Sending e-mail without user

Mon Oct 11 03:01:02 EDT 2004

Hi Dom,
It all comes down to HOW you are using the SAP system.  Licensing is always a grey area as there are many arrangements and the arrangements have changed over time.  Plus different sales people/account managers may negotiate different arrangements with different customers for political reasons.

As with any intellectual property, of course we must have rules and guidelines over what consitutes "use of the system" otherwise everyone would just use SAP* and DDIC all the time!  Remember a very large portion of those licence fees are going straight back into R&D (last time I looked SAP was spending more on R&D than all its major competitors combined) to provide you with more options and better functionality.

The problem in the scenario described is when you have a user who is a "non" SAP user (i.e. they don't have an SAP user id) but they do have direct impact on the system, e.g. by using a generic user id to perform a transaction-style update of data in the SAP system in background.  Then they really are using the system directly and should be licensed accordingly -and of course authorized and audit trailed accordingly!  These days with web access, that's a very common scenario for a web-based user as well.

This sort of scenario is quite different from a batch interface which loads masses of data in background and is licensed quite differently.

The whole gets even more complicated when you add third parties into the mix.  For instance, with the new SAP/Adobe Interactive Forms, these forms can be used offline by non-SAP users, however these users require a small "external community user" license as Adobe's R&D costs need to be covered as well.

Yes there are ways that do not impact your licensing - and the more recent your licence is generally the more options you have.  However some of the ways that are technically possible DO impact licensing.  So the point is - don't assume you know the rules - don't assume the rules will work against you - don't assume you have to "work around" the rules - check it out!

Don't forget if your license already covers the "non" SAP users then you aren't saving any bucks at all... you may just be doing things the hard or in a less-than-optimal way.  If you are covered, then the advantages of making the most of your user id are very significant, especially when you start looking at security, audit trail, and monitoring of your business process.  Plus email is not considered a secure environment by anyone I know, which is often a factor in the projects I've come across.

And by the way ... you should get your own scenario checked if you haven't already. You can use generic user ids such as interface user ids but they still need to be covered under the correct type of licence if they are to be used in the way you describe.

At most sites nowadays, the licensing arrangements are more than broad enough to cater for these scenarios.  It's usually only older sites that have issues.  However my point is:
1. Do not assume you are covered!
2. Do not assume you are NOT covered!
3. Just ASK! Knowing what the real situation is can drastically change what options are available to you and save you a lot of work/rework/hassles/explanations/grief further down the track.

Regards,
Jocelyn

-----Original Message-----
From: SAP Workflow [mailto:Owner-SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Dominik Sobolewski
Sent: Monday,11 October 2004 3:29 PM
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: Sending e-mail without user

Hi Zsolt and Jocelyn,

I do not want to rock the boot but there are some very interesting ways
of submitting work items to non SAP Users (without having to pay for the
non SAP Users!) particularly if your Mail System is Lotus Notes. Sorry
Jocelyn but I have a very hard time understanding the SAP Licensing
policy and I still don't get the concept of having to pay SAP for NON
SAP USERS!

I implemented several times a Forms/Notes interface together with an add
on (Push Engine see note 454845) that can do exactly what you need Zsolt
(without buying additional licenses).

The Idea is to save the Notes Mail Addresses in one Customer table,
implement a Method that makes you select (or selects automatically)
users from this table into a container element of a form task. The Form
task ends up in the inbox of an interface user. The add on has notes
agents that get (and later write back) the Workitem from the inbox to a
Notes Mail In Database, another Notes agent reads the user name in the
container element and sends the WI to the user. The user can then
execute the WI (in Notes) i.e. approve the PR, the WI gets transferred
back to the Mail in Database and then from there back to the SAP
Interface User inbox. You need 2 additional licenses (1 for the Inbox
User + a technical User to executes FMs) and save big bucks!

Best Regards,

Dominik Sobolewski
SAP Workflow Consultant

MARAFIQ

Tel:         +966 3 340 9835
E-mail : sobolewskid at marafiq.com.sa

-----Original Message-----
From: Dart, Jocelyn [mailto:jocelyn.dart at sap.com]
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 2:09 AM
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: Sending e-mail without user

Zsolt,
There are a number of ways of providing "non-SAP" workflow access
depending on your release and web capability, e.g. email query, web
applications,
SAP/Adobe Interactive forms, etc.

However before you go too much further into your scenario, I strongly
suggest you talk to your SAP salesperson or account manager to check the
licencing arrangements at your site.

For a user to take part in a workflow, or in fact in any decision that
directly impacts the system, they must be licenced appropriately.  This
applies even if they do not have their own SAP user id! For instance
they may need to be counted as an external community user.   SAP
performs licensing audits checking the use of SAP systems from time to
time and in any case it's silly (not to mention poor business ethics) to
risk undesirable legal implications - just because an approach is
technically possible does not necessarily mean that it is legally
defensible.

If you have a recent licence, then there may not be any issue with
licensing provided the users involved are covered under the licence.
However if your licence has not been updated in the last couple of
years, then you need to check the licence implications of your scenario.
You may also find that there are plans to update the licence in the near
future, in which case you need to make sure your workflow scenario is
covered.

On the plus side, if the users you speak of are covered under the
licensing arrangement, life gets a lot easier.   For instance, you can
create an SAP user id for these people, use that to find them, hold
their email address, given them access to workflow, audit trail their
use of workflow, etc. **EVEN IF** they never logon directly via SAPGUI.

So your questions are not really quick answer questions - there are many
ways of handling your situation.  The best advice I can give you is to
contact your local SAP office and get your account manager involved.

Regards,
Jocelyn Dart
SAP Consulting (Australia).

-----Original Message-----
From: SAP Workflow [mailto:Owner-SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of
Van der Burg, Jeroen JA SITI-ITABEE
Sent: Saturday,9 October 2004 12:36 AM
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: Sending e-mail without user

Hi Zsolt,

No problem, your question is pretty clear.

1. You need to store the email address of the receiver in SAP in one way
or another. Eg if you use HR you can assign an email address to an
employee even if you do not have a user id assigned. Otherwise you can
consider using a custom table. The obvious drawback is that you need to
maintain this information, not only the email addresses but also some
information on when to select which address.

2. Basically, the user's reply can not trigger a new workflow task. I
had a similar requirement in the past and solved it by creating a
workitem for the second person at the same time the email is sent out by
the workflow system. Once the first person forwards his respons to the
person who actually works on SAP, the second person processes the
related workitem. This would normally be a decision step were number two
can select the possible decisions from number one; which then define the
next steps in a 'forward with dialogue' chain. In my situation I used a
group id so the second person can easily select the batch of items which
are currently in process by the person from whom he received the email
with the decision.

Obviously, a web solution would be preferable at it allows number one to
immediately enter the decision in the system, but the persons who must
take decisions may not have internet access (in my case they tended to
take the decisions while travelling based on paper based documents). At
least this way the organisation can manage the outstanding activities
and use deadline- and escalation processes as there is constant
information available on the status of the different purchase
requisitions .

Hope this helps,

Jeroen

-----Original Message-----
From: SAP Workflow [mailto:Owner-SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of
Marton Zsolt
Sent: 08 October 2004 16:17
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Sending e-mail without user

Dear workflow Users!

First of all, I would like to excuse because my English is not so good,
but I will try to be as clear as I could.

I have a problem to resolve. My task is, to create a workflow for
release of purchase requisitions. The release procedure has a single
step in the SAP, but the customer will is, to define the workflow in
such a way, that the release of the requisition gets split-levels!!

The first person, who will "release" the requisition, is not an SAP
user. He is a person, who must get an e-mail sent by the SAP Workflow
and his duty is only to decide, that the requisition could be released
or not.

The second person is an SAP user and he will get the task after the
first person's answer. He will release the requisition with the release
code assigned to the purchase requisition.

My problem is that, how can I create workflow task which will send
information in e-mail to a person, who is not an SAP user and how can
this users reply trigger a new workflow task? Or anyway, is it possible
for somebody, who isn't  a user to generate a workflow step?

I hope that I could made myself understood but if you have any other
questions, please feel free to ask me.

Best regards

Zsolt Marton