Dear administrators,

SAP Mobile Start application provides a very convenient ways for the initial configuration in order to start using the app productively and enter the SAP mobile universe. The initial configuration is also called onboarding.

Since iOS version 1.3 and the initial release of Android version, SAP Mobile Start supports onboarding based on mobile app configuration. This option enables an almost seamless onboarding process, once the corresponding configuration using an MDM (Mobile Device Management) solution is pushed. For detailed instructions, see  Android documentation / iOS documentation.

End users will only need to click the start button and sign in (SSO or with credentials) and are ready to work on their tasks.

Please note that for iOS the MDM solution must support “Managed Configuration” and for the Android version the support of ”Enterprise App Restrictions“ is required. Beside the listed requirements, “Mobile Device Management“ works out of the box, no dedicated activation is required for all up to date versions of iOS and Android.

Seamless Onboarding on Example of iOS

With this simple option, the effort for the onboarding for your SAP Mobile Start end users is minimized. Furthermore, the processes on administrators’ side are also improved and will scale better. If adjustments are needed, administrators are able to change the configuration without any manual tasks for their end users!

The configuration approach is also straight forward. Following data is needed:

• The host of the SAP Mobile Services
• Launchpad properties

All required data can be retrieved e.g. from the QR code, but the easiest way is to extract the properties from the corresponding Launchpad site URL. The URL for the Launchpad site uses the following pattern:

https://<tenant-subdomain>.launchpad.cfapps.<region>.hana.ondemand.com/site?siteId=<site-id>#Shell-home

The following snippet depicts the required data structure, which must be maintained in the MDM solution used in your company.

On iOS the values need to be provided in the following structure.

<dict>
  <key>com.sap.mobile.start.mobileServicesHost</key>
  <string>%Mobile Services Host%</string>
  <key>com.sap.mobile.start.launchpad.launchUrl</key>
  <string>%Launchpad Service URL%</string>
  <key>com.sap.mobile.start.launchpad.siteId</key>
  <string>%Site Id%</string>
</dict>

SAP Mobile Start on Android exposes the shown configurable properties which need to be populated.

• Mobile Services Host (com.sap.mobile.start.mobileServicesHost)
• Launchpad URL (com.sap.mobile.start.launchpad.launchUrl)
• Site ID (com.sap.mobile.start.launchpad.siteId)

You can extract Launchpad properties as shown below

You are able to construct the Mobile Services host as follows

By adding an „m” into the host of the Launchpad URL, the result will look like:

<tenant-subdomain>.m.launchpad.cfapps.<region>.hana.ondemand.com

Here also some example URLs

Launchpad site URL:

https://mytenantsubdomain.launchpad.cfapps.eu10.hana.ondemand.com/site?siteId=26bh484b-63b7-4321-99cf-123e625f656d

Mobile Services host:

mytenantsubdomain.m.launchpad.cfapps.eu10.hana.ondemand.com

After putting the values into the required data structure, maintaining it in your MDM solution and the distribution of this configuration to the devices; SAP Mobile Start will automatically recognize it and guide your end users to the intended content.

Wow, that was easy 😀

We are happy to receive your feedback!

For detailed instructions/information on this topic, always check the up to date standard documentation in SAP Help Portal (iOS and Android).

Pro tip: Most MDM solutions support also the distribution of the configuration according to respective user groups, which you can make use of in order to achieve some fine granular distribution.

Stay up to date with latest news and post your questions or feedback about SAP Mobile Start in the Q&A area. Start by visiting your SAP Mobile Experience community page and click “follow”. We’ll be publishing more informative blog posts.

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