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Version1.3FINAL

31/07/2012

PresentedBy

Andreas Halbig

PRODUCTDATASHEET UCES Pro Evolution

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ContentsCompanyProfile ............................................................................................................................ 3Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 4

UCESProEvolutionOverview......................................................................................................... 5

LimitationsandChallenges ............................................................................................................ 6

LookandFeel..................................................................................................................................... 6

LogonandRegistration...................................................................................................................... 6

EnhancementandOptimizationofStandardComponents............................................................... 7

AdditionandOptimizationofCustomComponents.......................................................................... 7

TechnicalSolution.......................................................................................................................... 9DevelopmentEnvironment ............................................................................................................... 9

Templatedriven............................................................................................................................... 10

Web-CMSIntegration ...................................................................................................................... 10

BusinessObjectLayer...................................................................................................................... 10

Extensibility...................................................................................................................................... 11

Benefits ........................................................................................................................................12

FasterImplementation/IncreasedCost-Benefits........................................................................... 12

Ready-To-UseExtraFunctionality.................................................................................................... 13

Conclusions...................................................................................................................................14

FurtherInformation ......................................................................................................................14

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Company ProfileEcomizeAGwasestablished2004andisregisteredasaSwissPublicLimitedCompany(PLC).

EcomizeAGisaSAPCRMfocusedconsultancyprovidingspecializedexpertisewithinSAPWeb

Channel(WEC),WebChannelExperienceManagement(WCEM),BillerDirectandUCESplatforms.

Wehavewideexperienceinworkingwithcustomersacrossmultipleindustries:

Aerospace&Defense

ConsumerProducts

High-Tech

Life-SciencesincludingPharmaceuticals

Media

Oil&Gas

ProfessionalServices

Retail

Utilities

Ourcustomersinclude:

BluewaterPower

Fresenius

Lindt&SprngliUK

LondonHydro

NorskMedisinaldepotAS

Rieber&Sn

SAP

Saskpower

SONY

TheCaravanClub

Uhlmann

RotoFrank

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OverviewBillerDirectformspartoftheSAPFinancialSupplyChainManagement(FSCM)offering,itprovidesa

webbasefrontendfortheElectronicBillPresentationandPayment(EBPP)processesformanaging

debits,creditsandonlinepaymentsforvarioususerscenarios(oftenreferredtoastheE-Billing

solution).

SAPUtilitiesCustomerE-Service(UCES)isthecorrespondingIndustrySolution,whichfurther

extendsBillerDirectwithspecificutilitiesindustryfunctionality(e.g.contractaccountsandself

servicecapabilities).

BillerDirect/UCESarebasedonwellarchitected,industrystandardtechnologies,providingtight

integrationtobackendSAPprocessesrelatedtoERPandCRM.Thestandardinstallationprovidesa

ready-to-gooutoftheboxsolutionwithawebbasedinteractionlayer(frontend).

Thisprovidesthecustomerwithanacceleratedimplementationframeworkwhichcaneasilybe

enhancedanddeployedaspartofanimplementationproject.

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UCES Pro Evolution Overview

Inanincreasinglycompetitivewebdominatedmarket,requirementsfortodayswebbasedapplicationsfarexceedthoseexpectedwhentheBillerDirect/UCESproductwasfirstconceived.

Todayswebapplicationsmustcompeteinamarketwheretechnologysavvycustomersdemand

visuallystimulating,contentdrivenapplicationsthatsupportmulti-channelaccessfromthemyriad

ofwebenableddevicestheyusetoorganizeandruntheirday-to-daylives.

Thispresentsthemodernbusinesswithasignificantchallenge.Itisnolongersufficienttojust

rolloutready-to-useoutoftheboxB2B/B2Csolutions,replacingtheoddlogoandtweakingthestyle

sheetappearance.

Equally,refocusingeffortstorespondtotherequirementsofanincreasinglydemandingcustomerbasemustbedonewithinthecontextoftodayschallengingglobaleconomy;businessesneedto

seekoutsolutionsthatallowthemtoleverageinvestmentsinexistinginfrastructureandtechnology

withoutsignificantlyincreasingtheirTCO,yetstillretainingtheircompetitiveadvantage.

Asaspecialexpertiseimplementationpartner,EcomizeAGhasbeenresponsiblefornumerous

implementationsofSAPBillerDirectandUCESwhichhasputusinauniquepositiontounderstand

thecomplexitiesinvolvedinsatisfyingthemanyandvariedcustomerrequirements,usingthe

standardproduct.

UCESProEvolutionrepresentsthenextlogicalstepfortheUCESapplicationplatformandisbased

ontheextensiveimplementationexperiencegarneredoverthemanyimplementationsinwhichwewereinvolved.

ThesolutionoffersaprovenapproachtosolvingthelimitationsofthestandardSAPBillerDirect/

UCESapplicationsincludingamajorre-workofkeyelementswithintheUCESfrontend,enabling

customerstodeliveragainsttheirrequirementswhilststillleveragingtheirinvestmentintheexisting

SAPinfrastructure.

OurapproachwhendevelopingtheUCESProEvolutionproducthasbeentoprovideaframework

whichmovesawayfromthetraditionalprojectbasedimplementingparadigm,insteadembracinga

conceptofcontinueddevelopmentandenhancementfocusedonreusingtheexpertiseofprevious

implementations.

ThishasprovedtobeafreshattitudetowardstraditionalprojectbasedSAPconsultingwhichhas

enabledustodifferentiateoursolutionforourcompetitors,inwhichwehavestriventoimprovethe

efficiencyofnewfeaturedevelopment,increasetheoverallflexibilityoftheproductandtoenable

thefastestpossibleimplementationpathforourcustomers.

UCESProEvolutionisthereforenotanewproduct;itrepresentstheaccumulationofmanyyears

knowledgeandexpertisegainedinimplementingSAPBillerDirect/UCESsolutionsformanyand

variedcustomers.

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Limitations and Challenges

ThefollowingsectionsexaminethelimitationsofthecurrentSAPBillerDirect/UCESproductandprovidedetailedinformationonthechallengestheUCESProEvolutionsolutionhasbeendesigned

toaddress.

Look and FeelThestandardUCESapplicationutilizesframesettechnology,meaningthebrowserscreenis

separatedintothreeframeseachusingphysicallyindependentHTMLfiles,oneforeachofthe

header,navigationandcontentcomponentsrespectively.

Thisapproachwasusedtocentralizedrecurrentpartsofthescreen,tomaintainthemwithinasingle

locationandavoidredundanciesusingabrowsersidetechnology.Atthetimewhentheframeset

basedtechnologywasimplemented,itwasgenerallydeemedsufficientforlookandfeelchangesto

bekepttoaminimum,onlytheadditionofheaderlogoandadjustmentofthecolourschemevia

CSSfilesconsiderednecessary.

Overrecentyears,greaterdemandforflexibilityandcontrolofthesecomponentshasdramatically

increased.Todaysexpectationsforfullyoptimizedandseamlesslyintegratedapplicationsinline

withtheoverallcorporatebranding/customerIdentityofcompanyhaveneverbeengreater.

Hereinliestheproblemwithframesets,theyareoftendifficultforbrowserstohandleinaconsistent

manner,resultinginnumerouslayoutissuesandmessyworkaroundstosupportthemultitudeof

differentbrowsersavailable.

Thismeansthatthecontentofeachscreenmustbemaintainedwithinindividualandlogically

independentfiles(upto200filesintotal).Changestolookandfeelacrossmultiplepagesneedto

beappliedindividuallytoeachpage,thishighdegreeofseparationresultsinredundantandtime

expensiveworkloads,withapproximately90%oftheworkloadduetotheredundancy.

Example:Acustomerreportsabrowsercompatibilityissuetothesupportdesk.Thisissueispassedtothe

technicalsupportgroupwhodulytracetheproblemtoasmallissuewithHTMLcompatibility,

requiringaminormodificationtotheapplication.

Thisproblemwasidentifiedwithin10minutes,but,duetothearchitectureoftheapplication,will

requirelengthyremedialworktoeachoftheeffectedpagesinordertosolve.Whatshouldbea

minorfixsolvedinafewminutesbyanexperienceddeveloper,escalatesintoachangethatwilltake

severalhourstocomplete.

Logon and RegistrationUCESprovideslogonandregistrationfunctionalitythroughaphysicallyindependentandcentralized

applicationviathesecurityAPIoftheSAPNetWeaverJAVAruntimeenvironment.

ThissecurityAPIisprotected,andhenceisnotavailableassourcewithintheNWDI(NetWeaver

DevelopmentEnvironment).Onlylimitedchangescanbeachievedviachangesapplieddirectlyto

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thedeployedapplication,whichmustberepeatedduringeachsubsequentdeploymentastheyare

automaticallyoverwrittenbythisprocesses.

Furthermore,giventhatthesecurityAPIprovidesacentralizedmodel,eachmodificationtothis

wouldapplytoallrunningapplicationinstancesonthedeploymentserverandcannotbelimitedtoa

specificinstancesuchasBillerDirect/UCES.

Whilstthepossibilitytooptimizethisprocessisthereforetechnicallyfeasible,neverthelessthisisa

timeconsumingandexpensiveprocess,whichlimitstheflexibilitytomaximizeautomationand

usability

Example:Acustomerrequeststheimplementationofsecurityenhancementwhichwouldautomatically

timeoutpasswordsgeneratedbythepasswordresetfacilityifnotusedwithin24hrs,inorderto

increasethesecurityoftheprocessfortheuser.

Underthecurrentarchitecture,theimplementationofthisfunctionalityviathestandardsecurity

APIwouldrequireasignificantinvestmentintimeandresources,makingthischangeinfeasibleto

achievewithinareasonabletimeframe.

Enhancement and Optimization of Standard ComponentsEnhancementandoptimizationofanyHTMLdoesrequireagivenamountoftimeandeffortto

achieve,butunderthecurrentarchitecture,enhancementofthedatalayerislimitedasdatais

mostlytransferredtothescreenviaXMLdocuments,whichincreasethecomplexitytomodify,filter

orenrichthisdata.

Furthermore,theevaluationofthisdataisoftenhappeningwithintherenderingprocessofthe

HTMLpageandrequiresthatbusinesslogicbeembeddedhere.Asaresult,thiscomplicatestheenhancementfurther,aseachmodificationmustbeembeddedwithintheindividualrendering

process.Giventhatalmosteverypagehasanindependentprocesstoload,manageandreleaseits

dataelements,thenumberofpointsforenhancementstartstoincreasedramaticallyforeach

modification.

Example:Acustomerhastherequirementtohidespecifictypesofcontractsonagivenscreenbasedupon

theirdescription.

Inordertosatisfythisrequirement,theXMLdatastructuremustbeenhancedandtheadditional

businesslogicprovided,whilstthebusinesslogiccaneasilybeimplementedwithin30minutesorso,correctionstotheXMLdocumentalonetakeuptoadaytocomplete.

Addition and Optimization of Custom ComponentsTheintegrationandoptimizationofcustomscreenswithinthestandardUCESapplicationcan

generallybeperformedwithoutcomplication;especiallywheretheyarecompletelyindependent

fromotherscreensandrequireonlylimitedorcommoninformationaboutthecurrentaccount.

Unfortunately,iffurtherinformationisrequiredtoprocessadditionaldatafromotherscreensor

backenddatasources,thenasignificantamountofadditionaltimewillbeusedinordertogain

accesstothisdata.Therefore,thevastmajorityofthedevelopmenteffortassociatedwithsuch

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changesisfocusedpurelyondataaccessratherthattheadditionalbusinesslogicbeingprovidedby

thepage.

Example:ThecustomerhastherequirementtodisplaythemeterreadstableofthevanillaContract

Overviewscreenwithinanotherpage.

Inordertosatisfythisrequirement,theexistingdatamustfirstbemadeavailabletothispageand

thebusinesslogicimplementedtointerpretthisdata.Upto90%ofthedevelopmenttimewillbe

investedinmakingthedataavailabletothepagewhilst10%ofthetimewillactuallybespenton

developingthenewpageandassociatedbusinesslogictoprocessthedata.

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Technical Solution

ThefollowingdiagramdetailsthetechnicalarchitectureoftheUCESProEvolutionSolution.Furthertechnicaldetailisprovidedinthesubsequentsections.

Development Environment

UCESProEvolutionisbuiltupontheSAPNWDI(NetWeaverDevelopmentEnvironment).Ithasbeenembeddedwithinahierarchicallikestructurethatinheritsfromandenrichestheexisting

standardfunctionalityratherthanthreadinganapplicationcompletelyindependentlyofthe

standardcomponent.

Aspartoftheintegratedbuildprocess,allnewcontentisautomaticallymergedontheflywiththe

standardcomponentsandallcustomerspecificmodificationsareencapsulatedwithinUCESPro

Evolutioninthesamewayasintroducinganyotherdeployablecomponent.

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Themainadvantagesofthisapproachare:

PatchesandUpgradesofthestandardUCEScomponentcanbeappliedatanytime

UCESProEvolutionglobalfeaturesarealsocontainedintheirowncomponent,newer

versionsofproductcanbedeployedindependentlyofcustomerdevelopments

Customerdevelopmentsarephysicallyseparatedfromtheinheritedcomponents;thisgives

thecustomermoretransparencyaboutenhancementimplementationsandsimplifiesthemaintenanceprocess.

Template drivenUCESProEvolutionisatemplateorientatedframeworkwherecentralizedmaintenanceoftemplates

reducesredundanciesandgreatlyincreasesthereusabilityofspecificscreenelements.

Migratingtothistemplatedrivenarchitecturefreesthecustomerfromtheoutdatedframeset

technologyallowingthemtheflexibilitytoachievethoselookandfeelobjectivesnotpreviously

possibleinthestandardoffering.

ScreensarereturnedtothebrowserwithinasingleHTMLresponse,inparallelamodularized

concepthasbeenappliedtoeachindividualscreen,elementsofthescreencanbeexchanged,

interchangedandreusedwithouttheneedtophysicallytouchanyofthepages.

Web-CMS IntegrationUCESProEvolutionprovidesuniqueadaptertechnologytoretrievethecompletewebpageandits

contentdirectlyfromaCMSsystem,currentlyprovidingsupportforJoomlaandMcCannwithEktron

supportunderdevelopment.

TheadvantagesofsuchintegrationarethatthecontentoftheCMSwillbedynamicallymergedonflywiththeUCESfunctionalitypermittingminorchangestopagetitles,text(beforeandafterthe

maincontent)andindividualUCESscreenswithouttheinvolvementoftechnicalresourcesandwith

immediateeffect.

Business Object LayerUnlikeSAPsWeb-Channelsolution,BillerDirect/UCESdoesnotprovideseparationbetweenthe

controlanddatalayers.Toprovideincreaseflexibilityandeasieraccesstodata,UCESProEvolution

providesaframeworkfromwhichtoaccesstheBusinessObjectLayer(BOL)whosecore

functionalitiesareaccessiblethroughtheinterface.

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LeverageofthisBusinessObjectLayer(BOL)significantlyreducesthetimetakentodelivernewdata

accessrequirements,modifyingandenhancingthedataaccesslayerwithouttheneedtore-write

therenderingandcontrollayeraspartoftheprocess.

Additionally,useoftheBOLlayerprovidestheadvantageofseparationbetweenbackendand

frontendprocesses,includingtheflexibilitytoreplaceabackendimplementationwithouteffecton

thefrontend.

ExtensibilityUCESProEvolutionhasbeendesignedtomaximizetheapplicationextensioncapabilitiesavailableto

thecustomer,providingthecapabilitytoextenddataaccess,controlandrenderingprocesses

independentlywithsupportforindustrystandardtechnologiessuchasJSON,XMLandHTML5

rendering.

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BenefitsThefollowingsectionsexaminethemanybenefitsofimplementtheUCESProEvolutionssolution.

Faster Implementation / Increased Cost-BenefitsUCESProEvolutiontypicallyleadstoimplementationswheretheprojectdevelopmenttogo-live

cycleisdecreasedbyupto43%.

Thegreatlyenhancedpossibilitytoenablerequirementsinastraightforwardmannernotonly

impactsthedevelopmentcyclebutsignificantlyreducestheeffortrequiredduringtheblueprinting

phasewhilstcontinuingtosupportamoreflexibleandmodulatedfoundationforfurther

modificationandcostefficientsupport.

Inparallel,anincreaseinusabilityoftheproductisalsoachievedthroughtheuseofclientside

scriptingframeworksandothertechnologies.Theseenhancementsensureyourcustomersreceive

thebestuserexperiencepossible.

Improvingyourcustomerexperiencealsohasbenefitsforyourbusinessaswell,happiercustomers

raisefewercomplaints,userfriendlyapplicationpromoteE-Serviceadoptionandallowyouto

furtherinnovateinyourservicedeliverytoreducetheworkloadandcostsofyourcustomer

services,call-centresorotherservicechannels.

2!1!

12!

6!

2!

2!

0!2!4!6!8!

10!12!14!16!18!

UCES! Pro Evo!

Testing!Implementation!Blueprint!

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Ready-To-Use Extra FunctionalityUCESProEvolutionisalotmorethanjustafancyfrontendandcatchytitles,inadditiontoallthe

standardUCESfunctionalityavailable,UCESProEvolutionincorporatesmanyotherinnovative

functionalitiesincluding.

Logononbehalfallowyourcustomerservicetoseethesameasyourcustomeronscreen.

BusinessPartneraddresssynchronization

InteractiveConsumptionCharts

Advancedsearchoptions

Displaybillsbyaccount

SmartMeter/TOUsupport

Environmentalinformation/Temperaturecharts

Meterreadschedulecalendar

HTML5/MobileDeviceSupport

UserAccountStatistics(Admin)

Andmore

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Conclusions

Mostoftherequirementsforthefrontendarecommonandgenerallyrelativelysimpletoachieve,yetthemajorityofthetimeusedforimplementationwillbeallocatedtohandlingthenecessary

dataandenvironmentchanges.

Theoverheadforcompletingsuchchangestobringinlinetheapplicationwithcorporatebrand/

customeridentity,includingtheoptimizationofexistingscreensandfrontendprocessestherefore

presentsasignificantchallengetoachievewithinareasonableandcosteffectivetimeframe.

UCESProEvolutionwas,therefore,conceivedtoaddresstheseissues,provideaseamlessly

integratedapplication,thatishighlyfocusedonuserexperienceandusabilityyetleveragesthe

existinginvestmentinapplicationarchitectureandinfrastructureoftheBillerDirect/UCES

platform,providingtightintegrationtobackendSAPprocessesrelatedtoERPandCRM.

Further InformationIfyourequirefurtherinformationpleasecheckoutourwebsite www.ecomize.comwhereallourup

todateinformationandcontactdetailscanbefound.