SAP Scuttlebutt: Fiori Client App to Retire from Public App Stores
#SAP has recently announced via various channels that the #Fiori Client application is approaching its final days as a publicly available (and SAP-recommended) solution. This will come as welcome news for many customers as the client has often become a point of friction in adoption of web-based SAP solutions due to the need to install it on every device and its unfamiliarity as compared with standard web browser use.
The app will still be available to customers on-demand for Android and iOS via the Managed Google Play Store and Apple Managed Business processes, respectively. However, the clear indication is that customers should wean themselves off the solution sooner rather than later.
What is it?
For those unfamiliar, the SAP Fiori Client app is a downloadable app from the Apple app store and Google Play app store. From SAP:
With the SAP Fiori Client mobile app for iPhone and iPad, you can increase your productivity by tackling your most common daily business tasks anywhere and anytime. This mobile app is an enhanced mobile runtime for the Web version of the more than 1,100 SAP Fiori apps, offering full-screen operation and enhanced attachment handling.
With this retirement announcement, SAP is essentially making a bet that their UI5 and Fiori frameworks and communities will continue to evolve as adoption of the technology grows, ultimately obsolescing the need for an SAP-maintained mobile Client in favor of standard-issue mobile browsers with greater support networks.
When will it retire?
SAP has announced that the planned retirement for the Client is Q1/2022. For those of us who have worked with SAP software long enough, we know these sunset dates are often suggestions that often get delayed based on customer feedback. However, speaking anecdotally: most of our clients have chosen to forego the client in favor of mobile device browsers like Chrome or Safari. This leads me to believe that this date is firmer than most SAP product retirement dates.
What now?
For those customers who currently rely on the Fiori Client, SAP has provided a few options on how to handle this migration, with a primary recommendation. They do plan to continue supporting the Client, but it's probably a safe bet that it will not evolve at the same rate as device browsers such as Chrome or Safari.
SAP Recommendation: Use device browser
As mentioned, SAP is planning to rely on modern mobile devices using modern web browsers. Given that the Client is essentially a browser wrapper to begin with, this makes sense. There are a few features, namely barcode scanning (camera access) and voice recording (microphone access) which are integrated with the Fiori Client that will need to be adapted by developers. However, these are two well-known and well-supported functions in open-source software and can be implemented without much pain.
If using a device browser is not preferable based on your company's mobile devices, your user base, or any other reason- there are alternatives offered by SAP.
Alternative 1: Distribution of Fiori Client via non-public avenues
As briefly mentioned above, SAP customers will still have the option to acquire the Fiori Client from private B2B app stores for both Android and iOS via the managed Google Play and Apple store solutions. More details on this can be found in the SAP note.
Alternative 2: Create a custom Fiori Client
The second alternative is a little more labor intensive- creating a custom Fiori Client using their SAP Mobile Platform SDK. I would recommend staying away from this solution unless absolutely necessary, as the total cost of ownership for maintaining this solution will be substantial.
Questions or Opinion?
Thanks for reading. If you have an opinion on SAP's decision or questions about migration, leave a comment below!