adobe livecycle workflow and SAP workflow

[Former Member]

dear all,

i am working in a new development project which is yet to be started.according to my client's description,the project deals with adobe forms with SAP as backend.

i have studied and worked for one month on adobe livecycle forms and i have some knowledge about its products.but i didnt work on any SAP system.my doubt is that

"WE HAVE ADOBE LIVECYCLE WORKFLOW IN THE WHOLE SUITE OF LIVECYCLE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS,WHICH CAN BE USEFUL TO BUILD WORKFLOWS AND IMPROVE BUSINESS PROCESSES WITH THE HELP OF BAM.BUT WHEN ADOBE FORMS AND ADOBE FORMS MANAGER ARE INTEGRATED IN SAP..WILL THE ADOBE WORKFLOW BE PRESENT AGAIN?OR IS IT GOING TO BE THE SAP WORKFLOW WHICH DEFINES THE BUSINESS PROCESSES AND INITIATES THE PROCESSES?? ALSO IF IT IS SAP WORKFLOW THEN WHAT IS THE NEED OF INTEGRATING ADOBE WITH SAP WITHOUT ADOBE LIVECYLE WORKFLOW.??

i am looking forward for any answers from ppl.plzz help me out from this doubt.

regards..

raghava kumar v.s.s.

[markus_meisl]

Hi Raghava

the intention of the SAP/Adobe partnership is to make it possible to generate interactive (and non-interactive) PDF forms from an SAP backend.

To facilitate this, SAP integrated features from a variety of LiveCycle products, essentially

- Forms

- Designer

- Reader Extensions

- Document Security

- Print

There is no integration of Workflow, Form Manager, Barcoded Forms (although the basics are there), Policy Server, PDF Generator and Assembler.

In particular when it comes to workflow, it makes no sense to use an external tool, because a form is a form (a simple UI), not a replacement for an application. This means that the existing business logic in an SAP system should remain there as before. The SAP workflow (whether Business Workflow, Guided Procedures, or the ISR framework in ERP) drives SAP applications and uses PDF forms in certain (but not all) scenarios.

Hope this makes sense.

Markus Meisl

SAP NetWeaver Product Management

[Former Member]

thanks markus..i am happy with your answer. so u mean to say that it is foolish to use an external tool like adobe workflow again when there is use of SAP workflow.also you are saying that forms manager will also be not there in the SAP ..is it so?

what replaces the forms manager in SAP..i dont have any hands on in SAP .but i am working with adoeb forms..also i need information about the WEB DYNPRO..in what way it helps to integrate adobe forms with SAP netweaver..my forthcoming project deals with IT provisioning process in an IT organisation where hiring department,HR and various departments will be having forms (service requests,recruiting forms etc.,)..so do u suggest the possible solution is entire SAP oriented..i mean ADOBE FORMS,SAP WORKFLOW and is there any need of web dynpro and netweaver again.?

sorry if u cant get my query correctly.but i am confused with the functionalities when it comes for integration of ADOBE and SAP..thanks again..will be waiting for your answers

[markus_meisl]

Hi Raghava,

correct, there are currently no plans to integrate Forms Manager into SAP although we have no alternative solution within SAP, i.e. you'd have to build something like Forms Manager for your purposes.

To get a general overview on the SAP integration, start here: <a href="http://sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/interactiveforms">http://sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/interactiveforms</a>

You need NetWeaver, because the Adobe functions are part of it. Web Dynpro is one of the environments that have Adobe forms functions integrated, it is the most suitable one for interactive scenarios.

We may have a different idea of what SAP is. To me, SAP comprises the business data in the ERP/CRM/etc. system and the technology components such as NetWeaver etc. Perhaps that's the misunderstanding.

Best,

Markus

[Former Member]

Hi Markus,

As far as i know if i used Guided Procedure i can set a workflow with adobe interactive forms . So Is it possible to the same in tha abap stack without web interface ?

Best regards.

Bertrand