04/19/2013
How Adobe PhoneGap with SAP Gateway creates Affordable Mobility
by Brandon Webb, Lead Mobile Developer
At last year’s SAP Press conference, the partnership between SAP and Adobe PhoneGap was announced. The reason is apparent; SAP wants to expand their developer footprint in an effort to increase the amount of quality apps available for customers in the SAP app store. Sanjay Poonen said it best by admitting, "(Mobility) is a movement going around us that’s well outside of our control” (see video).
The anniversary of this announcement is just another reason to talk about all of the cool stuff that’s been happening in SAP Mobile Solutions. The combination of NetWeaver Gateway embracing REST-based web services, SAP’s blessing of PhoneGap, and touch-optimized user interfaces like SAPUI5 and jQuery Mobile created an opportunity in SAP mobility worth getting excited about.
We’ve seen too many SAP customers delay their mobility efforts because of the licensing costs presented by the Sybase Unwired Platform (SUP). The hidden truth is that customers can avoid these costs by connecting devices to SAP via NW Gateway. If you own the appropriate user licenses for the users consuming the data, you’re covered. For instance, companies with ESS/MSS user licenses can create Gateway services against data within the scope of the ESS/MSS user license and without reaching for their wallet.
Watch this example of a PhoneGap app that we created against demo Gateway services or download the app here to try it for yourself. (iOS is not available since the device UDID is required for development provisioning.)
NetWeaver Gatway (Available to SAP customers)
The NetWeaver Gateway team has done a great job providing a simple way to create REST-based OData web services. After installing the Gateway add-on you can quickly and securely expose your SAP data to both SAP and non-SAP platforms via your choice of XML or JSON (JSON is faster) watch my tutorial
Adobe PhoneGap ($10 /month)
Adobe PhoneGap is a great example of a non-SAP platform that can consume these Gateway services. With PhoneGap, you can develop an app that leverages the native features of the device (e.g. Camera, Notifications) by simply using web languages like HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The best part is that you only have to write the mobile application once; PhoneGap’s new build service will compile the files needed to deploy your app to multiple devices.
UI Technologies (free)
Since using NetWeaver Gateway and Adobe PhoneGap to create our mobile apps will save us a bunch of time, we can now focus on creating a beautiful UI. That’s where SAPUI5, Sencha Touch and jQuery Mobile come into play. These free tools help us create beautiful touch optimized interfaces.
Learn how we can kickstart your mobility effort: Mobility Rapid Enablement Services | hyperCision, Inc.
hyperCision, founded in 2001, is an SAP and SuccessFactors partner. hyperCision consultants have assisted in hundreds of successful implementations and provided expert advice to professionals in every industry.
SAP NetWeaver Gateway demo services: Gateway Demo System | SCN
