We connect SAP Solution Manager and SAP WPB to the joy of users and support services

Hi, Habr!

Today we will model the process of developing and maintaining the relevance of user instructions by the users themselves. This approach greatly simplifies the life of the services responsible for the support and development of systems. To do this, we will use 2 products: the SAP Solution Manager and the SAP Workforce Performance Builder — a tool for developing interactive instructions for users of any IT systems. With the first, I am sure, most are familiar with, and the second few have come across. In the first part, we will be friends with these two solutions to make the process work, and in the second, we will create a training program in the Solution Manager for training new employees, which will use relevant (always!) Materials created in SAP WPB.

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So why did we decide to dwell on the topic of support and training new users?

• Firstly, because any IT system works in the way it was designed before the moment the users started up in it. This is an axiom.
• Secondly, the process of training users of IT systems is often not regulated, it is formal in nature, and this significantly affects not only the support service in the form of an abundance of “Where, Where, From, Why, Why, Who?” Queries, but also on efficiency organizations in general.
• Thirdly, often as a solution to the problem of adapting users, we receive requests for additional resources to the support service. In the current economic conditions it is not permissible.

What do we offer?
1. To involve key users in the process of updating training materials
2. To make the process of updating the materials as convenient as possible for its participants.

So, we need: Solution Manager 7.1 and Workforce Performance Builder 9.3 Enterprise Edition. The overall picture of the solution is as follows:



Part 1. Chained together
To bind the WPB Manager portal (which will be the center for managing the development of educational materials) to the Solution Manager, start the SPRO transaction and open the Configuration Table for WPB Interface .



A sign will appear in which you need to fill in 3 lines:
BASE_URL - WPB server address
CUSTDOCU - WPB document types that will be recognized by the Solution Manager as project and displayed on the Project Documents tab of the transaction SOLAR02.
The list of WPB document types with codes for Solution Manager:
• Standard document - standard
• Training document - training
• Working documentation - work
• Help job - jobhelp
• Test document - testsheet
• Process Manual - business_script
• HP Quality Center Document - hpqc
• Audit & Compliance Document - fda
W_AREA_ID - The identifier of the WPB workspace in which documents are stored. Can be found on the portal WPB



After entering and saving data, you can proceed to directly uploading the structure of business processes that was created during the implementation of the system to the WPB portal. From the WPB Manager portal, we will distribute tasks for developing / updating interactive instructions either to the project team (if a project is underway) or to key users if the system is already in operation.

In our example, we have created a very simple structure: we have 2 business processes consisting of 2 steps each.



To transfer this structure to WPB, start the transaction SOLAR_WPB



After clicking on the “Synchronization” button , we will select those scripts / processes for which we need to develop or update training documentation and click OK . After successful synchronization, the process structure from the Solution Manager appears on the WPB portal. Here it is necessary to clarify that 1 step of the business process is 1 WPB project.
Here's what it looks like:



Now we need to assign tasks for the development of content at each step to the direct performers: the key users who perform these actions in the system every day and are well aware of all the subtleties. This will be done directly from the portal WPB Manager.



After clicking on Save, the executor will receive an email notification that he is “chosen”, appointed as the executor of a specific task. After that, Daria launches WPB Instant Producer and with its help records the process of creating a travel request in the system. Subsequently, the recording (in the form of a WPB master document) is sent to the WPB Manager server, and Daria considers the task completed.

Now you need to create training materials from the WPB master document. To do this, in WPB Producer, open the master document sent by Daria, and start creating documentation in the formats we need.



As a result, we get a package of interactive simulations and the usual "paper" documents describing the actions in the system.

When training packages are created, tested, and approved, they must be downloaded to the Solution Manager. To do this, run the synchronization again in the SOLAR_WPB transaction. As a result, each step of the process in our structure is “cluttered” with documents related either to the Project documentation or to the Training documentation, depending on the settings we made in SPRO .



What is important: not the documents themselves are loaded into the Solution Manager, but links to them leading to the WPB portal. Links are permanent . Thus, when updating / rewriting a WPB document due to a change in the process in an IT system, the Solution Manager will always refer to the current version.

Brief summary :

We connected Solution Manager and WPB. The first is the source of the structure of the processes, the second is the connection to this structure of training materials and ensures their relevance. Key users create content using a convenient and intuitive tool, the support service only needs to “bring the necessary gloss.”

Part 2. Mapping from SAP Education
Now we will show how to create training programs ( training cards in the terminology of the Solution Manager) using user-created training documents. To do this, start the transaction SOLAR_LEARNING_MAP and press F5 to create a new learning card.



Enter training card name



And create its structure, for example, using the same process-role approach.



As a result, we got something like this:



Now let us inhale knowledge into the learning map To do this, select the map section, and click on the “Update” button to display the content that can be inserted into the training card.



The assignment of educational simulations of WPB / documents to each section is performed by highlighting the desired document and clicking on the button "Assign Document" .

The finished training card can either be directly assigned to users for passing using the "Send to user" button



Or, it can be downloaded to the SCORM format for further download to the learning management system (for example, SAP Enterprise Learning or SuccessFactors Learning) to fully automate the process of preparing and certifying new users of the system.



Brief summary :

In the Solution Manager, we created a training program to prepare the new user for work in the IT system. The building blocks of the program are educational materials created in WPB and which are always relevant (you remember that only links are stored in the Solution Manager). We can assign training programs through the Solution Manager or export it to the LMS system, where we can configure automatic course assignment, control over its passage and notifications to the user. After successfully completing the training, the user must be granted access to the productive system.

If the functionality of the Solution Manager in terms of creating training programs does not suit you, then there is an alternative option: training programs are created in WPB Producer, then loaded into the LMS system either via export to the SCORM format, or directly from WPB Producer (if you using SAP Enterprise Learning Solution).

The content created in WPB can be used in a variety of ways, for example, to integrate into the SAP Help menu so that users in the event of difficulties receive assistance for the particular transaction in which they are located and in the form that is more convenient for them.



I hope the material will be useful. We are happy to answer your questions!

Useful links:
Solution Manager Integration with SAP WPB on the SAP Channel on YouTube
About SAP Workforce Performance Builder solution on sap.com
SAP WPB on the SAP Channel on YouTube