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Matthias Kretschmer and Markus Ganser, SAP AG
column | SAP NetWeaver Unleashed
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Companies that run their business on heterogeneous
IT landscapes are more the rule than the exception.
Accordingly, these organizations need a pervasive
master data management strategy to avoid the
rampant spread of inconsistent and redundant data
across their systems. Relying on spreadsheets to
manually track and organize data throughout the
system landscape is no longer a sufficient master
data strategy; it’s just too cumbersome, too time-
consuming, and too error-prone.
To effectively tackle inconsistent and redundant
master data, organizations typically pursue one of
two master data management approaches:
With a decentralized approach, the original data
ownership lies in the local systems. A master data
management instance then serves as a central hub
for subsequent consolidation and harmonization
of globally relevant master data information.
By contrast, with a centralized approach, globally
relevant data is cleansed and housed in a central
repository and then dispersed to local systems.
The goal is to avoid misaligned, erroneous data at
the point of creation.
SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (SAP
NetWeaver MDM) can play a leading role in both
approaches.� Yet, only when an organization adopts a
centralized approach can it ensure upfront that
enterprise data complies with company standards
and legal obligations.
What’s more, organizations can gain even greater
process flexibility by combining SAP NetWeaver MDM
with SAP NetWeaver Business Process Management
(SAP NetWeaver BPM). By adding SAP NetWeaver BPM
� ForacomprehensiveoverviewofSAPNetWeaverMDM,see“MisalignedMasterDataIsaCompromisedCorporateAsset”byMarkusGanserintheJuly-September2007issueofSAPinsider (sapinsider.wispubs.com).
to the mix, a business has an ideal environment for
nimbly and continuously adapting its processes — all
while ensuring that those processes are relying on
consistent, high-quality master data. Using these
tools in tandem, you can ensure your data’s quality
before it is distributed throughout your company’s
various systems.
In this article, we’ll pick apart a sample business
process — master data creation — from its modeling
and definition of the business logic to its execution
and quality enhancement. By way of this example,
we’ll demonstrate how the native capabilities of SAP
NetWeaver MDM and the modeling capabilities of
SAP NetWeaver BPM combine to provide the ideal
environment for managing your master data.
A Sample Scenario: The Master Data Creation ProcessTo explore the benefits of a centralized master data
management approach, let’s consider a sample
process: master data creation. Figure 1 (on the next
page) depicts the process that one company uses to
create master data centrally. The process comprises
four steps: request, check, approve, and create. Let’s
walk through these steps in more detail.
Consider that a sales manager is speaking with a
buyer who would like to place a large custom order.
To get started with the order, the sales manager (the
line-of-business owner) first checks to see if the
customer’s record already exists within his customer
relationship management (CRM) system. If the record
doesn’t exist, the sales manager requests the cre-
ation of a new record using a specific request form.
The sales manager can now check the data entered
in the request form against SAP NetWeaver MDM to
find out whether the customer’s record already exists
in the central SAP NetWeaver MDM registry. If the
record doesn’t already exist in the central registry,
Error-Free, Consistent Master Data Starts at the SourceUnleash High-Quality Master Data Throughout Your Disparate Systems by Combining SAP NetWeaver MDM and SAP NetWeaver BPM
Matthias Kretschmer ([email protected]) is a solution manager within the enterprise information management group at SAP AG. In his role, Matthias focuses on master data management. He has a strong background in Java and ABAP programming, composition environment, mobile infrastructure, and process integration.
Markus Ganser ([email protected]) is a solution manager focusing on master data management within the enterprise information management group at SAP AG. He is also an experienced technical writer with additional expertise in ERP topics such as enterprise asset management and quality management.
This article appeared in the Apr n May n Jun 20�0 issue of SAPinsider (http://sapinsider.wispubs.com) and appears here with permission from the publisher, Wellesley Information Services (WIS).
Subscribe today. Visit sapinsider.wispubs.com.
the sales manager dispatches the request. Next, the
request appears in the inbox of a designated local
data steward who enriches the customer record with
missing information and runs specific validations.
Then, the enriched data is automatically forwarded to
the head data steward, who reviews the enriched data
and gives final approval, which triggers the record’s
actual creation in SAP NetWeaver MDM.
At this point, the high-quality record is available in
the central SAP NetWeaver MDM system, and it is
also distributed to the local systems — back to the
CRM system, for example — that are connected to
SAP NetWeaver MDM. The sales manager who ini-
tially made the request is notified of the available
data; he can now use it to place a new sales order.
Process Implementation: From Modeling to ExecutionWith a firm grasp of how the master data creation
process should ideally flow, how can our sample
company now go about implementing and executing
it? Armed with an understanding of the supporting
technical architecture behind this process (see side-
bar), let’s dive deeper.
Modeling the Process Using SAP NetWeaver BPM
The starting point for implementing the new master
data creation process is modeling it. Knowing the pro-
cess’s necessary steps, a business process expert can
create a model using the Process Composer, the design-
time environment of SAP NetWeaver BPM.2 Integrated
into SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio as a separate
perspective, the Process Composer provides business
process modeling notation (BPMN) capabilities.
Figure 2 shows the completed, modeled process,
consisting of three roles — requestor, data steward A,
and data steward B — represented by three swim
lanes within the modeling “pool.” The first role is the
requestor — the sales manager, in our example — who
requests a new customer record. The second and
third role is the data steward who is responsible for
both the enrichment and the approval of the new
record. (To simplify the example, we’ll have one data
steward represent both A and B.) The intersection
of SAP NetWeaver BPM and SAP NetWeaver BRM is
relevant here: Based on company standards, a busi-
ness rule is created within SAP NetWeaver BRM and
integrated into SAP NetWeaver BPM to help deter-
mine whether data steward A or data steward B is
2FormoredetailsaboutSAPNetWeaverBPM,see“GainControlofYourCriticalBusinessProcesses”byDonkaDimitrovaandRalfSchaubintheJanuary-March2009issueofSAPinsider (sapinsider.wispubs.com).
Request Check Approve Create
Line-of-businessowner
Local datasteward
Head datasteward
FIgurE 1 p Four steps of a sample master data creation workflow
Behind the Scenes: The Architecture Supporting Our Sample Master Data Creation ProcessThe supporting architecture behind our sample master data creation process
consists of three layers: an underlying services layer, a user interface (UI)
layer, and a process layer (see figure below).
On the services layer, SAP NetWeaver MDM, SAP BusinessObjects Data
Services, SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM), and the
attached SAP ERP system’s functionality have been exposed as Web services.
On the UI layer, Web Dynpro Java serves as the development environment
for highly sophisticated UIs. With SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.� support package 4,
Web-based data governance UI components are available. These compo-
nents are ready-made, granular UI building blocks that a user can configure
with SAP NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro Configurator. The components are
reusable and reduce the effort needed to create custom applications, such
as UIs and processes for maintaining master data. As a result, a developer
doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel for each customer implementation.
On the process layer, SAP NetWeaver BPM enables you to combine your
UIs and services into a logical, collaborative business process flow (the four
steps of our master data creation process, in our example). In addition, you
can leverage the Rules Engine of SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Manage-
ment (SAP NetWeaver BRM) to react dynamically during the runtime on user
input with business rules. The customer creation workflow can be instanti-
ated in SAP NetWeaver Portal, transparent to the end user and independent
from the underlying architecture.
p The architecture of our sample master data creation process consists of
a process layer, a user interface layer, and a services layer
Process LayerWorkflow and rules
Request Check Approve Create
User Interface LayerRole-based UI
SAP NetWeaverMDM SAP ERP SAP CRM
SAP BusinessObjectsData Services Non-SAP
UI UI
Services Layer
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responsible for the enrichment and approval tasks.
The process itself consists of a flow of steps, including
human and automated activities. A human activity
represents a direct user interaction, and an auto-
mated activity represents a service interface or call.
Defining the Process’s Business Logic Using
SAP NetWeaver MDM
Now that we have a modeled process, the next step is
to make it executable by defining the business logic.
To do so, we first need to create and integrate Web
Dynpro UIs, and also create and assign services.
Developers use Web Dynpro, which usually requires
sophisticated programming skills, to create complex
UIs for business applications. However, we can use
the new SAP NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro Configura-
tor to ease the creation of the UIs for our master data
creation process — a UI designer can configure SAP
NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro components with this
tool without coding and thus without relying on IT.
The Web-based SAP NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro
Configurator can be accessed via a browser (see
Figure 3). This application supports the following
types of UI components:
Search: This component enables a search for master
data records in an SAP NetWeaver MDM repository.
Result Set: This component displays master data
records that match predetermined search settings.
Item Details: This component is used to manage,
modify, and maintain a master data record.
The following three steps explain how to create the
Web-based data governance UIs and integrate them
into the process:
�. Within SAP NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro Configu-
rator, create a project containing the connection
data to your SAP NetWeaver MDM server. The proj-
ect also acts as a container for the configured UI
components (refer again to Figure 3).
2. Configure the SAP NetWeaver MDM Web Dynpro
components with the necessary fields, actions, and
buttons — for example, the “Validate,” “Save,” and
“Edit” buttons.
3. Plug the ready-made SAP NetWeaver MDM Web
Dynpro components into the process. The Item
Details component can even be directly consumed
by the BPM process. To integrate the components
into the process, you only have to specify the proj-
ect and component name in the corresponding
human activity process step (see Figure 4 on the
next page).
To complete the step of defining the business logic,
we also need to create and assign Web services. SAP
NetWeaver MDM Web Services Generator can create
MDM schema-specific Web services to create, read,
update, and delete (CRUD) master data records. A
developer can assign these services to automated
activity process steps within SAP NetWeaver BPM.
Now that we’ve modeled the process flow and
defined the business logic by integrating UIs and Web
services, we can deploy and execute the process.
Process Execution: Validating and Enhancing Your Master DataWith the process now deployed and ready, we can go
ahead and run it. In our example, the sales manager
4 NoTE!
SAP netWeaver
mDm Web Dynpro
configurator is
available with the
release of SAP
netWeaver mDm 7.1,
support package 4.
A human activity
The poolA swim lane
An automated activity
FIgurE 2 p A modeled master data creation process
FIgurE 3 p A view of the
SAP netWeaver mDm
Web Dynpro configura-
tor, showing a project
and its associated uI
components
Project
componentscomponent type
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requests the information, and the data steward then
processes the request (see Figure 5) and checks and
enriches the record to ensure its quality and correct-
ness before it is dispersed to local systems.
The Data Quality component of SAP Business-
Objects Data Services is integral to guaranteeing
the utmost quality of the new master data records
we create.3 Specifically, a developer or development
consultant can create an SAP BusinessObjects Data
Services job that processes the address data of a
new customer through the global address cleanse
engine provided by the Data Quality component. This
address cleanse job can be exposed as a Web service
on the services layer and seamlessly integrated in
our process — it can be consumed by a UI or an auto-
mated activity.
As a result of the integration into the process,
when a data steward runs the address cleanse to
check the data, he can view the validated information
in a pop-up screen (see the right side of Figure 5).
To ensure the continuous use of accurate data
across the business, a designated data steward
should be responsible for monitoring the quality of
your organization’s data (see sidebar on the next
page). This way, you’ll know that the business pro-
cesses running throughout your organization are
leveraging top-quality, accurate, and cleansed data.
We’ve now come full circle. Through this sample
master data creation process, we have explored
how to model a process and define its business
logic using SAP NetWeaver BPM and SAP NetWeaver
MDM. We have also seen how you can maintain the
�ForadetailedexampleofusingSAPBusinessObjectsDataServicestocleanseandenrichdata,see“BaseYourBusinessDecisionsonCleaner,Smarter,andMoreMeaningfulData”byHeikoSchneiderintheJanuary-March20�0issueofSAPinsider (sapinsider.wispubs.com).
FIgurE 5 p The local data steward processes the request and can view the validated data cleansed by SAP Businessobjects Data Services
using the Run matching button, a data steward can determine whether a duplicate record exists
using the Run Address cleanse button, a data steward can validate an address
FIgurE 4 p Assigning an SAP netWeaver mDm Web Dynpro component to a human
activity within a process using SAP netWeaver BPm
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You’ve Improved Master Data Quality — But Now How Do You Sustain It?Creating quality data is only part of your strategy to centrally control master
data — you also need to focus on continuous data quality assurance.
To systematically improve the quality of your master data in heteroge-
neous IT landscapes, you must be able to define specific master data quality
rules, monitor the data’s compliance to those quality rules, and directly trig-
ger follow-up actions, such as data correction requests or remediation
activities, if data quality issues are revealed.
Similar to the central master data creation process described in this arti-
cle, a central view into master data quality can easily be set up, combining
SAP NetWeaver MDM, SAP NetWeaver BPM, and SAP BusinessObjects Data
Services. Within such a scenario, we would extract all of the master data
from the SAP NetWeaver MDM repository, cleanse it again with SAP Business-
Objects Data Services, and collect statistical information, which is visualized
via Data Quality dashboards and reports. If incorrect data is detected, issue
reconciliation workflows are triggered based on SAP NetWeaver BPM.
A data steward can graphically view the quality of various types of master
data in an SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius dashboard (see figure below).*
Continuous data quality assurance can be applied for initial and delta
loads from source systems, when entering new data, or for periodic cleanse
activities.
*Withdynamic,customizableXcelsius2008datavisualizationsoftware,userswithdifferentskilllevelscancreateinsightfulandengagingdashboardsfromanydatasourcewithpoint-and-clickease.
one dashboard allows a data steward to monitor the quality of key data
categories, including supplier data, customer data, product data, and
material data
quality of your master data with SAP BusinessObjects
Data Services.
ConclusionCompanies heading for a centralized approach to
master data management can use a flexible process
infrastructure from SAP. Preventing duplicate and
inconsistent master data at the point of creation
affords significant benefits. Flawless end-to-end busi-
ness transactions and reliable enterprise analyses
can far outweigh the initial change management chal-
lenges that might accompany such a strategy shift.
By making both SAP NetWeaver MDM and SAP
NetWeaver BPM central pillars of your overarching
data management strategy, you can benefit from a
flexible environment that allows you to adapt your
processes as the business changes — and truly put
business users in the driver’s seat. Combining process
modeling, data integrity, and data quality capabilities
in a flexible, end-to-end governance environment can
be an ideal solution for agile companies that run their
business on diversified landscapes.
To view a demo of a sample data creation process,
visit www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/elearn?rid=/library/
uuid/5027e2ef-ddf6-2c10-da89-f6eef81044f6. n
