After looking at the portal landscape of one of the energy sector giants, I was shocked to see this company maintaining an old dual-version landscape of portals. One of the portals this company was maintaining was SAP NetWeaver Portal 6.0 with SAP NetWeaver Application Server 6.20. The other was SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.0, but with a Support Package level lower than 10. Did anybody care about staying updated and reducing the time, money, and effort spent to maintain these versions?

Upgrading to a newer version when it is rolled out is often difficult for large companies. For them it is not a core factor affecting their daily business, but rather a boundary product that can take some damage until an upgrade is planned.

However, I have heard that the number of SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.3 installations has crossed the 2,000 mark and is growing strong. For those of you who haven't yet upgraded, you might wonder what the latest version means for your portal landscape, and whether you should upgrade now. I'll discuss some points to consider regarding upgrading your portal landscape and explain why upgrading to a newer version might be the right decision.

1. Reduce the Overhead Cost and Effort

Let me use an example to explain overhead cost reduction. How do you integrate Web Dynpro Java applications within SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.0? This question might seem silly — if the Web Dynpro Java application is deployed, you can create an iView for it and assign it to a page that is then assigned to a role. However, the problem is that you then have to maintain three artifacts: an iView, page, and role. (I have not considered Worksets in this example.) When you plan a transport, you have to consider all three artifacts. You continue to maintain folders for all of them. If I add up all Portal Content Directory (PCD) artifacts, then the number comes to nine: three PCD objects, three folders, and three transport packages. I have deliberately considered separate transport packages for each of them, although you can transport the entire content in one package.

If you are on SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.1 or higher, one major change is that you no longer have iViews for Web Dynpro Java applications. SAP made this process easier, and now you can simply add a Web Dynpro Java application directly to a page without intermediate iViews. As a result, the number of artifacts in my example is now six: two PCD objects, two folders, and two transport packages. You certainly save time and effort by having three fewer PCD artifacts. In an example of this size, it may not seem like a great reduction in effort, but think of implementations that have hundreds of Web Dynpro Java applications and separate landscapes for development and maintenance. You could save even more time by changing the permissions, enabling multi-language capability, and using multi-property replacement for these iViews, but exploring these in detail is beyond the scope of this article.

2. Look and Feel

SAP NetWeaver 7.1 and above have a very different look and feel from that of 7.0. Ajax Framework Page (AFP) is now the default framework page for SAP NetWeaver Portal. With fewer elements to be reloaded for document object model (DOM), which defines how to manipulate HTML elements on the user interface (UI), time spent on a server round trip is significantly reduced. In addition to the reduction in time, you can use Ajax and jQuery elements on your page, thereby enhancing the look and feel. You also have great control over what to display, how to display it, and when to display it.

Enhancing the look and feel of your portal should be an entirely separate project from the upgrade itself. Usually, IT organizations assume that enhancing the look and feel is part of the existing project, but then project managers do not give sufficient time for portal developers to work on customizations. This assumption obviously affects the quality of customization, which is a major concern. Managers need to understand the importance of enhancing the user experience. Also, portal consultants aren't always great designers, so it's best if you have a designer on board to help with this matter.

3. Explore the Latest Technologies

This point is important for portal consultants and developers when thinking from a career standpoint. The opportunity to work on an upgrade and then learn the features of the latest version of any product helps build your experience. If you've worked on 7.0, you've used HTMLB and felt the need for JavaScript support for Web Dynpro Java.

However, with Ajax, jQuery, and HTML5, you can do wonders on your portal pages. Change that old-style landing page with flashy, animated elements — without affecting the page load time significantly. Use Ajax to design a log-in form that makes authentication easier and avoids any wrong inputs when they are entered.

You can use some of these new features without upgrading to 7.3. Enhancement package 2 shipped with features such as the Enterprise Workspace and AFP. You should also be aware of the new HTML5-based integrated development environment (IDE) that SAP is working on currently.

4. Ease of Development and Enhancement Possibilities

A drag-and-drop effect in a tree element in Web Dynpro Java or Portal JSPDynpage (a development framework that can be used in SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio and that can use scripts such as JavaScript or jQuery) is not possible in 7.0. With SAP NetWeaver Development Studio for SAP NetWeaver CE 7.2, you have two new actions: OnDragSourceInfo and OnDropTargetInfo. These allow you to drag a node element and drop a certain position in the tree. However, this action does not remove it from the old position. You have to write code to remove the element from its old position.

With the release of 7.3, programming and upgrading are easier. You no longer have to plan downtime of your system, which affects end users and the business indirectly. The upgrade mechanism of 7.3 has a functionality that replicates your production environment and then upgrades it instead of upgrading the actual production server. Once the upgrade is done, it simply replaces the old production server with the upgraded server. This functionality actually gives you zero-percent downtime.

5. Avoid Using Too Much Hard Code

You do not need to upgrade everything to the latest release, but that doesn't mean you should continue using an old version and keep bearing the overhead cost. Take the example of SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Management (SAP NetWeaver BRM). This engine enables you to model the flow of a business process based on a certain pre-specified condition. If you are on version 7.0 and need to change the flow of a process, then your only option is to write these conditions in your code. Thus, your business logic is hard coded. Whenever there is a change in condition you have to change the code. Why should a company accept such code?

On the other hand, if you are on SAP NetWeaver CE, you can use SAP NetWeaver BRM to write the rules of execution (i.e., conditions on which a business process should change). You can expose an SAP NetWeaver BRM component as a Web service and consume it in your Web Dynpro Java application. Upon executing this Web service, the system returns the value responsible for the process modeling. All you have to do is write an IF-ELSE-ELSE-IF statement to manage the flow. Even if you have new conditions to add, you can do so easily without touching the Web Dynpro Java application. Consequently, SAP NetWeaver BRM helps you keep business logic as straightforward and free of hard code as possible.

If you can't upgrade now, you can at least plan for a future upgrade. Staying on an older release presents the risk of using outdated processes and increased costs. If you do stay on an older release, a good option is to upgrade to the latest Support Package or plan to upgrade your enhancement packages.

Ameya Pimpalgaonkar

Ameya Pimpalgaonkar is a senior SAP architect. He specializes in SAP Netweaver Portal, SAP BPM, BRM, MDM, and SAP Mobile. His interests include UI and front-end technologies, SAPUI5, Responsive Design, and integration of modern technologies with SAP UI. He has also worked on HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery. Ameya is also a certified usability analyst from HFI, USA.

You may contact the author at ameya85@gmail.com.

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