Read how you can implement SAP Interactive Forms software by Adobe and Arch Forms Lifecycle Manager to automate forms data entry, improve user experiences, and increase compliance. User interaction with enterprise-wide forms is simplified, allowing users to interact anytime, anywhere, and from any device.

1. SAP Solution in Detail
SAP Solution Extensions
SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe
Improving Business Processes with
Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms

3. Table of Contents
4 Quick Facts 9 The Benefits: Learn from
Successful Customer
5 The Business Challenges:
Implementations
Productivity, Efficiency, and Saving Time While Creating Conve-
Compliance nience and Ease of Use
Building an Enterprise-Wide
Electronic Forms Strategy 12 Enterprise-Wide Access:
Improving Process Efficiency and Anytime, Anywhere
Effectiveness Enhancing Enterprise Solutions
Optimizing Core Processes with Interactive Forms
Find Out More
7 The Right Solution:
A Holistic, Best-Practices
Approach
Leveraging the Power of an
Integrated Solution
SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe
Arch Forms Lifecycle Manager
The Power of Interactive Forms

4. Quick Facts
Summary Business Challenges Business Benefits
An e-forms strategy incorporating SAP® •• Reduce reliance on paper forms •• Simplify the deployment and
Interactive Forms software by Adobe •• Simplify how employees, customers, management of interactive forms
and Arch Forms Lifecycle Manager and partners interact with enterprise through an enterprise-level runtime
(Arch FLM) helps you automate forms forms environment
data entry, improve user experiences, •• Decrease errors due to manual input •• Build forms-driven business processes
and increase compliance. This integrated •• Improve ability to meet regulatory and that are connected to back-end appli-
solution helps you streamline business corporate requirements cations and workflows
processes and automate the complete •• Develop and deploy forms for interactive •• Enable user interaction anytime, any-
lifecycle of forms, from design to compli- applications and mobile devices rapidly where, and on any device through PDF,
ance. User interaction with enterprise- HTML, and Adobe Flex environments
wide forms is simplified, allowing users Key Features •• Streamline business processes with
to interact whenever or wherever they •• Forms-based user interface – Imple- online and offline access to static and
want, from any device they choose. ment interactive forms with a familiar dynamic forms
look and feel •• Integrate data from enterprise-wide
•• Industry-standard Portable Docu- solutions with standard functions that
ment Format (PDF) forms – Access automatically update SAP applications
forms easily with Adobe Reader •• Create a defensible audit trail
•• Centralization of forms – Enable through mandated processes that meet
version control regulatory and corporate requirements
•• Prepopulation of form data – Speed
business process execution and mini- For More Information
mize data entry errors Call your SAP representative, or visit
www.sap.com/solutions
/solutionextensions.

5. The Business Challenges: Productivity,
Efficiency, and Compliance
Organizations depend on forms to run their business processes
and operations. Surprisingly, many still rely heavily on paper forms.
Others that use some type of electronic forms are experiencing
only a fraction of the potential benefits. SAP together with
,
Adobe Systems Incorporated and Arch Consulting Ltd., can help
you deliver an enterprise-wide electronic forms solution that
enables business users to access forms anytime, anywhere, and
on any device.
BUILDING AN ENTERPRISE-WIDE IMPROVING PROCESS EFFICIENCY current information; and when new data is
ELECTRONIC FORMS STRATEGY AND EFFECTIVENESS submitted in the forms, your enterprise
systems are dynamically updated. Re-
Organizations continue to look for ways A successful electronic forms strategy search by the Aberdeen Group indicates
to simplify how employees, customers, helps you simultaneously meet the need “Best-in-class companies were twice as
and partners interact via forms across for better user productivity, more efficient likely to embed digital forms in their ERP
the extended enterprise. With the rapid processes, and lower costs. Electronic system compared to all other companies.” 1
proliferation of smartphones and tablets, forms offer many significant benefits
the demand to deliver electronic forms over paper and digital imaging solutions, Improved Process Transparency, Audit
to many people across multiple devices, including the following. Readiness, and Compliance
both online and offline, is growing. Electronic forms can be embedded in
While businesses continue to seek Ease of Use and tracked by business process and
increased user productivity, IT organiza- Electronic forms are simple and intuitive to workflow engines so you always know
tions are mandated to streamline and use. This is especially true for your casual the forms’ processing history, current
automate business processes and lower business users as well as for customers status, and next steps. Forms can also
total cost of ownership (TCO). Although and suppliers who need to interact with be secured and locked to prevent unau-
electronic forms are becoming more your enterprise systems. Electronic forms thorized access. This helps ensure user
prevalent, there are still many important can be used in both online and offline adherence to your processes and pro-
documents that are archived as paper. modes, offering flexibility as to where and vides you with a defensible audit trail
Therefore, IT has the challenge of when people choose to get work done. that meets regulatory and corporate
streamlining forms-driven business Electronic forms can also be deployed requirements.
processes across a continuum of both to any mobile device, giving users options
paper and digital forms. on how to be more responsive and Increased Efficiency over Paper Forms
Consequently, IT must efficiently de- productive. Electronic forms can help overcome the
velop and deploy interactive forms while inherent problems with paper that make
effectively managing all the structured Direct Connection to Enterprise processes more error prone and less effi-
and unstructured data generated by the Applications cient. They are easily prepopulated with
forms. To drive increased automation, this A key benefit of electronic forms is that current and accurate information, which
requires integrating data from a variety of they can be integrated with your organi- reduces user input time. When forms
solutions within an organization, includ- zation’s systems for enterprise resource change, people are automatically moved
ing data from business process manage- planning (ERP), customer relationship to the latest version. Electronic forms
ment, enterprise content management, management, human capital management can embed business process checks
and other enterprise business systems. (HCM), supply chain management, prod- and edits, preventing errors from being
uct lifecycle management, and other inserted into the form and eliminating
enterprise applications. Electronic forms rekeying errors. Electronic forms also
are automatically generated with the most eliminate the need to produce, store,
SAP Solution in Detail – Improving Business Processes with Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms 5

6. search, and archive large amounts of (SAP ERP HCM) solution, offer several Customer Service and Support
paper, which is expensive, time consum- standard electronic forms. According to Customer service and support organiza-
ing, and a poor use of resources. the Aberdeen Group research, the best- tions have many processes that can be
in-class organizations that automated optimized with electronic forms. Typical
OPTIMIZING CORE PROCESSES extended business processes and used applications include managing and rout-
electronic forms lowered onboarding ing service requests and customer orders
Once you understand the many advan- and training costs by 10%, whereas other to your employee or third-party support
tages of electronic forms, you can begin organizations saw a 6% increase in these technicians. Support personnel working
to apply them to specific requirements costs.2 remotely can process forms offline and
within your organization. You will quickly then synchronize with your enterprise
find that there is no shortage of opportu- Finance and Procurement systems when they go back online. The
nities to optimize processes and enable Finance and procurement processes, such intuitive interfaces of electronic forms
employees, customers, partners, and as submission and approval of purchase make it easier for customers and partners
suppliers to be more productive. Listed requests, new vendor onboarding, goods to do business with your organization,
below are just a few examples of where receipt, and expense management, are especially when they can access these
electronic forms are making business typically forms intensive. When electronic processes via mobile devices. After ser-
processes faster, more effective, and less forms are embedded within your business vice is delivered, electronic forms can be
expensive to execute. processes, these activities can be signifi- leveraged to capture time and material
cantly more productive, and compliance data and feed it directly into your costing,
Human Capital Management improves. This benefits finance and reimbursement, and invoicing systems.
Electronic forms improve HCM processes procurement while also freeing up your
across the employee lifecycle in such employees from administrative tasks
forms-intensive areas as internal and to work on the more strategic aspects
external recruiting, employee onboard- of their jobs. When processes involve
ing, status and pay change, and termina- third parties, electronic forms offer the
tions. Many HCM solutions, including the simplest and lowest-cost method for
SAP® ERP Human Capital Management them to interact with your processes
and enterprise systems.
An integrated e-forms solution helps you streamline
business processes and automate the complete lifecycle
of forms, from design to compliance.

7. The Right Solution:
A Holistic, Best-Practices Approach
LEVERAGING THE POWER OF AN SAP INTERACTIVE FORMS BY ADOBE •• Prepopulation of form data – Minimize
INTEGRATED SOLUTION costly data-entry errors and speed
SAP Interactive Forms is a powerful cor- business process execution with the
You can take a best-practices approach nerstone for creating electronic forms automatic prepopulating of data when
to an electronic forms strategy by holisti- throughout the enterprise. You can auto- forms are accessed
cally exploring how your business can be mate paper-based activities and extend •• Regulatory compliance and access
transformed with the use of interactive the reach of SAP software to company control – Create a defensible audit trail
forms. This includes looking at the entire executives, employees, partners, cus- that meets regulatory and corporate
lifecycle of forms, from designing the tomers, and suppliers. People can be requirements; this also prevents unau-
right ones to creating audit trails and online or offline and still work on a forms- thorized access and helps ensure doc-
repositories for compliance. To realize based business process, allowing your ument integrity with digital signatures
the full benefits of an electronic forms organization to become more efficient •• External collaboration and easier
deployment, you must also integrate the and effective. The key features of SAP access – Deliver interactive forms
technology with your business paradigm. Interactive Forms include: to new users and business partners
SAP, together with partners Adobe and •• Simple forms-based user interface – across multiple devices, whether on-
Arch, offers an integrated solution that Develop interactive forms with a familiar line or offline
automates and extends business pro- look and feel that drives business pro-
cesses with highly intuitive forms for cess automation through a direct link SAP Interactive Forms also integrates
a broad range of users. The solution to back-end applications and work- with other SAP software–based workflow
combines SAP Interactive Forms soft- flows; users can complete forms online technologies and comes with several
ware by Adobe with Arch Forms Lifecycle or offline using dynamic or static forms prebuilt forms supporting standard
Manager (Arch FLM), an SAP-endorsed •• Industry-standard Portable Document scenarios from both SAP and our part-
business solution that is powered by the Format (PDF) forms – Access forms ners. The software uses Adobe LiveCycle
SAP NetWeaver® technology platform. everywhere using the ubiquitous Adobe Designer and Adobe Document Services,
SAP Interactive Forms software is the Reader which are integrated into the design and
foundation for the forms-driven business •• Centralization of forms – Support runtime environments of SAP NetWeaver.
processes and user interfaces in SAP version control to help ensure usage
NetWeaver. Arch FLM offers standard of the most current form
best practices for optimizing SAP Inter-
active Forms with design, deployment,
an operational infrastructure, and the
functionality to extend electronic forms
to multiple channels and devices, includ- Figure 1 : Forms Lifecycle in SAP® Software Environments
ing mobile devices.
Figure 1 shows the comprehensive life-
cycle of interactive forms and how orga-
nizations that adopt this approach are
Manage Monitor Mobilize
able to fully realize the benefits across Design forms
the extended enterprise.
Centralize Remedy Audit
Deploy forms
Automate Enhance Archive
SAP Solution in Detail – Improving Business Processes with Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms 7

8. ARCH FORMS LIFECYCLE MANAGER prise control and management of the •• Comply with regulations through the
data and processes, while your users can use of mandated forms and automatic
Arch FLM is an enterprise software prod- work with the forms no matter where auditing and archiving processes
uct that simplifies the implementation, they are or when they choose. •• Improve efficiency by greatly simplify-
deployment, and management of SAP Figure 3 illustrates how Arch FLM sup- ing the deployment and management
Interactive Forms. With Arch FLM, you ports a robust enterprise forms environ- of interactive forms
can go beyond the creation of electronic ment. Rather than having to define and •• Empower users by providing interac-
forms and move to an enterprise infra- build your own infrastructure capabilities tive forms access everywhere
structure for managing your forms and and best practices for your environment,
expanding forms delivery. The solution the Arch FLM approach delivers this as Figure 2: How Arch FLM Works
offers a rapid forms-development feature, built-in functionality. This allows you to
an enterprise-level runtime environment focus on only those few design and inte-
for forms monitoring, version control, and gration tasks that differentiate your
other centralized services. Arch FLM also business process and quickly get your PDF Flex HTML
enables you to deploy forms to mobile enterprise-class forms into production
devices and interactive applications. with minimal effort. Form dispatcher
Created in the ABAP™ programming
language, Arch FLM requires only a stan- THE POWER OF INTERACTIVE FORMS Form Form
Routing
process posting
dard working knowledge of SAP software, process
monitor engine
allowing for faster adoption and quicker When you use SAP Interactive Forms
demonstration of reduced TCO. Arch FLM together with Arch FLM, you will be able to: Form business logic
has a runtime environment that manages •• Streamline the user experience by
a portfolio of forms, with standard func- automating tasks SAP® Interactive Forms software by Adobe
tions such as posting information back •• Save time and money by reducing
into SAP applications, version control, costs associated with manual data entry SAP NetWeaver® technology platform
forms monitoring, and reporting. The
runtime environment incorporates best
practices based on years of successful
forms deployments. Arch FLM also sim- Figure 3: Implementing Enterprise-Wide Interactive Forms
plifies form sharing and reuse so that
a form previously designed for one process
or division can be leveraged by another. Form design Form process integration Form features Form system administration
Similarly, forms can be broken into sub-
forms and components that can also be Form Web Save to
User
Business User
reused. This approach significantly lowers Dynpro authoriza-
template logic draft groups
integration tions
development costs and implementation
times for new forms, allowing you to focus
Universal
on the business processes that need Form data Monitoring
Routing work list Audit trail
schema integration tools
enhancing.
As Figure 2 illustrates, Arch FLM can
Attach-
also deploy the same form data to the Escalations Smart- ment and Update
Versioning and phone annotation manage-
HTML and Adobe Flex environments reminders support handling ment
in addition to Adobe PDF formats. This
allows you to provide your employees Form
Launch by Digital SAP® GUI
with access to forms-based business status Offline
URL certificates integration
processes from any device or application network
that you choose, providing them with
maximum flexibility. You maintain enter- Custom development Delivered with Arch FLM

9. The Benefits: Learn from Successful
Customer Implementations
SAVING TIME WHILE CREATING expenses could be reimbursed as part of sive support calls. The employees like
CONVENIENCE AND EASE OF USE total compensation, medical and family using the new system, especially when
benefits, vacation requests, or work/shift compared to prior processes and old
SAP is helping organizations around the allowances. The employee processes in- manual systems. The new forms-based
world provide interactive forms solutions cluded allowing employees to fill out an approach makes for a greatly simplified
that are increasing user productivity, cre- online form, such as an expense report, landscape with a single stop for all re-
ating efficient forms-driven business pro- and attach required documents or re- quests and status checks. According to
cesses, and lowering costs throughout ceipts. The form was routed into an auto- Eric Bernhard, solution architect at CSC,
the enterprise. mated workflow for manager approval “Adopting SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe
or comments. This implementation is has resulted in a tremendous time saving
CSC: Improving Access in a Global now used by over 18,000 employees and and satisfaction for our employees. They
HCM System nearly 500 managers worldwide. are thrilled with the ease of the automat-
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) CSC has over 130 forms in production ed processes that they are now able to
has more than 93,000 employees in over today for its business scenarios and em- enjoy as opposed to the manual processes
90 countries delivering more than US$16 ployee processes. The company built and that slowed them down in the past.”
billion in annual revenue. CSC’s global tested its first 30 forms in 6 weeks. With
HCM strategy involves deploying a the deployment of SAP Interactive Forms, Serco: A Simplified Forms Deployment
worldwide system based on common CSC now has a connected workflow that Serco Group plc is an international service
HCM processes. This strategy supports makes for smooth and efficient business company that combines commercial
regional differences and extends shared processing. The key features that make know-how with a deep public service
back-office services to the rest of the this possible are: ethos. Around the world, the organization
world by leveraging functionality found •• Forms that are prepopulated with improves essential services by managing
in SAP software. current employee information people, processes, technology, and assets
The goal of CSC’s HCM project with •• Forms that automatically validate input more effectively. Serco advises policy
SAP was to develop a scalable solution for proper format, eligibility, and other makers, designs innovative solutions,
with a user-friendly self-service front end requirements integrates systems, and delivers services
for global deployment based on standard •• Ability to leverage existing workflows, to the public.
processes that met regional legal require- so status and next steps are clear at all
ments. The company implemented a times
solution that shared services spanning
both business scenarios and employee As a result, CSC has developed an intui-
processes. The business scenarios in- tive system that allows employees to
cluded implementing complicated com- complete thousands of forms per week
pensation rules so that select employee without any training, support, or exten-
SAP, together with Adobe Systems Incorporated and
Arch Consulting Ltd., can help you deliver an enterprise-
wide electronic forms solution that enables business
users to access forms anytime, anywhere, and on any
device.
SAP Solution in Detail – Improving Business Processes with Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms 9

10. Serco supports governments, agencies, Serco chose SAP Interactive Forms According to Richard Bradshaw-Clifford,
and companies that seek a trusted part- with Arch FLM technology because the solution architect at Serco, “By laying
ner with a solid track record of providing functionality of this integrated solution the foundation with Arch FLM and SAP
assured service excellence. The organi- supported the SAP ERP HCM software Interactive Forms by Adobe, we have
zation offers operational, management, and addressed several of the project’s established a long-term capability for
and consulting expertise to a variety of requirements, including: implementing our electronic forms strat-
sectors, including aviation, defense, •• A fully integrated forms solution with egy. The next step in Serco’s journey is to
education, local government, and the a short implementation and deploy- extend the solution into other functional
commercial sector. ment timeline; Arch helped design and areas and to provide access and approvals
As part of its vision to be the world’s develop 11 forms that support critical to these forms via mobile interfaces.”
greatest service company, Serco has business processes in 15 elapsed days
embarked on an HCM transformation (100 days of effort), which represented Edison Mission Energy:
program called “Empower.” One of the a 30% savings against the original Better Interaction with Partners
tools chosen to facilitate the Empower budgeted build effort Edison Mission Group (EMG) manages
program was SAP ERP HCM. A central •• The ability to utilize fully automated the competitive power generation busi-
objective of the SAP implementation forms with data from SAP ERP HCM, ness and other unregulated subsidiaries
was to standardize HCM processes by validate data entry, and write back to of Edison International. Under the EMG
globalizing local best practices into a SAP ERP using the Arch FLM workflow umbrella, Edison Mission Energy (EME)
consistent global Serco best practice based on the HCM organizational hier- is engaged in the business of developing,
that was supported by shared services archy; this provided full audit trails and acquiring, owning or leasing, operating,
and technology. measurable process execution time- and selling energy and capacity for inde-
During the design phase of the program, lines pendent power production in the United
and as the teams applied process excel- •• Reduction in the number of transac- States. EMG’s continuing operations
lence principles to their solution design, tional engineers required to operate consist of owned or leased interests in
several important requirements were the solution more than 44 power generation facilities
identified. The goal of the requirements •• Increased flexibility for wider access in 14 states, with an aggregate capacity
was to ensure that process weakness across the enterprise, including users of approximately 10,000 megawatts of
points were minimized while increasing from finance and procurement electricity produced from coal, natural
process efficiency and delivering consis- •• Multiple browser compatibility, with gas, biomass, and wind.
tent repeatable processes. They included a design that met the requirements for
clear audit trails for approvals, one point a variety of Web browsers
of data entry, and an intuitive interface to •• An easy knowledge transfer, which
help ensure people would welcome and occurred within six working days via
adopt the new processes and technology. two classroom-based training courses
A successful electronic forms strategy helps you
simultaneously meet the need for better user
productivity, more efficient processes, and lower costs.

11. The EME division faced several chal- EME implemented SAP Interactive
lenges with paper-based forms and the Forms and embedded the software in its
organization’s interactions with suppli- business processes. With the SAP solu-
ers, including: tion, EME created a variety of interactive
•• Error-prone and easily outdated forms forms, such as supplier request forms
•• Manual, tedious, and inefficient data and procurement status dashboard
reentry and update functions forms. These forms provided an error-
•• Hard-to-track status of processes free communication path between EME
and its suppliers, saving time and im-
All of the above resulted in high costs re- proving efficiency.
lated to production and storage, which According to Patrick Bellor, director
added up to US$30 million per year for of ERP platform services and the enter-
the global organization. prise portal at EMG, “After implementing
In addition, EME had issues related to SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe, Edison
casual users who were not familiar with Mission saw a significant improvement in
enterprise applications, and thus, the our operational efficiency, with far fewer
company wanted to provide users with data-entry errors, time savings due to
more intuitive access. External users of virtual elimination of manual data entry,
the system, such as EME’s suppliers, and a lot better user experience.”
were disconnected from the system,
making it cumbersome to capture data.
You can take a best-practices approach to an electronic
forms strategy by holistically looking at the entire life-
cycle of forms, from designing the right ones to creating
audit trails and repositories for compliance.
SAP Solution in Detail – Improving Business Processes with Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms 11

12. Enterprise-Wide Access:
Anytime, Anywhere
ENHANCING ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS In addition, interactive forms can embed FIND OUT MORE
WITH INTERACTIVE FORMS business process checks and edits into
your solution that prevent errors in enter- To learn more about how SAP can help
Adopting an electronic forms strategy ing or rekeying data. Electronic forms your organization implement an interac-
has many benefits, regardless of your also eliminate the need to produce, store, tive forms solution, call your SAP repre-
line of business or industry. These bene- search, and archive large amounts of sentative today or visit us on the Web
fits include: paper, reducing costs and time and sav- at www.sap.com/solutions
•• Increasing ease of use for your enter- ing resources. /solutionextensions.
prise applications by providing connec- Together with our partners, SAP is
tivity via a user-friendly interface helping you deliver an enterprise-wide
•• Improving automatic adherence to your electronic forms solution that enables
processes and creating a defensible you to provide access to your users any-
audit trail that meets your regulatory time, anywhere, and on any device.
and corporate requirements
•• Overcoming the inherent problems FOOTNOTES
with paper that make your business
1. Aberdeen Group, Automating Extended
processes more error prone and less Business Processes, February 2010, page 3.
efficient 2. Ibid, page 2.
“Adopting SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe has resulted
in a tremendous time saving and satisfaction for our
employees.”
Eric Bernhard, Solution Architect, Computer Sciences Corporation

13. SAP Solution in Detail – Improving Business Processes with Enterprise-Wide Interactive E-Forms 13

16. www.sap.com/contactsap
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