The Fiori Launchpad is becoming increasingly important for organizations looking to make their SAP landscape more efficient and user-friendly – especially alongside SAP S/4HANA and SAP Fiori.
This article explains what the Fiori Launchpad is and why it will soon be unavoidable for every SAP organization.
The SAP Fiori Launchpad is a central, web-based UI platform for SAP applications. It serves as the primary entry point (homepage) for SAP Fiori apps on both desktop and mobile devices.
SAP Fiori is SAP's current user experience (UX) framework. It encompasses a wide range of UI technologies and its own app library. Five design principles - role-based, responsive, simple, coherent, and delightful - ensure that SAP applications are intuitive to use.
SAP Fiori Apps are individual business applications built on the Fiori framework that support specific tasks or processes. They deliver a consistent user experience across all platforms and come with built-in security features such as Single Sign-On (SSO), role-based access control, and audit trail functions.
The SAP Fiori Launchpad follows a “mobile-first” approach. As the workplace becomes increasingly mobile, SAP is placing greater emphasis on smartphone and tablet integration. The responsive design delivers a consistent, cross-device user experience.
Rather than navigating through complex menu hierarchies, the Fiori Launchpad provides a tile-based interface that displays all available applications in a structured way based on your role and SAP authorizations. Clicking a tile launches the corresponding application directly.
One of the most valuable features for day-to-day work is the comprehensive personalization capability in the Fiori Launchpad. You can add, remove, and reorder tiles based on your preferences, or group them into logical spaces and pages.
The Launchpad also features useful intelligent services that make it easier to organize and navigate within the application, including:
All services in the Fiori Launchpad work together seamlessly to create a secure, productive working environment.
The SAP Fiori Launchpad is built on a Unified Shell architecture (ushell), which provides a platform-independent, client-side runtime environment. The ushell is implemented in SAPUI5 and runs entirely in the browser. It can be hosted on various server platforms, including SAP NetWeaver AS for ABAP, SAP HANA, or the SAP Business Technology Platform.
When you open the Launchpad, you will immediately see 3 central areas:
The menu bar at the top of the Launchpad
Switches between activity areas
Displays apps as tiles or links
The Shell Bar is the top element of the Fiori Launchpad and is always visible, providing you access to various Launchpad functions. It contains several components for functionality and control:
Enables system-wide searches across all areas of the SAP Business Suite, including documents, customers, or Fiori apps.
Provides contextual help for every page or application wherever you are in the system, including guided tours, learning tutorials, and documentation (also accessible via the F1 key).
Clicking your profile picture or initials gives you access to important functions such as user settings, the app catalog, and the secure logoff function.
The bell icon shows you important workflow messages and task notifications.
The navigation bar in the Fiori Launchpad organizes different activity areas, enabling a process-oriented way of working. You can switch between various spaces and pages organized by business processes or activities.
This structure makes it easier to implement role-based access control. Users can only see the areas for which they have the appropriate SAP authorizations. The navigation bar automatically adapts to the user's role, ensuring that sensitive business areas are only accessible to authorized individuals.
The application area displays available apps either as tiles or navigation links. You can personalize this area using the "Edit Home Page" function, group applications, and rearrange them via drag and drop.
The App Finder gives you access to a catalog of all applications assigned to your user.
Only applications that have been released according to your role and authorizations are displayed in the application area. This ensures automatic access control and, with it, a higher level of security across the organization.
Implementing the SAP Fiori Launchpad brings numerous benefits - for individual users and for the organization as a whole - with a direct impact on productivity, security, and compliance.
As an SAP administrator, you have access to a range of transactions for administering and configuring the SAP Fiori Launchpad. Here are the most important transaction codes for your day-to-day work:
| Transaction Code | Description |
|---|---|
| /UI2/FLP | Launch SAP Fiori Launchpad |
| /UI2/FLPD_CUST | Fiori Launchpad Designer (client-specific) |
| /UI2/FLPD_CONF | Fiori Launchpad Designer (cross-client) |
| LPD_CUST | Launchpad Customizing |
| /UI2/FLPCM_CUST | Fiori Launchpad Content Manager (client-specific) |
| /UI2/FLPCM_CONF | Fiori Launchpad Content Manager (cross-client) |
| /UI2/FLPAM | SAP Fiori Launchpad App Manager |
| /UI2/FLC | Fiori Launchpad Consistency Checks |
| /UI2/FLIA | Fiori Launchpad Intent Analysis |
| /UI2/CUST | Customizing for UI Technologies |
| /UI2/SEMOBJ | Define Semantic Objects (Customer) |
| ESH_IMG | Customizing for Enterprise Search |
| /UI2/CACHE_DEL | Delete Cache Entries |
| SICF | Maintain HTTP Service Tree |
| /IWFND/MAINT_SERVICE | Gateway Service Administration (activate OData services) |
| /IWFND/ERROR_LOG | SAP Gateway Error Log |
These transactions allow you to configure the Fiori Launchpad, manage authorizations, and optimize system performance.
The Content Manager transactions (e.g., /UI2/FLPCM_CUST and /UI2/FLPCM_CONF) for role-based app assignment and the audit tools (e.g., /UI2/FLC) for compliance checks are particularly important for SAP security teams.
The SAP Fiori Launchpad serves as the central access point in S/4HANA. It brings together modern Fiori apps and classic SAP transactions in a single, consistent, and intuitive interface. Through role-based navigation, users see only the applications and information relevant to them - regardless of whether S/4HANA is operated in the cloud or on-premise.
The result is a unified user experience that combines security, usability, and efficiency - while significantly reducing the complexity of heterogeneous ERP landscapes.
In SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the SAP Fiori Launchpad is the central access point for all applications. Through role-based navigation, users benefit from a consistent experience and can securely access their relevant apps and data.
Hybrid scenarios are also possible: with the Fiori Launchpad on the SAP Business Technology Platform, users can securely access both cloud and on-premise applications from a single, central location. This keeps the interface consistent while sensitive company data remains protected by the existing authorization concept.
During a migration to S/4HANA, SAP GUI remains available while the SAP Fiori Launchpad provides modern Fiori apps as the central interface. This enables a step-by-step transition from classic SAP transactions to Fiori apps without disrupting ongoing business operations.
Users benefit from a consistent experience, while organizations can modernize their systems at a controlled pace.
With the mandatory migration from SAP ECC 6.0 to SAP S/4HANA on the horizon, SAP Fiori and the Fiori Launchpad are becoming increasingly critical. Here are the key facts at a glance:
Bottom line: in the medium term, there is no alternative to Fiori and the Fiori Launchpad. SAP is focusing its ongoing application development on Fiori apps. Without a professional Fiori strategy, organizations risk losing critical business functions and compliance tools.
And that's exactly where Xiting comes in.
Xiting supports your organization in the professional implementation and security of the SAP Fiori Launchpad. We manage your complete security architecture, from role and authorization design through to the technical implementation of complex Fiori landscapes.
The Xiting Authorizations Management Suite (XAMS) provides powerful capabilities for automated Fiori authorization management. XAMS analyzes your Fiori landscape and supports the design and creation of role-based authorization concepts that cover both backend access and frontend catalogs.
Another capability is SoD risk analysis for Fiori apps, which identifies potential segregation-of-duties conflicts between different applications. XAMS automatically generates compliance-ready role documentation for audit purposes and supports you in meeting regulatory requirements under frameworks such as SOX and GDPR/CCPA.
The Xiting Security Platform (XSP) extends this view beyond SAP with cross-system risk analysis and identity consolidation across your application landscape. Both solutions integrate seamlessly into SAP S/4HANA Cloud and on-premise environments.
Our SAP security experts also guide you through a secure rollout of the Fiori Launchpad in your SAP landscape. We develop custom security concepts tailored to your specific business requirements and compliance obligations.
Contact us today – free of charge and without obligation – for an initial consultation.
Direct access to the SAP Fiori Launchpad is available via transaction code /UI2/FLP. This T-Code launches the Launchpad directly in the browser and is the fastest way for SAP users to access their Fiori apps.
The SAP Fiori Launchpad is the central interface that end users use to access Fiori apps. The Fiori Launchpad Designer, by contrast, is an administration tool for SAP administrators to configure the Launchpad.
The Fiori Launchpad includes 4 different app categories:
In addition, there are SAP GUI for HTML apps, Web Dynpro applications, and custom apps.
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