SAP Content Server and Microsoft SharePoint – Cost ... · SAP CS –SHAREPOINT SIDE BY SIDE Specification SAP Content Server SharePoint (2013) Server Cost Free License Fee Plus

SAP Content Server and Microsoft SharePoint – Cost Effective DMS SolutionJohn Walls Verbella CMG, LLCA4906

• John Walls • Working with SAP since April 1996 – 20 years• Document Imaging Solutions April 1999 ‐ 17 years• Working History:

– IXOS / OpenText– Dolphin‐IT– Verbella CMG

• Current Position: President of Verbella CMG, LLC– Document Management solution provider focusing on OpenText Solutions, such as VIM, and the SAP Content Server with Kofax Capture.

SPEAKER BIO

• Learning Points• Where we get into Trouble – SAP DATABASE• Background and Typical Configuration• SAP Content Server / SharePoint Server• Archiving Scenarios• ROI, Best Practices, and Common Mistakes around an imaging project.

AGENDA

LEARNING POINTS

• A basic understanding of ArchiveLink functionality and what the business can do with it.

• An understanding of what the SAP Content Server and SharePoint can do and how it can be used with ArchiveLink and document Imaging.

• An understanding of the simple standard delivered archiving scenarios supplied by SAP.


AGENDA

• Most Customers have end‐users already doing Document Imaging‐– Yet most IT departments don’t even know about it.

• GOS – Generic Object Services (Create Attachment)

HOW WE GET INTO TROUBLE ‐

641 GB

CREATE ATTACHMENT

Click on the “GOS” Button

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CREATE ATTACHMENT

CREATE ATTACHMENT

CREATE ATTACHMENT

• Turned On in all SAP systems –– Stores your documents to the SAP DB SOFFCONT1

• Designed for Temporary storage of document– No Security – Users can delete entries (OSS Note 1293080)– Deleted entries do not remove table entries (OSS Note)

• In some cases Documents are no longer retrievable once data archiving occurs.

CREATE ATTACHMENTS

APPEALING TO CUSTOMERS

• Some SAP Customers – have a TB of Data stored this way– System performance is impacted– System Back Up and System Copies take much longer – Resulting in more administration costs

– More Disk Space is required– Images / Files are not protected ‐ they can be changed and deleted

– In most cases if the leading object is archived you will not be able to retrieve the images easily

WHY IS THIS A BAD IDEA?

SOFFCONT1 AND CRMORDERCONT TABLES

14

• We need an External Content Server– Stores Data outside of SAP– Uses ArchiveLink

• Traditional 3rd Party Full Service CMS such As:– OpenText, IBM, FileNet, and OnBase– PBS Content Link

• Includes Scanning interface, Viewing clients• Rich Content Management Features

• Non‐Traditional 3rd CMS Party solutions – SharePoint

• SAP Supported SAP Content Server

SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

STORING A BUSINESS DOCUMENT

STORING A BUSINESS DOCUMENT

OSS NOTE 1560955 AND 1451769


AGENDA

COMMON TERMS

• ArchiveLink (Static Information)– A service integrated in the SAP Web Application Server to link archived

documents with the business object entered in the SAP system

• Knowledge Provider (KPro) (Dynamic Information)– A cross‐application and media‐neutral information technology

infrastructure within the SAP R/3 Basis – Provides the general infrastructure for storing and administrating

documents in the SAP Content Server

• WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning)– Permits you to work directly on documents that are stored on remote

servers from different geographic locations– Used in SAP ILM ‐ Connect to ILM‐aware storage for secure and legally

compliant retention of data

COMMON TERMS (CONT.)

• SAP Content Server– Server at the core of SAP’s document storage and

management concept – Provides the technical infrastructure for all document‐centric applications

• Content Repository (aka Logical Archive)– A way to logically manage content, usually by retention period or by storage

media

• Document Types (ArchiveLink)– Backbone of ArchiveLink customizing– They are 10 characters in length– Used to describe the actual image– Security can be base on document type– Act as pointers to different logical archives– Workitems are routed to the appropriate processor via document types in the

early archiving scenario

THE END RESULTS —DISPLAYING A DOCUMENT

GO TO THE GENERIC OBJECT SERVICES

ATTACHMENT LIST

25

HOW DOES SAP KNOW WHAT TO DISPLAY?

TYPICAL CONFIGURATION – THIRD PARTY

SAP R/3

CAS StorageCenteraServer

Clients

Archive Server OnBase, OpenText, IBM, Documentum,

etc.

Scanning Clients

Retrieval

Processing

NAS Storage

SAP CONTENT SERVER –

HTTP

SAP R/3

Retrieval of documents through the SAP GUI using the ECL Viewer

SAP Content ServerFile system or database

(No optical Media support)

HTTP

SAP Cache ServerHTTP

HTTP

No Scanner Interface for SAP Content Server

Kofax Capture would be needed

SUPPORTS: ArchiveLink and K-PRO

SHAREPOINT –

HTTP

Retrieval of documentsthrough the SAP GUI

SharePoint

Server

No Scanner Interface for SharePoint

Third party document capture vendors like Kofax would be necessary.

SAP R/3

Retrieval of documentsSharePoint


AGENDA

ARCHIVELINK CONFIGURATIONSAP Content Server

Configuration

SharePoint ServerConfiguration

(Shown with the Verbella V‐Link)

SAP CS – SHAREPOINT SIDE BY SIDE

Specification SAP Content Server SharePoint (2013) Server

Cost Free License Fee Plus connector

DB Size Up to 64 TB, DBvolumes 20 GB

200GB Recommended, up to 4TB support by Microsoft60 Million Item per Content DB

File Size 30 GB Unix, Typical 2GB (IIS 7.5 Max 2GB, Default 28 MB)

50 MB default, Up to 2 GB

ArchiveLink Support YES Yes – through 3rd PartyConnector

User Access SAP Only SAP and Internet

Meta Data Residing on Content Server

NO YES

Third – Party Scanning Software Required

YES YES

Storage of Non‐SAPDocuments

NO YES

SHAREPOINT BASICS (SP 2013)

• 200 GB per Content DB– Can be increased to 4TB

• 50 MB Size by Default– Can be increased to 2 GB

• Unlimited – with certain templates (Doc & Rec)

• 60 Million items• 10,000 Site Collections

• Size can be no larger then the Content DB

• 50 MB Size by Default– Can be increased to 2 GB

• 30,000,000 Documents per Library

• 5,000 list items Display– 20,000 for admin

Content Databases Collection Sites/Library

• Has nothing to do with the 1956 Movie Classic• Binary Large Object – Large Block of Data store in the SQL DB

• BLOBs are Immutable, consume lots of space• SQL DB is built for lots of small transactions, they don’t like BLOBs

• Solution is Remote BLOB Storage (RBS) – Store BLOBs on NAS / CAS (Cheap) storage

A WORD ABOUT BLOBS

……We’ll it doesn’t know it at least not with a little help…• Middleware (V‐Link) ‐ An interface that TRANSLATES SAP Communication into SharePoint Commands– ArchiveLink Communication Commands– Meta Data update Commands trigger by SAP Events

SHAREPOINT KNOWS ARCHIVELINK????

TWO BASIC COMPONENTS

• VLinkHandler.ashx – HTTP Handler translates the incoming ArchiveLink call and converts it to Sharepoint Client API calls to the Sharepoint WebServices.

• VLinkUpdater.asmx– Web services receives the metadata object and parses and passes the metadata to Sharepoint via Sharepoint Client API Webservices.

– This call typically it triggered a few seconds after an image is stored or the document is updated.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF HOW IT WORKS.

A user stores a business document from within SAP

SAP makes an ArchiveLink call to VLink. VLink translates that to a Sharepoint API Call and stores the document in Sharepoint.A typical http call looks like: http://vlink.xxxxxxx.com:9090/VLinkHandler.ashx?create&pVersion=0046&contRep=Z5&docId=000C299020DA1ED686A7AEC1F3D6340C&compId=data&docProt=crud

Images are immediately available.

ARCHIVELINK / SHAREPOINT

SAP META DATA / SHAREPOINT

META DATA FROM SAP UPDATED REAL TIME

OTHER KEY FEATURES


AGENDA

SCANNING WITH KOFAX – EARLY ARCHIVING

KOFAX ASCENT CAPTURE – BATCH MANAGER

AUTOMATIC RELEASE TO SAP

Released to SAP

SAP USER WORKFLOW INBOX

POST

PROCESS WORKITEM - KEY FROM IMAGE

SAP USER WORKFLOW INBOX

EARLY ARCHIVING SUMMARY

Advantages– Distribute work to others and eliminates paper– Allows for ad hoc approval process– Standard reporting on end‐user processing

Drawbacks– Most complicated of the standard supplied archive scenarios

– Processing faster with dual monitors– Uses SAP’s workflow

• Workflow needs to be initialized and • An organization structure may have to be used

• AKA ‐ Assign and Store

LATE ARCHIVING

LATE ARCHIVING – CONTENT SERVER

LATE ARCHIVING – CONTENT SERVER (CONT.)



• AKA ‐ Late Archiving with Barcode

LATE ARCHIVING WITH BARCODE

• Requires a 3rd party Scanning interface that is ArchiveLink Certified– Third Party – Certified Content Management solutions

• Include a Scanning Application that is certified– Example:

» OpenText – Enterprise Scan » IBM/FileNet – Datacap

– The SAP Content Server or SharePoint• Need to purchase a certified stand alone scanning application

– Example: » Kofax Capture

3RD PARTY REQUIRED FOR BARCODE ARCHIVING

BARCODE SCENARIO- EXPLAINED

Barcode Number and SAP Key fields

Added to BDS_BAR_IN Table

1

2

Barcode is entered With

SAP transaction

Doc and ID and Bar code are sent to

SAP BDS_BAR_EX Table

4

Matching barcode entries are deleted and

an entry in the Link Table TOA01 is made

3

Image is Stored on Content Server with

DocID

Invoice

IIIIIIIII

ENTER BARCODE

MANUAL BAR CODE ENTRY

NOW TO DISPLAY THE ATTACHMENT

PROCESSING SOLUTION STEPS

Images

SAP Content Server

Scan Validate Release

Barcode is read

Barcode and image are released to SAP

Recognition

KOFAX ASCENT CAPTURE

Recognition

CLASSIFICATION AND EXTRACTION OF INDEX FIELDS

KOFAX ASCENT CAPTURE

AUTOMATIC RELEASE TO SAP —AR4ERP

Released to SAP

• Advantages– Does not change the existing Business process– Requires very little training– Scanning is much more efficient

• No indexing• No scanning separator sheets

– Identifies documents that have not been scanned– Multiple SAP objects can be linked to a scanned document– Individual document indexing/categorizing is eliminated

• Drawback– Need to manage and print/buy barcodes

LATE ARCHIVING WITH BARCODE SUMMARY


AGENDA

• If you are going to use “Create” Attachment –Redirect the storage from SOFFCONT1 to the SAP Content Server.

• Better to direct users into using ArchiveLink –“Store Business Document”

• SharePoint – only Bring over the fields really needed.

• Only Call the WSDL when Data Changes

BEST PRACTICES

• An Average Organization –– Makes 19 copies of each document.– Spends $20 in labor to file each document.– Spends $120 in labor searching for each misfiled document.

– Loses one out of every 20 documents.– Spends 25 hours recreating each lost document.– 400 Number of hours per year the average employee spends searching for paper documents.

ROI

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

• General –– www.verbellacmg.com

• RBS and BLOG– https://technet.microsoft.com/en‐us/library/ee748649.aspx

• SharePoint Limits– https://technet.microsoft.com/en‐us/library/cc262787.aspx#ContentDB

• SAP– http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw70/helpdata/en/40/32104211625933e10000000a155106/content.htm

REFERENCES

• 1560955 ‐ Part I: Additional Attributes for theGOS Attachment List

• 1293080 ‐ GOS: Attachment list autorizationobject S_GOS_ATT

• 1451769 ‐ Enhancement in Archivelink file attributes in GOS scenario

OSS NOTES OF INTEREST

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Speaker contact Info:John Walls (Booth 1083)Verbella CMG, LLC484‐888‐[email protected]