Success Stories
There are many ways to present the Business Rule Framework (BRF+) success stories. There is an enormous variety in which BRF+ assists your company in achieving higher productivity and efficiency by working smarter. Our approach is to highlight one specific story for every trigger to consider Business Rule Framework.
It is good repeating that BRF+ is designed to allow your system to automate decision-making, such as:
• Is this document complete?
• Is the data within this document accurate?
• Which forwarding agent should I use in this shipment document?
• Is all the data available to trigger output for this document?
• How does the recipient want to receive the output?
• What is the import duty for this material?
• What discount should be applied for this order item?
Before diving deeper into supplying the success stories, keep in mind the following that makes the Business Rule Framework so special:
• Intuitive GUI makes it easy to implement complex business rules.
• Powerful simulation capabilities.
• Working prototype can be exported and imported via XML.
• Business rules are converted into Object Oriented ABAP code by pressing a single button.
• Functionality can be called in function modules, user exits, BADI’s, forms, etc.
• Can read data from the SAP database.
• Can write messages into the SAP application log.
• Can start Workflow events.
• Can send emails to a distribution list.
These success stories have in common that they allow your business to work smarter by improving your business processes without needing in-depth coding experience and treating business rules maintenance as system configuration.
Reuse and Recycle
Business rules that can be re-used on different platforms (e.g. core S/4 HANA, Fiori application, IDoc) or within different SAP modules (e.g. Sales and Distribution, Production, Accounting), creating stability as there is only one version of the truth you need to maintain.
One amazing discovery is that you can use BRF+ to run your business by uploading spreadsheets with control parameters.
Manage Instability
Often business rules are likely to change over time. This is specifically true during the greenfield or brownfield implementation but applies after go-live when a new acquisition needs to be integrated within the system.
BRF+ is part of the SAP NetWeaver, included in your standard SAP licence.
In other words: It is free!
Single Complex Rule
You can have a single business rule that is so complex that you gain the advantage of building this within BRF+ because you can dissect each minute step into a single independent piece of configuration that can be tested in isolation. It becomes easier for a non-technical consultant to understand how complex rule works than reading lengthy ABAP code.
You might wonder whether the Business Rule Framework is a recently developed tool.
That can’t be further from the truth. This low-code solution has existed since 2006!
Multiple Complex Rules
Some rules are so complicated that coding this in ABAP code makes it almost impossible to understand. Building these rules in Business Rule Framework offers an instant logical breakdown of what happens when the intermediate values are passed along to come to the final result.
As the Business Rule Framework is relatively old technology, the BRF+ configuration you do in an ECC system can be imported into S/4 HANA.
With this knowledge, you should configure BRF+ within your ECC system with future reuse in S/4 HANA in mind.
Causality
You can have independent business rules having relationships when approached as a “cause and effect” chain, offering various decisions made based on one set of input provided.
The success stories were real events. However, the names of companies and individuals mentioned in this success story have been changed to protect their identities. Any resemblance to actual companies or individuals is purely coincidental.
Key takeaway: You can use the Business Rule Framework to assist in a fast and flexible method for migrating data from a legacy system.
Key takeaway: You can use the Business Rule Framework to control complex end-to-end business processes, eliminating the possibility of human error.
Key takeaway: You can use the Business Rule Framework to control who gets what document output emailed or transferred electronically by simply maintaining Excel spreadsheets uploaded into the SAP system.
