User Guide SAP Customer Influence CUSTOMER Page 1 Document Version: 2.0 - September 2014
Table of Contents 1 Overview of SAP Customer Influence... 3 2 Getting Started... 4 2.1 Customer Influence Home Page... 4 2.2 Logging on to SAP Customer Influence... 5 2.3 Selecting Areas of Interest... 6 2.4 My Influence Page... 7 3 Project Collaboration... 9 3.1 Registering to Collaborate on an Innovation Project... 9 3.2 Following an Innovation Project... 9 3.3 Commenting on an Innovation Project... 10 4 Improvement Requests... 11 4.1 Viewing Improvement Requests... 11 4.2 Subscribing to an Improvement Request... 11 4.3 Submitting an Improvement Request... 12 4.4 Following a CC Project... 13 4.5 Following an Improvement Request... 14 4.6 Following Tags... 14 4.7 Commenting on a Request... 15 5 Project Blogs... 16 Page 2
1 Overview of SAP Customer Influence The SAP Customer Influence site enables SAP customers and partners to participate closely with SAP development teams to improve SAP products and solutions. The Customer Influence site at http://influence.sap.com is an open platform for SAP customers and partners to collaborate on innovation and improvement projects at SAP. These projects are set up and operated by the two influencing teams at SAP - Customer Engagement Initiative and Customer Connection: Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI) projects involve close end-to-end collaboration between customers and SAP teams during the full development cycle for planned products and solutions and new releases or enhancement packages. Customer Connection (CC) projects are directed at incrementally enhancing and improving existing SAP products and solutions. In the Customer Influence site, improvement and innovation projects are organized in the following categories: Lines of Business Products Industries Localization Related Information 2 Getting Started To get started with SAP Customer Influence, register with the Customer Influence site and select your areas of interest. 3 Project Collaboration You can influence innovation in SAP products via the Customer Engagement Initiative. 4 Improvement Requests You can influence improvement in SAP products via Customer Connection projects. Page 3
2 Getting Started To get started with SAP Customer Influence, register with the Customer Influence site and select your areas of interest. To join projects, you must first log on and/or register with the Customer Influence site. You can then create a personalized My Influence page in which you set up your profile and select your areas of interest. Related Information 2.1 Customer Influence Home Page The Customer Influence home page is your starting point for more information and joining innovation and improvement projects. 2.2 Logging on to SAP Customer Influence Log on to Customer Influence to perform an action within your user context. Registering with Customer Influence is required in order to join projects and set up the My Influence page. 2.3 Selecting Areas of Interest You can select areas of interest that you would like to follow. 2.4 My Influence Page The My Influence page contains your profile information and tracks your activity in Customer Influence. 2.1 Customer Influence Home Page The Customer Influence home page is your starting point for more information and joining innovation and improvement projects. The Customer Influence home page is at https://influence.sap.com. From the navigation header in the Customer Influence home page, you can: Navigate to your personalized My Influence page Explore projects by categories Access the private Focus Topic projects of your user group or customer community Page 4
From the content area of the Customer Influence home page, you can access further information about the SAP influencing programs, as well as news about new projects and other information of interest. Related Information 2.4 My Influence Page The My Influence page contains your profile information and tracks your activity in Customer Influence. 2.2 Logging on to SAP Customer Influence Registering with Customer Influence is required in order to join projects and set up the My Influence page. 2.2 Logging on to SAP Customer Influence Log on to Customer Influence to perform an action within your user context. You need to be logged on to Customer Influence to perform any action within your user context; for example, visit your My Influence page, browse your projects, or submit, subscribe, and post comments. When you try to perform any of these actions, you are prompted to log on with an SAP account if you have not already done so. You can reuse an existing SAP user account (for example, from SMP, SCN, or sap.com) to log on to Customer Influence. If you do not have an SAP user account associated with the email address that you want to use, you can create one in the Log On dialog box. Note You can create only one SAP user account per email address. When you create a new SAP account from the Log On dialog box, you will be registered with SAP Customer Influence. You will receive an email notification to activate your account. After activation, you can log on with your account and perform actions within your user context. Note First-time users of SAP Customer Influence who have an existing SAP account do not need to register again. Your account is automatically extended to Customer Influence on the first logon, and you will need to choose your contact preferences (if any) and accept the Terms of Use/Privacy Statement of the site. Page 5
Before you select areas of influence or subscribe to projects, you are required to log on to Customer Influence. The Log On dialog box appears automatically when you try to access the My Influence page for the first time. If you try to explore the lists of projects before logging on to Customer Influence, a message appears asking you to log on. When you click Log On in the navigation header, the Log on dialog box appears. Registering with Customer Influence is required in order to join projects and set up the My Influence page. If you are prompted to log on to Customer Influence and you do not yet have an SAP user account, you can create a new one. 1. Click Register now in the Log On dialog box. 2. Fill in all the required fields and any other relevant fields. 3. Choose contact preferences. 4. Read the terms of use and select the checkbox to accept them. 5. Click Register. 6. When you receive a notification email, click the link in the email to activate your new account. You are now registered with Customer Influence. You can edit your profile data in the My Influence page at any time. Note Your personal details, such as address, phone number, and email, are not visible to other users of the Customer Influence site; they are only visible to the project managers of the projects that you participate in. Related Information 2.3 Selecting Areas of Interest You can select areas of interest that you would like to follow. Page 6
2.4 My Influence Page The My Influence page contains your profile information and tracks your activity in Customer Influence. 2.3 Selecting Areas of Interest You can select areas of interest that you would like to follow. The first time that you access the My Influence page after registration, you are prompted to choose areas of interest. 1. In the Welcomedialog box, navigate to each category tab and select the checkboxes for the areas of interest that you want to follow. 2. Click Save. The selected areas are added to your personal view in the My Influence page. You can quickly navigate to projects in your areas of interest from the My Influence page, and you will receive notifications about new projects in your areas of interest. You can change your areas of interest and notification settings at any time in the My Influence page. Recommendation It is recommended to follow projects in order to add them to the Projects view in your My Influence page. Related Information 3 Project Collaboration You can influence innovation in SAP products via the Customer Engagement Initiative. 4 Improvement Requests You can influence improvement in SAP products via Customer Connection projects. 2.4 My Influence Page The My Influence page contains your profile information and tracks your activity in Customer Influence. Page 7
Use the My Influence page to track your activity in the Customer Influence site and to change profile settings and areas of interest. You can access the following content in the My Influence page from the navigation pane on the left side of the page: Activity Feed Tracks your activities in the Customer Influence site. If you follow other people, their activities also show up in your activity feed, which allows you quick access to content that might be interesting. For example, a new request submission by someone you are following will show up in your activity and you can navigate to the new request in order to check and subscribe to it. Messages Tracks all the messages that you have sent and received. You can send new messages and delete messages. Requests Provides quick access to your submitted requests, and all other requests that you are following or subscribed to. You can also see your comments on requests, and draft requests, which can be completed and submitted at a later time. Projects Provides quick access to all the projects that you are following or registered with. Project managers also see their own projects, meaning those that they are assigned to. Areas of Interest Provides quick access to all your selected areas of interest. Edit Profile Allows you to change your profile settings and notification settings that specify how often you want to receive email notifications from the Customer Influence site. You can change your areas of interest from the link at the right side of the page. Related Information 2.3 Selecting Areas of Interest You can select areas of interest that you would like to follow. Page 8
3 Project Collaboration You can influence innovation in SAP products via the Customer Engagement Initiative. You can participate in Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI) innovation projects in any of the following ways: Register with a project during the project registration phase. You will be invited to participate in the initial call and follow-up activities. Follow a project. You will receive notifications about project activities. Send comments about the project and reply to the comments from other participants. Review and participate in the project blog. Important milestones are posted to the blog by the project manager. 3.1 Registering to Collaborate on an Innovation Project You can influence innovations by registering to collaborate on a CEI project. You can register to collaborate on a project during the project registration phase. After registering, you will be invited to participate in the initial call and follow-up activities. 1. Choose the CEI project from one of your areas of interest. The Home tag in the project page provides information about the project including the purpose of the project, its goal, the role of the customer, and the planned activities. The current phase of the project is highlighted in the Phase bar. 2. Click Register now. You are now registered with the project. The project appears under Projects in your My Influence page. You will receive a notification about the initial call. 3.2 Following an Innovation Project Follow a project to receive notifications about project activities and changes. You can choose to follow a project during any phase of the project. 1. Choose the CEI project from one of your areas of interest. Page 9
The Home tag in the project page provides information about the project including the purpose of the project, its goal, the role of the customer, and the planned activities. The current phase of the project is highlighted in the Phase bar. 2. Click Follow this project. You are now following the project. The project appears under Projects in your My Influence page and you will receive notifications about project activities and changes. You can stop following the project by clicking You are now following this project. 3.3 Commenting on an Innovation Project Collaborate on a project by posting and replying to comments. You can post a comment about a project or reply to a comment. 1. Choose the CEI project from one of your areas of interest. The Home tag in the project page provides information about the project including the purpose of the project, its goal, the role of the customer, and the planned activities. The Comments area at the bottom of the page displays previously posted comments. 2. To post a new comment, in the Comments area, enter comment text in the Add Comment field and click Post Comment. 3. To reply to an existing comment, click Reply by the comment, enter text in the field that appears, and click Post Reply. Page 10
4 Improvement Requests You can influence improvement in SAP products via Customer Connection projects. You can participate in Customer Connection (CC) improvement projects in any of the following ways: Subscribe to an improvement request during the project Collect phase to support the request. Submit an improvement request during the project Collect phase. Follow a CC project and/or improvement request. You will receive notifications about changes and updates to the project and/or request. Send comments about a request and reply to comments from other participants. Review and participate in the project blog. Important milestones are posted to the blog by the project manager. 4.1 Viewing Improvement Requests The Requests tab displays improvement requests for a project. You can view details of each improvement request in a project, such as the request ID, title, abstract, subscription counter, current status, owner, tags, comments, and so on. 1. Choose the relevant CC project from one of your areas of interest. The project page is displayed. The Home tab in the project page provides information about the project including a scope definition and a condensed list of improvement requests. You can select individual requests to view more information. The Requests tab in the project page provides a complete list of improvement requests for the project with summary information. 2. View more information about requests in the Requests tab. Sort the requests by choosing New Requests, Most Recent, or Most Subscriptions. Selecting New Requests displays all the requests that you have not yet viewed. Filter the list of requests by status, category, or tag, by clicking the corresponding option on the right side of the page. To see all the information for an individual request, click the request title. To return to the list of requests, click Back to Requests. 4.2 Subscribing to an Improvement Request Subscribe to a request to support its development. Page 11
While the CC project is in Collect phase you can subscribe to requests to support improvement requests of other customers. Note By subscribing to an improvement request you state that you plan to use the improvement in your own production system if it is selected and thereby qualified for development by SAP. You are automatically subscribed to your own requests. 1. Choose the relevant CC project from one of your areas of interest. The project page is displayed. The Home tab in the project page provides information about the project including a scope definition and a condensed list of improvement requests. You can select individual requests to view more information. The Requests tab in the project page provides a complete list of improvement requests for the project with summary information. 2. In the Home tab or Requests tab, select the required improvement request. 3. In the Request view, click Subscribe now. You are now subscribed to the request, which will appear under Requests in your My Influence page. 4.3 Submitting an Improvement Request Submit improvement requests when the project is in the Collect phase. While the CC project is in Collect phase you can submit a new improvement request. 1. Choose the relevant CC project from one of your areas of interest. The project page is displayed. 2. In the project page, click Submit new request. 3. Fill in the Submit new request form. Page 12
In the Request title field, enter a title for the new request. In the Describe your request clearly field, enter a detailed description of the request. (optional) Upload a file with additional information, for example, a screenshot. When the project uses categories to organize requests, you must select a category from a dropdown list. When categories are not used, the dropdown list does not appear. (optional) Add tags in the tags field, if required. Tags can be freely defined. You can use general expressions like UX, user experience, or transaction codes, or use cases like travel allowance. Users who follow tags are notified when a new request is posted with a tag that they are following. Select the releases in which to implement the improvement request. 4. Click Submit new request. Before submitting your request, you can preview the text by clicking Preview. You can also save a draft of the request before submitting, by clicking Save Draft. The submitted request will appear under Requests in your My Influence page. 4.4 Following a CC Project Follow a project to receive notifications about project activities and changes. You can choose to follow a project during any phase of the project. Note You do not automatically follow a project when you submit content within that project. This is to prevent you from receiving too many email notifications when you submit a single request. 1. Choose the CC project from one of your areas of interest. The project page is displayed. 2. In the Home tab or Requests tab, click Follow this project. You are now following the project. The project appears under Projects in your My Influence page and you will receive the following notifications about project activities and changes: Phase change of the project Page 13
New requests submitted to the project You can stop following the project by clicking You are now following this project. 4.5 Following an Improvement Request Follow an improvement request to receive notifications about activities related to the request. You can choose to follow an improvement request during any phase of its related project. 1. Navigate to the information page for the request you want to follow. 2. Click Follow this request. You are now following the request. The request appears under Requests in your My Influence page and you will receive the following email notifications about the request: Status change of the request New comments or replies about the request New tags added to the request You can stop following the request by clicking You are now following this request. 4.6 Following Tags Follow a tag to receive notifications about requests that are assigned that tag. You can choose to follow tags at any time. 1. Hover over a tag in the request list or in the individual request view. 2. Click Subscribe to follow the tag. The counter at the right of the Subscribe button informs you how many users are following this tag. You are now following the tag. You will receive email notifications when the tag is used in other requests. You can stop following the tag by clicking Unsubscribe. Page 14
4.7 Commenting on a Request Collaborate on a request by posting and replying to comments. You can post a comment about an improvement request or reply to a comment about a request. 1. Navigate to the information page for the specific request. The Comments area at the bottom of the page displays previously posted comments. 2. To post a new comment, in the Comments area, enter comment text in the Add Comment field and click Post Comment. 3. To reply to an existing comment, click Reply by the comment, enter text in the field that appears, and click Post Reply. Related Information 4.1 Viewing Improvement Requests The Requests tab displays improvement requests for a project. Page 15
5 Project Blogs Posts to the project blog are displayed in the Blog tab for CEI projects, and in the Documents & Events tab for CC projects. The project manager posts information to the project blog about important milestones. For example: Announcements about upcoming webinar sessions Presentation slides of past events are attached to the corresponding blog posts When you visit a project, you are automatically subscribed to the project blog; thus receiving email notifications about new posts or comments. Click Unsubscribe to stop receiving these notifications. Page 16
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