Business Capabilities in the Reference Catalog

Overview

The reference catalog provides industry-specific business capability maps for import. When catalog items are imported, corresponding business capability fact sheets are automatically created in your workspace and linked to the catalog. If a fact sheet with the same name already exists, the name and description are overwritten from the catalog. Instead of importing, you can also just link your existing business capability fact sheets to the relevant catalog items. This action does not overwrite any data.

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Note

Only admins can import catalog items as fact sheets. However, both admins and members can link existing business capability fact sheets to catalog items.

For level 3 business capabilities, the reference catalog also suggests appropriate SAP solutions that could support those capabilities. Furthermore, for linked business capability fact sheets, these suggested SAP solutions also appear on the Transformations tab of the fact sheet when you use SAP LeanIX Architecture and Road Map Planning. Here, you can choose a suggested solution and automatically prepare transformations. To learn more, see Planning Transformations for SAP Solutions.

The reference catalog leverages SAP reference architecture data, which is maintained by SAP on a continuous basis. For more information, refer to:

• Documentation: SAP Reference Architecture Content
• Blog entry on the SAP Community: SAP Reference Architecture Content: An Overview

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Note

The use of SAP Reference Business Architecture and SAP Solution Architecture data is optional and not part of the business functionality of the product. SAP Reference Business Architecture and SAP Solution Architecture data is subject to change and may be changed, discontinued, or replaced by SAP at any time for any reason without notice.

Benefits

By using catalog data for business capability fact sheets, you can:

• Enhance fact sheet standardization: With catalog data, you can establish better naming standardization across fact sheets and avoid duplication if you used multiple methods to populate your inventory.
• Increase fact sheet quality: With catalog data, you can enrich fact sheet descriptions, helping users to complete fact sheet information with less effort.
• Accelerate transformations: Optionally, for level 3 business capabilities, you can view suggested SAP solutions that best support these capabilities. If you’re using SAP LeanIX Architecture and Road Map Planning, for fact sheets linked to level 3 business capabilities from the catalog, you can select appropriate solutions and plan related transformations.

Importing Business Capabilities from the Reference Catalog

As an admin, you can import business capabilities from the reference catalog. Depending on whether business capabilities with matching names already exist in the workspace or not, the following occurs:

• If fact sheets with matching names don't yet exist in the workspace, new business capability fact sheets are created, complete with their hierarchical relations, names, and descriptions. These new fact sheets are linked to catalog items.
• If fact sheets with matching names already exist in the workspace, they're automatically linked to the corresponding catalog items, and their descriptions are updated based on the information from the catalog.

To import business capabilities from the catalog, follow these steps:

1. In the administration area, navigate to the Reference Catalog section.
2. Select the Business Capability tab.
3. Select the industry maps to import, then click Review and Import.
4. On the page that appears, select the business capability hierarchies that you want to import, then click Import.

When importing business capabilities, you can narrow them down by applying filters for hierarchy levels, industries, enterprise domains, L1 business capabilities, and SAP applications (from suggested SAP solutions). By selecting SAP applications that your organization currently uses or intends to implement, you can view and import business capabilities supported by these applications. This allows you to focus on the most critical business areas.

On the import page, you can view catalog items in the landscape view or the list view. You can switch between the views by using icons in the upper-right corner.

• Landscape view: This view displays catalog items in a grid format, where child business capabilities are nested within broader categories in a hierarchical manner. Business capabilities that already exist in your workspace are differentiated from the ones that don't by varying colors. By toggling on the Show Suggested SAP Solutions option, you can view relevant SAP solutions that best support level 3 business capabilities.
  Clicking on a business capability opens a side panel with its description and any fact sheets linked to the catalog item. For suggested solutions, you will find the application’s description, linked fact sheets, and details on additional business capabilities the application supports. This helps you better understand these capabilities and identify which ones may be relevant for import.

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  Note

  The suggested SAP solutions are provided for informational purposes only; no application fact sheets will be created. To learn more, see Suggested SAP Solutions.

• List view: This view presents catalog items in a list format. Business capabilities that already exist in your workspace are listed on the right, with the Imported status.

Linking Existing Business Capabilities to Catalog Items

If you're using SAP LeanIX Architecture and Road Map Planning, linking existing business capability fact sheets enables you to view suggested SAP solutions on the Transformations tab of the linked fact sheet.

You can link business capability fact sheets to catalog items by:

• Bulk linking multiple fact sheets from the inventory
• Linking individual fact sheets from the fact sheet page

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Note

Both admins and members can link fact sheets to catalog items, unlink them, and modify existing links. Viewers don't have access to the reference catalog.

Bulk Linking Business Capability Fact Sheets from the Inventory

Bulk linking business capabilities from the inventory allows you to efficiently connect multiple fact sheets to catalog items. This method lets you review, link, and unlink fact sheets all in one place.

To link multiple fact sheets at once, follow these steps:

1. On the right-side pane of the inventory, under Reference Catalog, click Business Capability. Business capability fact sheets appear on the Unlinked and Linked tabs, depending on whether they're unlinked or linked to catalog items.
2. On the Unlinked tab, select a business capability fact sheet, then search for and select a catalog item from the drop-down menu on the right that you want to link to the fact sheet. You can expand each row to view more details on each fact sheet and the matching catalog items.
3. Click Link. To continue linking more fact sheets, repeat these steps.

For some business capabilities, the Confidence column on the right provides a recommendation indicating the match level between the fact sheet and the catalog item. If you want to focus on fact sheets with high or medium confidence levels, use the Filter by confidence filter located next to the search field.

By expanding each row, you can view a summary of the fact sheet and details of the corresponding catalog item recommendation. If the recommendation doesn't align with your needs, use the search field to find a specific item to link to.

Linking a Business Capability Fact Sheet from the Fact Sheet Page

Follow these steps:

1. On the right-side pane of the business capability fact sheet, under Reference Catalog, click Link Now. A page for linking the fact sheet to a catalog item opens.
2. Under the search field on the left, select a suggested item to link or search for a specific item using the search field.
3. Review the information on the right, then click Link. Here, you can also view suggested SAP solutions that support the business capability, if available.

Changing or Unlinking Linked Items

You can link a fact sheet to a different catalog item if there is a more appropriate one or if it was inadvertently linked to the current item.

To change linked items in bulk from the reference catalog page, follow these steps:

1. In the reference catalog, go to the Linked tab.
2. Select a fact sheet for which you want to change the linked item.
3. Search for and select a different catalog item from the drop-down menu on the right.
4. Click Change Link.

To change the linked item for a single fact sheet, follow these steps:

1. On the right-side pane of the business capability fact sheet, under Reference Catalog, click Linked.
2. On the page that appears, search for a different catalog item using the search field on the left, select an item to link, then click Change Link.

If needed, you can unlink multiple fact sheets from the reference catalog page in bulk. Similarly, you can unlink a specific fact sheet from the fact sheet page.

Updates to the SAP Reference Architecture

The SAP reference architecture data is continuously improved and updated. Since the reference catalog uses this data, these updates also appear in SAP LeanIX. Here’s how the update process works based on the scope of changes:

• Minor changes: For fact sheets linked to reference business capabilities where only minor changes occurred (such as changes in name or description), the link is automatically updated to the latest version without overwriting any fact sheet data.
• Major changes: For fact sheets linked to business capabilities where major changes occurred, you can review the changes and manually update the link to the latest version. You can update links in bulk or for individual fact sheets, as described in the following sections. Major changes involve changes to the suggested SAP solutions, such as:
  • New or removed solution options
  • New or removed applications within one solution option

Updating Linked Items to the Latest Version in Bulk

Follow these steps:

1. On the right-side pane of the inventory, under Reference Catalog, click Business Capability.
2. On the reference catalog page, navigate to the Available Updates tab. Items for which updates are available are grouped as follows:
   • Deprecated: You can unlink deprecated items or change individual links to different items.
   • Outdated: You can review updates and apply changes in bulk by clicking Update all links to the latest version. To update the link for an individual item, click Update link to the latest version under the item name in the left column.

Updating the Linked Item to the Latest Version for a Single Fact Sheet

Follow these steps:

1. On the right-side pane of the business capability fact sheet, under Reference Catalog, click Linked.
2. On the reference catalog page, click Review and Update, review the changes, then confirm your action.

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Note

For customers using SAP LeanIX Architecture and Road Map Planning, updates to reference business capabilities also appear on the Transformations tab on business capability fact sheets. From here, you can review and update the linked item.

Suggested SAP Solutions

For level 3 business capabilities from the catalog, the reference catalog suggests appropriate SAP solutions that could best support those capabilities. The applications are grouped into options, each referring to the Solution Capabilities from the SAP Reference Solution Architecture. Each option includes the name of the corresponding Solution Capability in the subheading for easy reference.

To view suggested SAP solutions in the reference catalog, do the following:

1. On the right-side pane of the inventory, click Business Capability.
2. In the reference catalog, click Preview options to view suggested SAP solutions. If you're on the Unlinked tab, select a catalog item first to preview suggested solutions.

3. In the preview overlay, select an SAP S/4HANA deployment option to filter the suggested solutions based on the chosen option. The following options are available:
   • Cloud: SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud
   • Hybrid: SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud or On-Premise

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Note

• The preview option is available for level 2 business capabilities as well. However, suggested SAP solutions shown are for level 3 business capabilities that fall under these level 2 capabilities.
• In some cases, there may be no suggested solutions for certain business capabilities.

Additionally, you can view suggested solutions for a specific business capability by opening the linked reference catalog item from the right-side pane of a specific fact sheet.

Furthermore, if you use SAP LeanIX Architecture and Road Map Planning, suggested SAP solutions also appear on the Transformations tab of the linked business capability fact sheets. You can choose a suggested solution and automatically prepare transformations to roll out or introduce the relevant applications. To learn more, see Planning Transformations for SAP Solutions.

Deactivating the Suggested SAP Solutions Feature

You can deactivate the proposal of suggested SAP solutions on business capability fact sheets. To do that, navigate to the Optional Features & Early Access section in the administration area, then click Deactivate next to the Suggested SAP Solutions feature.