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<TITLE>RE: Questions re MAPI elimination and WF Substitutions</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Hi Peter, thank you for the reply. </FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>My main concern with a custom frontend is whether SAP =
will allow you to change a user's inbox settings if you are not the =
actual user. Then, can the inbox owner be notified that person B =
changed their WF substitution or autoforwarding. I'm sure that it's =
possible, it's really a case of how much development does one want to =
incur.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>regards,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Jerry Martinek</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>ICBC SAP CC</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>From: Roehlen, Peter [<A =
HREF=3D"mailto:PRoehlen@powercor.com.au">mailto:PRoehlen@powercor.com.au=
</A>]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2000 1:28 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>To: SAP-WUG@MITVMA.MIT.EDU</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Subject: Re: Questions re MAPI elimination and WF =
Substitutions</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Jerry,</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Although this falls far short of complete solution to =
your substitution</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>issues, I have heard of one company incorporating =
the setting of workflow</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>substitution as part of the application for leave =
workflow. Ie the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>employee/manager applies for leave and after it has =
been approved workflow</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>substitution is set for the duration of the =
leave. An extra field for the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>'stand in' user has to be added to the leave =
application form.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Alternatively, you could develop a simple SAPforms =
based form to set up</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>substitution. The form could be an =
Outlook/VB/Word or Excel and can trigger</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>a workflow by being transmitted to SAP via =
email.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Regards</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Peter.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>From: Martinek, Jerry [<A =
HREF=3D"mailto:Jerry.Martinek@icbc.com">mailto:Jerry.Martinek@icbc.com</=
A>]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Sent: Friday, 29 December 2000 4:26</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>To: SAP-WUG@MITVMA.MIT.EDU</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Subject: Questions re MAPI elimination and WF =
Substitutions</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Does anyone have PRODUCTION experiences with =
eliminating MAPI from the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>delivery of WIs to the selected agent(s) Outlook =
Inbox? Especially when the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>WF approval process utilizes background approval =
steps.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Has anyone built and currently is using in production =
a non-SAP solution to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>manage WF substitutions? The idea is that this =
custom front-end could then</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>be used by a support/admin/secretary to define the =
required, temporary WF</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>substitutions. The non-SAP solution could be an =
Outlook form or a WEB</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>(outside in) page.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Constraint - Must use Outlook Inbox for all SAP =
Mail/Notifications and WI</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>deliveries.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>System: - SAP 46C and 46D Windows GUI. Occasional =
users use the HTML Gui.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>BO: - heavily customized BUS2105</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>We have a production WEB based Purchase Requisition =
mini application (i.e.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>create/monitor and approve). Its successful rollout =
and corporate acceptance</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>is based on solving a number of annoying issues. =
Based on our experience to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>date, the issues are MAPI and planned and unplanned =
absences.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>First, with MAPI we encounter ongoing support issues =
that are either related</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>to training, PC literacy, and experience, SAP GUI =
for Windows, etc... The</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>original selling features/benefits are not being =
realized.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Second, WF substitution is a difficult process to =
sell to the approvers and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>therefore requires ongoing support activities. The =
approvers either can't</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>remember how to do it because they don't do it on a =
regular basis (i.e.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>occasional users), forget, intimidated by SAP =
Workplace, takes too long or</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>don't use SAP. Again, the original selling =
features/benefits are not being</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>realized.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>At this point, the most obvious solution to =
eliminating MAPI from the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>process is to add a WEB based delivery solution for =
the delivery of</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>notifications and WIs to the agent(s).</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>To date we have learned that you can use either =
RSWUWFML or imbed a URL in a</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>task description that is then sent to the user which =
would then launch our</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>customized WEB approval transaction.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>The main problem with the non-WI notification =
approach is our customized</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>background approval process. We would end up sending =
approval notifications</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>to the selected agent(s) for each background =
approval step that the system</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>processed on their behalf.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>The description for note 131795 (RSWUWFML) mentions a =
number of points that</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>don't really answer our concerns. The key to the =
success of this program</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>solving our problem is whether it can exclude the =
Wis that were delivered</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>the last time the program ran?</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Is anyone using either of the two mentioned options? =
If yes, what types of</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>issues have you encountered?</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>The members of this group have been asking lots of =
questions about WF</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>substitutions and mail autoforwarding. To date, I =
haven't seen a note</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>regarding a customized front-end to manage the =
process from outside of SAP</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>by other users (i.e. secretaries, clerks or admin =
staff).</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>I know that some of this could be managed by HR =
functionality but at this</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>point it's a black box solution. Furthermore, the HR =
group is not in a</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>position to support us in our timeline.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Has anyone used this approach to manage the WF =
substitutions? If yes, what</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>types of issues have you encountered?</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Thank you in advance</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Jerry Martinek</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>ICBC SAP Competency Center</FONT>
</P>
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