How To Configure and Execute Business Process Flows in SAP BusinessObjects Planning and...

SAP BusinessObjects EPMRIGHow-To Guide

How To... configure and executeBusiness Process Flows in SAPBusinessObjects Planning andConsolidation 7.5 version for SAPNetWeaver

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1.10 >

1.00 First official release of this guide

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Table of Contents

1. Scenario ...........................................................................................................................1

2. Background Information .................................................................................................1

3. Step-by-Step Procedure ..................................................................................................2

3.1 Configuring BPF template .........................................................................................2

3.2 Configuring BPF instance........................................................................................ 12

3.3 Executing the BPF .................................................................................................. 14

3.4 Setting up Email notifications .................................................................................. 27

4. Appendices .................................................................................................................... 30

How To... configure and execute Business Process Flows in SAP Business Objects Planning andConsolidation 7.5 version for the Netweaver platform

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1. ScenarioIn this guide we will explain how to configure Business Process Flows with SAP Business ObjectsPlanning and Consolidation 7.5, version for SAP NetWeaver. Business Process Flows (BPFs) guideusers through the sequence of tasks within a defined business process. Business process flows arecomprised of steps ans sub steps that must be completed sequentially. We can use BPFs to guideusers, depending upon their roles, through various steps. An example of a business process may bemonth end financial close or yearly budget approval or monthly forecast/projection cycle or financialconsolidation etc. A BPC user may have to perform different roles in different business processes andthus can be assigned to various steps in the business processes that he/she is involved in. Forexample a user may be the reviewer of the monthly forecast step for a region but may be the mainperson doing month end financial close. BPF functionality elucidated here will guide that user throughall the activities that he/she is associated with and can track the completion status of the activities andthe business process as a whole.

The business scenario considered here consists of three steps. The first step is to seed the plan data;the second step is to enter manual changes and the third step is to execute reports. The second stephas three sub-steps. It requires review and can be reopened. The second step has matched stepregions as the opening criteria and the third step is set up with all step regions as the openingcriteria. While executing the BPF, we will complete the steps and sub steps; while reviewing, we willaccept some steps as well as reject some steps. Also we will reopen the second step after it iscompleted. We will also set up email notifications. Thus this simplistic scenario has the examples ofmany possible options that are available while configuring and executing BPF.

2. Background Information? Business Process Flow (BPF) functionality has been introduced in SAP Business Objects

Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version for. The BPF functionality was not available in SAPBusiness Objects Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for SAP NetWeaver

? The BPF functionality in SAP Business Objects Planning and Consolidation 7.5, version forSAP NetWeaver has enhanced functionality when compared to what was available in the SAPBusiness Objects Business Planning and Consolidation 7.0, version for Microsoft.

? A list of BPF terminology used in this guide is provided in Appendix A with the definition ofeach term.

? This guide is created with SP00 and has some known issues that will be fixed in the latersupport packs. These issues are mentioned in Appendix B. Appendix D lists several BPFConsiderations for implementing this functionality.

? In order to configure BPF, there is a task called ManageBPF. This task controls all BPFadministration actions. This does not require a role assignment. Any user with Admin clientinstalled can be assigned the ManageBPF task.

? For executing BPF, there is a task called BPFexecute. The user task profile is consideredwhile executing any steps or sub-steps.


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3. Step-by-Step ProcedureHere we will describe the process to configure BPF template, create an instance from that templateand then execute the BPF. The last section explains the set up required for realizing emailnotifications.

3.1Configuring BPF template...

1. Log on to the Planning and Consolidation Administration client and click on Business ProcessFlows. Click on Create BPF Template in the action pane.

2. Enter the name and description of the BPF. Enter the controlling application

3. Click on Instance identifier and select the dimensions to create BPF instances. Please notethat only time type dimension is preselected by the system and is the only required dimension.However it is a best practice to select at least two dimensions to define an instance.


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4. Click on Set Access to select either the users or teams who should have access to this BPF.

5. Click Next to create the steps and sub steps. Click Add to add a step. Enter the details asshown below for the step to seed the 2009 plan data from 2008 plan data.


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6. Please note that in this step we have set Allow reopen to No and Opening criteria as All stepregion. Allow reopen will allow that step to be reopened after completion. If this is set to Nothat step cant be reopened during execution. Opening criteria All step regions will enableopening of the next step only after all step regions are complete whereas in case of Matchedstep region when we complete a step region, the next step opens for the same step region. Thefirst step of the BPF always opens regardless of the opening criteria. Defining these options willbe important for the second step onwards. Click on Define Step Region Criteria and enter thedetails as follows.


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7. Please note that we can select any property as the owner property. The property that we selectmust have fully qualified user name as shown below. The same rule applies for the reviewerproperty also that we will use in the next BPF step.

8. Please note that the Choose reviewer property is grayed out in the screen capture belowbecause we did not check the box Enable Reviewers in the earlier screen. Click OK to goback to the step and OK again to go back to the wizard.

9. Select the dimension members as shown below. We can select up to 6 dimension membershere. The available selection formulas are SELF, BAS and DEP.


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10. Similarly create another step as shown below. Please note that in this case, we are enablingreview, allowing reopen and setting the opening criteria to Matched Step Region. SelectingMatched Step region will enable opening of the corresponding step region from the next stepafter completing a step region. Please note that here we have to use the same driver dimensionfor this step and the next to avoid a deadlock (referred to in Appendix B).


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11. Click on Define Step Region Criteria and enter the information as shown below. Please notethat we can choose any property to be the reviewer property. However it is a good practice toname the properties accordingly for easy identification.

12. Include the dimension members similar to the previous step.

13. Click on Add new sub-step and add a sub-step to this step as shown below

14. Enter step 3 as follows. Please note that we have set Allow Reopen to No and OpeningCriteria to All Step Regions.


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15. Click on Define Step Region Criteria and set it up as shown below.

16. Include dimension members similar to the previous step.

17. Click OK to go back to the step and OK to go back to the wizard.

18. Click Next to access the actions. Click on the first step to seed data and select data managerfrom the interface and DATA MANAGER from the task as shown below. Please note that thedefault action is created automatically and we can add more actions if needed.


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19. Click on the sub step Enter changes for US and for the default action, select Interface forExcel in the interface and Schedule library in the task as shown below.

20. Please note that we can select any previously saved input schedule by clicking the Browsebutton. In this case, we are selecting a dynamic template. For each dimension, note the currentview type. Since we selected Category and Time in the instance identifier, we have an option toinherit those values from the instance. Please note that the P_CC (entity type dimension) isrestricted to only one value US.

21. Please note that we are entering all these actions in the tab step actions. The review actionsare not available with SP00. As a workaround, we can also use a step or sub step (similar to


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ones we are creating) for review actions. In this simplistic scenario, we will be skipping thereview actions.

22. Enter a second action in the same sub-step to recheck and send the data. Please note the taskselected (SEND ACTIVE WORKSHEET).This is an example of entering multiple actions for thesame step/sub-step.

23. Click Back to go to earlier screen to define steps and sub-steps. Click on the sub-step Enterchanges for US and click on Copy button. Enter the name as Enter changes for Canada andclick OK. Similarly copy the sub-step to enter changes for Germany.

24. Click Next to go to actions. Click on the sub-step Enter rates for Canada and change theP_CC member from US to Canada as shown below. Similarly for the sub-step Enter changesfor Germany change the P_CC member to Germany.


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25. Click Save to save the BPF template. You may receive messages as shown below. SelectYes to save the template.

26. Click on the BPF template that was saved and click on Validate BPF template.


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27. Answer Yes to the following question.

28. You may receive validation errors if you have missed a step or mistyped it or if there is someother inconsistency. Otherwise, you will receive a message as follows.

3.2Configuring BPF instance...

1. In the previous section, we created a template. In this section, we will use that template tocreate a BPF instance that we will execute in the next section.

2. Click on the BPF validated in the above step and then click on Create BPF Instance.

3. Please note that the dimensions that we set as the instance identifiers are displayed in the firststep. Select the pertinent dimension members.


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4. In the next step, we select the instance owner. The instance owner can reopen a stepregardless of involvement in the step.

5. Click on Create BPF instance.

6. We will be presented with a preview as shown below. We can update the owner or reviewerhere.

7. Click Finish to end the process.

8. Click on Manage BPF instance. The default filter setting is to show active BPF instances andthe one that we created in the above step may not show up here.

9. Change the filter setting to inactive and click refresh. The newly created BPF instance will nowbe displayed as shown below.


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10. Click the checkbox next to the instance and click on the Activate button to activate it. Changethe filter setting to Active and click Refresh again. The newly activated instance shows up inthe list of active instances.

11. Now we are ready to execute this BPF instance.

3.3Executing the BPF...

1. Click on Interface for the Web

2. Click on Business Process Flows

3. The business process flow opens up with the first step already opened.

4. Click on the step and that will take us to the next screen as shown below.


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5. Click on the step name Seed and that will launch Excel interface with the Data Manageractions as per the settings in the BPF action.

6. . Please note that the values that we hard coded in the action screen of the BPF template havebeen passed correctly (for example P_Activity = A005, P_CC = US etc).

7. However the values that we set as inherit from BPF instance have not been inherited properly -this is a known issue which will be corrected in future support packs.

8. We can change the current view suitably and then execute the step to copy data from 2008 to2009


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9. After completing the step, we can click Back to BPF to take us back to the BPF.

10. Clicking complete will complete this step now.

11. Click on back to my activities to go back and view the status of our activities.

12. Please note the status of the steps now. Only Maintenance price data region is open forentering changes. The Personnel price data region is not yet open for entering changes. This isbecause we created the enter changes step with matched step region criteria for opening thestep.

13. Click on the open step for enter changes for maintenance price and we will get the screen asshown below.


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14. We get the three sub-steps as we had created. Please note that the description of the sub-stepthat we created was Enter changes for US but the sub-step displayed truncates the for USpart. This is something that we should be aware of while entering descriptions of the sub steps.

15. Click on the first sub-step and that will open the interface for Excel with the template that weprovided in the action setting as shown below.

16. Please note the available tasks are as per the action settings. In this step we can make thechanges to the seeded plan data and send the data after verifying the values as the sub stepsuggests.


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17. Click on Back to BPF after sending the data. Please note that this step should be reportedcomplete only after all the three sub steps are done. Click on the second sub step and that willopen up the input schedule to make the changes for Canada. Make the necessary changes andsend the data.


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18. Similarly complete the sub step 3 for Germany.

19. Since we are done with all the sub steps here, we can complete this step.

20. Click complete and then the status will change to submitted as shown below.

21. This step requires review and hence the reviewer will get the screen as shown above wherehe/she can accept or reject the changes entered by the planner in the above step.

22. If we want to see the status of the BPF at this stage, we can click on back to my activities. Thestatus of the BPF in My activities will be as follows at this stage

23. Please note that the upper portion of the my activities screen will show the overall progress ofthe BPF as shown below.


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24. If the reviewer wants to reject the changes, he or she can click on the reject button. That willchange the status of the step to Rejected as shown below.

25. The my activities screen will also show this status as shown below.

26. At this stage, the planner can review the changes he/she has made, and complete the step sothat it is resubmitted for review.

27. If the reviewer now accepts the changes by clicking accept button, the status will change asfollows


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28. The my activities screen will show the status as follows:

29. Please note that the step execute reports for maintenance price data region is still pendingthough the preceding steps for that data region are complete. This is because the executereports step is created with all criteria. Hence it will open up only after the preceding step iscomplete for all data regions and not just the matching data regions.

30. We can now complete the seed and enter changes steps for personnel price data region issimilar way.


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31. After the reviewer accepts the changes for personnel price data region, the execute reportsstep will open up as shown below.

32. Click on the execute reports step for Maintenance price and that will open up the step asshown below. Please notice the action re-open step at the right hand top corner. We are able tosee this because the earlier step was created with allow re-open as yes.

33. We will now see the re-open feature of BPF. The business scenario is that we have completed astep and proceeded to the next step (as we have proceeded to Step 3) and then we want to goback to the completed step (step 2 in our case) and make changes. Please note that we can goback only one step at a time here. So, if we have say 6 steps in the BPF, out of which steps2,3,4,5 are re-open enabled and we want to reopen step 2 after we have completed step5, thenin that case, we have to go back sequentially. Hence in that situation, we will re-open step 5,4,3and then 2 in that order. In our example here, we are opening only one step.

34. Click on re-open step. This will open the earlier step of enter changes and change the status ofthe current step of execute reports to delayed as shown below.

35. The status of the BPF in my activities will now be as shown below.


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36. Please note that the status of enter changes is reopened and not just open.

37. The planners can now enter changes and the reviewer can review those changes as we did inthe earlier step.

38. After the step execute reports is open again, click on execute reports for maintenance priceregion


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39. Click on execute reports. That will open up the report as per the action settings for that step.

40. After verifying the reports, click complete button to complete that step. The status of the BPF isnow as shown below.

41. Similarly execute reports for personnel price also and complete the step.


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42. The top portion of the BPF now shows that all the steps are complete.

43. After all the steps of the BPF are complete, the BPF owner has an option to Finalize the BPF. Inorder to do that, click on Monitor.

44. The BPF instance owner will have the option to Finalize the BPF by clicking the Finalizeprocess button.

45. Once the BPF is finalized, it can be seen in the monitor and in My activities screen with statusfilter set to Finalized.

46. Once the BPF is finalized, it is no longer active. The finalized BPF can be archived from theManage BPF instance action in the BPC Admin console.


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47. Please note that BPF cant be deleted. They can only be archived to remove them from the BPCAdmin console.

48. The archived BPFs are available for reporting if needed. In order to report on archived BPF,click on Archived instances report

49. It will show the BPF instances by template.


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3.4 Setting up Email notifications1. In order to maintain the email notification template, go to transaction se38 in SAP GUI and enter

program name UJB_MAINTAIN_EMAIL_TMPL

2. Click execute and enter the template id, the email template type C and Is active as Y.

3. Maintain the email template for the email notification


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4. The available variables in the email template include %INSTANCE_NAME%, %STEP_NAME%,%URL%, %STEP_REGION_NAME%. These variables will be replaced at run time with realvalues.

5. The email server name to send the email notifications is maintained in the server manager


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6. The email notification is received as shown below. The URL in the email can be used to accessthe BPF directly. It takes us to the my activities screen.

7. The conditions for email notifications as well as recipients for each condition are listed inAppendix C.


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4. Appendices

4.1Appendix A BPF TerminologyTerm Definition

Business ProcessFlow

A specific business process customized for a customer within the context ofSAP Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC).

BPF Template The definition to achieve a specific business process including, steps,actions and data regions

BPF Instance The iteration of a BPF template (i.e, budget 2008.TOTAL)

BPF Step Region An instance of a BPF step which represents the smallest common region ofdata to perform a business process step

BPF Identifiers The dimension which defines a unique BPF instance

BPF DriverDimension OwnerProperty

An named property to define the owner of a specific Step Region (bestpractice would be to prefix the property name with BPFO_)

BPF DriverDimensionReviewerProperty

An optionally named property to define the reviewer of a specific StepRegion (best practice would be to prefix the property name with BPFR_)

Only required if review for the step is required.

BPF Monitor A global view of all BPF instances and a detailed view of any selected BPFinstance with all steps and step regions.

BPF My Activities BPF steps/sub-steps for a BPF instance:? The process flow is displayed within a Web interface with the

sequential BPF steps? BPF Step Regions can be selected? In addition any applicable sub-steps are shown? Each step has a visual indicator of its status

Admin BPFassistant

The preparation/definition dialog interface required to establish a BPFtemplate

Action Pane Presentation of SAP BPC functional tasks (actions) that are state or BPFsensitive - for example when the user has a schedule open, the action panewill reflect the option to send data

BPF Action Pre-defined BPC tasks and its associated parameters? BPF launch action = action taken at the time of step/sub-step

selection? BPF non-launch action = action available in action pane when

step/sub-step is active


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4.2Appendix B Recipients of Email notifications

No. Condition Who Shall beNotified Link

1 THE BPF INSTANCE "%INST_NAME%" ISACTIVATED. Instance ownerInstancemonitor

2 THE BPF INSTANCE "%INST_NAME%" ISINACTIVATED. Instance ownerInstancemonitor

3 THE BPF INSTANCE "%INST_NAME%" ISWAITING FINALIZATION. Instance ownerInstancemonitor

4 THE BPF INSTANCE "%INST_NAME%" IS RESET. Instance owner Instancemonitor

5 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME% ISOPENED.Step regionowner

MyActivities(singleview)

6 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME% ISCOMPLETEDStep regionowner


7 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME% ISREOPENED.Step regionowner


8 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME%NEEDS REVIEW.Step regionreviewer


9 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME% ISCHANGED INTO PENDING STATUS.Step regionowner


10 THE STEP REGION %STEP_REGION_NAME% ISREJECTED.Step regionowner


11 THE BPF INSTANCE "%INST_NAME%" ISFINALIZED. Instance ownerInstanceMonitor


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4.3Appendix C BPF ConsiderationsWe have the following BPF considerations for using Business Process Flows in SAP Business ObjectsPlanning and Consolidation 7.5, version for SAP NetWeaver with SP00. These considerations can becategorized into three categories namely sizing, BPF template and BPF instance.

? Considerations regarding sizing restrictions? Up to 1 million step regions per BPF instances can be defined. The step regions can be

calculated as a product of the number of steps and number of regions.

? Up to 1 thousand steps per BPF template/instance can be defined.

? Up to 100 BPF templates per appset can be defined.

? Up to 24 BPF instances per BPF template can be allowed

? Considerations regarding BPF templates? The controlling application governs both the time dimension for BPF instances and the

available dimensions for step regions.

? We have to define the BPF instance identifier separately and it will not default to thecurrent view

? Considerations regarding BPF instance? The end-user can use reopen in the user interface to reset a BPF instance step.

? Only end-user tasks are available to define a BPF and not administrative tasks.

? The first step will always be opened, regardless of how the opening criterion for the stepis defined in the BPF template.

? Reopen function is available only for the prior step than the current one. Hence the laststep of a process cant be reopened once that step is completed.

? We can deactivate and archive a BPF instance to manage the display of active andinactive BPF instances.

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