I recently heard that SAP has plans to get rid of the IBase in S/4. I found this rather interesting since the IBase has done almost nothing in ECC for it’s entire existence. I hear that SAP has a new web based product AIS, I think, that is around managing assets particularly geared toward internet of things. I know nothing about this new product, but I’m hoping to learn more about it at SAPPHIRE this year.
The thing I find most interesting is that SAP is saying the IBase is going away, but what does that really mean? I have to imagine there are customers using it. If that is the case, they can’t just remove the transactions and tables. But to say that SAP won’t support it is a bit of a joke. The install base in ECC has almost no functionality. There is no configuration available (if you want a new category, you need to maintain a table). There are no BAPI’s or API’s to populate the IBase. There isn’t even a history record created out of the box. And there is NO integration with anything else. Say if you wanted to look at your serial number history and see that it is attached to an IBase, well good luck. You will need to design that yourself.
I know the IBase has a lot more functionality in CRM, but since none of that functionality has been copied to ECC, seems like SAP isn’t about to stop supporting it, but rather they never supported it in the first place. To me, this is sad, since I prefer the layout of the IBase compared to a serial number hierarchy or functional location. But the lack of integration is disappointing.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you use the Ibase? Have you built any custom logic to support it?
Thanks for reading,
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike