Q)What platforms are supported with SAP Master Data Management? A) Please find availability and supported platform information on SAP Service Marketplace, alias PAM (http://service.sap.com/pam). And then drill down into NetWeaver -> SAP MDM -> SAP MDM 5.5. Note that appropriate Service Marketplace authorization is required. Q) How integrated is SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5 with SAP NetWeaver and applications? A) SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5 is an integral part of the NetWeaver stack. In the current feature release, enterprise application integration, both SAP and non-SAP, is accomplished through SAP XI. Interoperability with other systems is possible via SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5's APIs (including ABAP whose development is currently in process). Tight, native integration is part of the SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5 roadmap and further pre-built integration points will be rolled out as we progress along the development path. SAP MDM 5.5 SP2 will provide view-only iViews for SAP Enterprise Portal. Is the Product Catalog Management application part of the SAP NetWeaver Integration and Application Platform? Does print publishing belong to this platform as well? Yes, these are all part of the SAP NetWeaver platform and print publishing is an extension of the capability to product content management. By definition, this is the case since the former A2i xCat application, now further augmented and known as SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5, is part of the SAP NetWeaver MDM family of products. Q)How will MDM fit into Enterprise Services Architecture? Which Web services will be provided and when? A) MDM is integral to SAP's ESA strategy. The initial list of documented Web services with MDM 3.0 were provided with MDM 3.0 information release. These refer to the ability to access master data information in MDM as a service to create records, etc. New web services will be available as per the roadmap. With SAP MDM 5.5 in conjunction with SAP Exchange Infrastructure, one can create web services by exposing MDM functions using MDM JAVA or .NET APIs. Q) What tools are available to integrate SAP MDM and other non-SAP applications and platforms? A) SAP MDM 5.5 exposes its core functions using published JAVA and .NET APIs. Any integration between MDM and other non-SAP software can be handled using APIs. Also, MDM functions can be exposed as web services using APIs in conjunction with SAP Exchange Infrastructure. Broader integration between SAP MDM 5.5 and other SAP NetWeaver components will be available through product roadmap. Q) Can Mask functionality be used for determining which BP records exist in R/3? A)There is no need for a mask to be generated, as Syndicator can filter records to be sent according to the Agency and remote key stored within MDM. The "suppress records without key" option needs to be set to "Yes". Q) Can a mask be recreated automatically from a saved search selection criteria? A)This is not currently supported. Records can be hidden per role using "constraints" functionality in the console. Q) Can MDM send only changed fields and data and not the whole record? A) There are two possible answers to this. 1. 2. Q) What options are available for resending from MDM within XI or R/3 in case an update fails? A) If the failure lies with XI or R/3, the same XML can be reprocessed (no resending is required). If there is a validation or data problem, the records needs to be identified and modified in MDM Data Manager Client and the Syndicator batch will resend them as they were updated since the last syndication. Q) How easy is it to maintain the front-end when the data model changes? A) The effort depends on the number of fields required for the front-end. Fields that are added have no impact. Fields that are deleted (and maintained in the front-end), need to be removed. Fields that are renamed need to be updated. Q) Is it possible to develop web forms (outside of EP6) that link to standard Java MDM APIs and communicate with the MDM repository? A) Yes it is possible as you are not limited to the use of iViews that exist. Your own application-specific iViews can be created. You can also access the server with direct calls to the API from the java environment. Q) Is it possible to assign the saved search criteria to a role or person to restrict what he or she can view in the search? A) The saved search option is client computer specific. That means that a user's search criteria are available only to the user and not to other users. Therefore the saved search is not an option in this case. Using role constraints you may achieve the required results. Q) Are adapters/extensions available in MDM for integrating monitoring tools? (ie. does Tivoli register if an exception occurs in MDM?) A) MDM currently does not trigger external processes on errors. The system uses logging capabilities to register errors and there are specific log files for the various components of the system. If the monitoring system/s can be triggered on changes to the log files then the system can be monitored. Q) Is it possible to hide certain fields and their values (depending on profile)? A) The MDM security mechanism allows you to define constraints to be used for display and hide field values in MDM Data Manager Client. Currently the MDM capabilities do not allow you to entirely hide fields upon a constraint setting. However, you can use the APIs for building a User Interface to allow display/hide of fields and attributes as required. Q) Is it possible to trigger external processes depending on type of errors raised, for example alert management functionality? A) Currently an extended error handling with follow up processing is not on the roadmap. However, the usage of MDM Expression Language needs to be evaluated for this usage. Q) MDM stores change history in a separate database which can track the selected fields in any table, the before and after state of a record for that field and the user performing the change. As a result, if you activate too many fields or have frequent updates to the same field, you experience performance problems. How can I better manage this? A) Limit the number of fields to be tracked to the minimum required. Establish an archive and purge procedure on the track changes log/database on daily basis to keep this database size to minimum, ensuring optimal performance. User Interface - Client and Web Front End Q) Are saved searches shared between users or roles? A) The saved searches (produced from the top menu Search->Save current search) in the client or the syndicator in the current version are saved locally per repository. That means they're shared among different users working on the same workstation. Although it may seem a limitation such an approach makes the saved searches more flexible. The saved searches (as files) can be distributed over different workstations working with the same catalog and/or accessed from a share. Q) Can a saved search be shared between the client and the syndicator? A) Searches are saved locally to a file and hence can be shared between the client and the syndicator by copying files (having extension sqf) to the syndicator or the client directories. Q) Do file-shared searches break security restrictions A) Searches are merely sets of query's criteria. In other words, every user that opens a saved search will get as results only records she is allowed to see. Q) There are too many search tabs in the Client's "Search parameters" pane. How can I pick up only ones I want to display? A) In the Console, every field has parameter "Display Field" which accepts Yes/No values. In the Client's "Search parameters" pane only fields with "Display Field" option "Yes" are shown. Another way to hide a field is in the Client. There make a right click on the search tab and choose "Hide". |
