5 Considerations for Upgrading YourPortalby Ameya Pimpalgaonkar, Advisory System Analyst, IBM IndiaNovember 22, 2011

SAPexperts/ITMany enterprises are upgrading their portals to SAPNetWeaver 7.3. Look at five elements to consider whenmaking the decision to upgrade your portal.

Key Concept

SAP NetWeaver Portal 7.3 is the latest version of theportal. It includes several new features, including animproved look and feel, better development andenhancement options, and newer technologies.

After looking at the portal landscape of one of the energysector giants, I was shocked to see this company maintainingan old dual-version landscape of portals. One of the portalsthis company was maintaining was SAP NetWeaver Portal 6.0with SAP NetWeaver Application Server 6.20. The other wasSAP NetWeaver Portal 7.0, but with a Support Package levellower than 10. Did anybody care about staying updated andreducing the time, money, and effort spent to maintain theseversions?

Upgrading to a newer version when it is rolled out is oftendifficult for large companies. For them it is not a core factoraffecting their daily business, but rather a boundary productthat can take some damage until an upgrade is planned.

However, I have heard that the number of SAP NetWeaverPortal 7.3 installations has crossed the 2,000 mark and isgrowing strong. For those of you who haven't yet upgraded,you might wonder what the latest version means for yourportal landscape, and whether you should upgrade now. I'lldiscuss some points to consider regarding upgrading yourportal landscape and explain why upgrading to a newerversion might be the right decision.

1. Reduce the Overhead Cost andEffort

Let me use an example to explain overhead cost reduction.How do you integrate Web Dynpro Java applications withinSAP NetWeaver Portal 7.0? This question might seem silly —if the Web Dynpro Java application is deployed, you cancreate an iView for it and assign it to a page that is thenassigned to a role. However, the problem is that you thenhave to maintain three artifacts: an iView, page, and role. (Ihave not considered Worksets in this example.) When youplan a transport, you have to consider all three artifacts. Youcontinue to maintain folders for all of them. If I add up all

Portal Content Directory (PCD) artifacts, then the numbercomes to nine: three PCD objects, three folders, and threetransport packages. I have deliberately considered separatetransport packages for each of them, although you cantransport the entire content in one package.

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

2. Look and Feel

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

Enhancing the look and feel of your portal should be anentirely separate project from the upgrade itself. Usually, ITorganizations assume that enhancing the look and feel is partof the existing project, but then project managers do not givesufficient 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 theimportance of enhancing the user experience. Also, portalconsultants aren't always great designers, so it's best if youhave a designer on board to help with this matter.

3. Explore the LatestTechnologies

This point is important for portal consultants and developerswhen thinking from a career standpoint. The opportunity towork on an upgrade and then learn the features of the latestversion of any product helps build your experience. If you'veworked 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 wonderson your portal pages. Change that old-style landing page withflashy, animated elements — without affecting the page loadtime significantly. Use Ajax to design a log-in form that makesauthentication easier and avoids any wrong inputs when theyare entered.

NoteI wrote about some of these features in the SAPProfessional Journal article "Accelerate Your Executions byUsing jQuery in SAP NetWeaver Portal Components."

You can use some of these new features without upgrading to7.3. Enhancement package 2 shipped with features such asthe Enterprise Workspace and AFP. You should also beaware of the new HTML5-based integrated developmentenvironment (IDE) that SAP is working on currently.

NoteFor more on AFP, go here. I also blogged about it here.

4. Ease of Development andEnhancement Possibilities

A drag-and-drop effect in a tree element in Web Dynpro Javaor Portal JSPDynpage (a development framework that can beused in SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio and that can usescripts such as JavaScript or jQuery) is not possible in 7.0.With SAP NetWeaver Development Studio for SAPNetWeaver CE 7.2, you have two new actions:OnDragSourceInfo and OnDropTargetInfo. These allow you todrag 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 oldposition.

With the release of 7.3, programming and upgrading areeasier. You no longer have to plan downtime of your system,which affects end users and the business indirectly. Theupgrade mechanism of 7.3 has a functionality that replicatesyour production environment and then upgrades it instead ofupgrading the actual production server. Once the upgrade isdone, it simply replaces the old production server with theupgraded server. This functionality actually gives you zero-percent downtime.

5. Avoid Using Too Much HardCode

You do not need to upgrade everything to the latest release,but that doesn't mean you should continue using an oldversion and keep bearing the overhead cost. Take the

example of SAP NetWeaver Business Rules Management(SAP NetWeaver BRM). This engine enables you to model theflow of a business process based on a certain pre-specifiedcondition. If you are on version 7.0 and need to change theflow of a process, then your only option is to write theseconditions in your code. Thus, your business logic is hardcoded. Whenever there is a change in condition you have tochange the code. Why should a company accept such code?

On the other hand, if you are on SAP NetWeaver CE, you canuse SAP NetWeaver BRM to write the rules of execution (i.e.,conditions on which a business process should change). Youcan expose an SAP NetWeaver BRM component as a Webservice and consume it in your Web Dynpro Java application.Upon executing this Web service, the system returns thevalue responsible for the process modeling. All you have to dois write an IF-ELSE-ELSE-IF statement to manage the flow.Even if you have new conditions to add, you can do so easilywithout touching the Web Dynpro Java application.Consequently, SAP NetWeaver BRM helps you keep businesslogic as straightforward and free of hard code as possible.

If you can't upgrade now, you can at least plan for a futureupgrade. Staying on an older release presents the risk ofusing outdated processes and increased costs. If you do stayon an older release, a good option is to upgrade to the latestSupport Package or plan to upgrade your enhancementpackages.