount on our annual Cloud Subscription fee from now until August 31, 2015. Take advantage of this promotion and be the first ones to be certified.

The discount code is “CLOUDCERT_C4C”.

For additional information, please access our C4C Curriculum and Certification Path: https://training.sap.com/g/en/curriculum/c4c-sap-cloud-for-customer-g-en .

Also, please contact your local SAP Education representative to register for relevant SAP C4C Courses and prepare yourself to take your C4C Certification exam.

Let's get certified!!

Your SAP Cloud for Customer Partner Management Team