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h4. Background

[http://ubimic.org]. is  a group of university researchers interested in microblogging from different points of view (computer science, information systems, organizational science). Together we think that microblogging has great potential when it comes to integrating  normal users and things like sensors, machines and software. We are experimenting with different microblogging tools and scenarios.

h3. SAP Bot
{gliffy:name=ubimic - SAP Bot|space=ESME|page=Collaboration with ubimic|pageid=5964323|align=left|size=S}

h4. General Use Case

The idea is to show how microblogging can act as a integration platform for man-machine interaction.
# The user creates mesages on Apache ESME with a certain tag and having a certain format
# The Apache ESME bot listens to the Apache ESME message stream for messages with a certain tag.
# After receiving messages from Apache ESME with the desired tag, the Apache ESME bot reformats the message and posts the message to an SAP back-end.
# Based on the status of the back-end interaction, the Apache ESME bot posts an Apache ESME message with the status of the interaction.

h4. Technical details

* The Apache ESME Bot could be developed in any language but we have examples code for accessing the REST API for clients written in [Java|http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/esme/trunk/esme-java-client/] and [ABAP|http://code.google.com/p/esmeproject/source/browse/#svn/trunk/esme-abap].
* The access to the SAP system could be performed via various means (web-services, RFC call, etc.) depending on what sort of system (version, etc.) you guys have on the university.
* There are two ways to get data from Apache ESME via a bot.
** You can access the Apache ESME core directly via API - polling for messages
** You can set an [action|http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/ESME/Actions]that responds to certain tags and then calls your Apache ESME bot via an HTTP call. We've done something like this for forwarding messages to twitter.

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h4. Use Cases

h5. Use Messages for Back-end Requests

* The idea here would be to use Apache ESME to ask the back-end for certain pieces of information.
* Example: "@sapstockbot how many T60 laptops do we have in stock?". The answer could be "@boehr there are 3 items left where 2 are already booked. Till now, no orders for new items are in the system."
* Example: "@sappurchaseorders I need 4 new T60 laptops for #projectx asap\!" and the bot creates the Purchase Order in the system on behalf of the project manager's user name (if he has the rights for this).
* Business users may have difficulty in using such systems, so text analysis of the messages is very useful. Research work in this direction is promising (for example, "[TextAnalysis in Information Streams: Status Quo and Future Perspectives|http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/wirtschaft/wi2/wp/en/2009/08/10/text-analysis-in-information-streams-status-quo-and-future-perspectives/]"
* One idea might be to use the code for the  [SAP ES Google Wave Bot|http://wave-samples-gallery.appspot.com/about_app?app_id=31006]from [Daniel Graversen|http://wave-samples-gallery.appspot.com/profile?id=63059] that uses Enterprise Service (ES) data to post to a blip. The code is available. *{_}Note{_}{*}_: just looked at the code. It would very easy to re-use it have a ESME bot that queries an ES that returns a material_
* [Details|ESME:Use Case - Posting from SAP back-end]

h5. Microblogging SAP System

* There is an Apache ESME pool that is restricted to certain individuals (for example, accounting staff, which reports about latest paid orders). Origin of this group should probably be container-based (for example, LDAP).
* The SAP back-end is also a member of this group (for example, the user "sappaidorders") and posts messages to the group like "Order XYZ has been paid by customer KN30292938".
* Let's say order XYZ is very valuable but there were problems with the customer. The accounting person would then say "RT @sappaidorders Order XYZ has been paid by customer KN30292938 // well, finally. Good work guys\!".
* Based on ESME's pool concept, this message would only be visible to individuals in this pool.
* The different permission schemes between the microblogging environment and the backend would also be a topic to be examined.
* Example of research in this area: "[Microblogging and ERP systems: use cases and prototype|http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/wirtschaft/wi2/wp/en/2009/08/10/microblogging-and-erp-systems-use-cases-and-prototype/]"

h5. Taskmanagement

* See the suggestion for task-related mesages used by [Remember the Milk|http://www.rememberthemilk.com]for its [Twitter format|http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/twitter/]
* The SAP back-end system must be a xRPM

h5. Device-related Use Case

* RFID-enhanced devices send messages to microblogging system
* Use case should also describe why inclusion of microblogging system brings advantages over direct data insertion into back-end system.

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