Fiori Launchpad Part 2: Spaces, Pages and Business Roles

📌 KEY POINTS
✅ Spaces and pages define the launchpad layout users see; catalogs define what they are allowed to launch.
✅ A business role (PFCG role) assigns catalogs and spaces to users.
✅ SAP delivers business roles as templates; customers typically copy and adjust them.
✅ Back-end authorizations must match the front-end role, otherwise apps open but show no data or errors.
⚠️ Giving users huge catalogs makes the launchpad slow and confusing.

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▶ WHERE WE ARE
Part 1 explained catalogs and target mappings. Part 2 designs what users actually see.

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▶ 1. SPACES AND PAGES
Spaces group pages, and pages contain sections with tiles and links. Since S/4HANA 2020 the spaces-and-pages model is the standard for launchpad layout, replacing the older groups concept. Admins design structured pages per role, and users can personalise within what is allowed.

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▶ 2. BUSINESS ROLES
In ABAP-based systems, the PFCG role is the container that assigns business catalogs and spaces to users. SAP delivers business role templates, for example for accountants or purchasers, which list the catalogs and apps for that job. Customers copy them into their namespace and adjust.

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▶ 3. FRONT-END AND BACK-END
In a hub deployment, front-end roles grant launchpad content while back-end roles grant authorization objects for OData services and business data. In an embedded deployment both may live in the same system but are still separate concerns. An app opening without data is usually a back-end authorization issue.

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▶ 4. ROLE DESIGN
Design roles around jobs, keep the number of apps per role reasonable, and avoid assigning everything to everyone. Use SAP's role templates and apps library (Fiori apps reference library) to understand prerequisites. Test with real users and adjust based on usage.

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▶ 5. LIFECYCLE
After upgrades, compare SAP's updated role templates with your copies to pick up new apps and replacements for deprecated ones. Keep a register of custom roles with owners.

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▶ STEP BY STEP

1. Copy an SAP business role template for one job.
2. Create a space and page with relevant tiles.
3. Assign the role to a test user and log in.
4. Check back-end authorizations for one app's OData service.

✅ CHECKPOINT: a test user sees a focused page and can open and use each app with real data.

After go-live, AP clerks had 400 tiles because every finance catalog had been added to one role. Users could not find apps and the launchpad loaded slowly. Roles were redesigned from SAP templates per job with focused pages, and load time and user complaints dropped.

• One huge role for everyone.
• Using groups instead of spaces in new systems.
• Forgetting back-end authorizations.
• Not comparing templates after upgrades.

• Job-based roles from SAP templates.
• Structured spaces and pages.
• Front-end and back-end role pairs.
• Template comparison after upgrades.

Interviewers ask how spaces, pages, catalogs and business roles relate, and why a user may open an app but see no data because of back-end authorizations.