A portal is rarely a standalone solution, so what happens if you have to manage multiple portal solutions in global, distributed SAP system landscapes?

There are many questions that arise, including: Which location is best suited to store the data? Where and how should users be managed? How can you ensure access control to different portal contents? How can the system's multi-lingual capability be guaranteed?

All of these important questions as well as many others are diligently answered in this comprehensive and highly-details technical guide, which systematically introduces you to central topics concerning the structure and operation of a global SAP portal solution. With hands-on, technical descriptions and a common sense, case-study focused approach, the authors ensure that no stone is left unturned.

Highlights

• Designing global portal systems
• User integration
• Access control
• Application integration
• Localization

About the Author(s)

Valentin Nicolescu has worked at the SAP University Competence Center (SAP HCC) at the Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany, since 2003, where he is responsible for the operation of SAP training systems for higher education throughout Germany and for providing SAP training to higher education teachers. Mladen Medjovic completed his Computer Science degree at the Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany, with a minor in Economics. His focus is on the subject of integrating portals in international organizations. He currently works as an SAP Consultant. Helmut Krcmar has held the chair for Information Systems at the Information Technology Department of the Technische Universität München (TUM) since October 1, 2002. He is a member of the Information Technology Department, a secondary member of the Economics Department, and a member of the Carl von Linde Academy. He has been scientifi c director of the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) of TUM since January 2004.

Table of Contents

1 ... Introduction ... 3

2 ... Designing Global Portal Systems ... 7
... 2.1 ... Federated Portal Network ... 7
... 2.2 ... Introduction of the Global Inc. Case Study ... 9
... 2.3 ... Case Study: Implementation of the Content Federation in Global Inc ... 10
... 2.4 ... Summary ... 22

3 ... User Integration ... 23
... 3.1 ... Basic Principles of User Integration in SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 23
... 3.2 ... Selecting Data Sources ... 26
... 3.3 ... System Architectures ... 29
... 3.4 ... Case Study: User Integration at Global Inc ... 40
... 3.5 ... Summary ... 46

4 ... Access Control ... 47
... 4.1 ... Basic Access Control Concepts in SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 47
... 4.2 ... Extending Access Control ... 49
... 4.3 ... Case Study: Access Control in Global Inc ... 53
... 4.4 ... Summary ... 72

5 ... Application Integration ... 75
... 5.1 ... Single Sign-On in SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 75
... 5.2 ... Single Sign-On Connections to Remote Web Applications ... 75
... 5.3 ... Case Study: Single Sign-On at Global Inc ... 76
... 5.4 ... Summary ... 83

6 ... Localization ... 85
... 6.1 ... Multilingual Capability in SAP NetWeaver Portal ... 85
... 6.2 ... Regional Adaptation ... 86
... 6.3 ... Web Page Composer ... 87
... 6.4 ... Case Study: Internationalizing the Global Inc. Portal ... 88
... 6.5 ... Summary ... 109

A ... Source Code ... 111