Innowera Interview Questions & Answers

Question 1. What Is Process Runner?

Answer :

Process Runner is an automation tool that enables data upload and download between Microsoft Excel and SAP - without writing any code or script.

Question 2. Why Use Process Runner?

Answer :

Process Runner can eliminate manual data entry to SAP, and is a much more flexible alternative to automation than LSMW, BDC, SM35, and SHDB solutions, as scripts created in Process Runner can easily be changed and modified via a drag and drop interface.

Process Runner is easy to use and doesn't require any programming experience.

In addition to Transaction automation; Data Extraction, GUI Scripting automation, and BAPI automation are also possible with Process Runner.

Question 3. Who Will Benefit The Most From Process Runner?

Answer :

Users who are responsible for maintaining data quality in SAP, who needs to extract data from SAP on a regular basis, or who need to upload data to SAP on a regular basis will benefit from Process Runner.

Typically users are:

• Data and Process Owners in all the SAP modules
• SAP Data Conversion Team Members
• SAP Deployment Team Members
• Process Team Members
• SAP Security Team Members
• SAP/IT Support Team Members

Question 4. How Often Do I Need To Upgrade Innowera Process Runner?

Answer :

Ideally, we suggest that you upgrade your Process Runner once a year. You might require upgrading before that in any of the following scenarios:

• New SAP GUI releases
• New Excel releases
• Major Backend releases from SAP (i.e. Ehp 5, Ehp 6)
• OS releases (Win7 & Win8)
• New feature release by Innowera that you may be interested in.
• Defect that was addressed and applicable to you, or

You may also need to upgrade when suggested by the Innowera support team.

Question 5. Does Process Runner Work In Hr, Pp, Mm And Fi Modules? How About Other Modules?

Answer :

Yes, Process Runners works in HR, PP, MM, FI, FI-CO, CO-PA and all other modules.

Question 6. Can Process Runner Use Z Or Custom Transactions? How About Custom Bapis?

Answer :

Yes, Process Runner can use Z or Custom transactions or Custom BAPIs. Process Runner will run these as if they were standard transactions or BAPIs.

Question 7. Can Process Runner Handle Grid Control, Table Control, Text Control, Alv Grids, Tree Control, And Other Enjoy Controls And Screens?

Answer :

Process Runner uses four technologies for SAP automation. The Transaction (TX) technology has the same Grid Control, Table Control, Text Control, etc. capabilities and limitations as ABAP/LSMW/BDC. However, Process Runner also offers GUI Scripting (GU) technology, which extends functionality of what is not available with ABAP/LSMW/BDC and handles not only these controls but also ALV Grids, Tree Control and many other Enjoy Controls and Screens which are usually impossible to handle using traditional technologies.

Question 8. What Is Eshare?

Answer :

EShare stands for Enterprise Sharing. EShare allows one or more Process Runner users to share, manage and control Process Runner files. EShare offers many advanced features that traditional network based file sharing solutions cannot.

EShare was developed by Innowera to boost team productivity by allowing for easy file sharing and collaboration across your enterprise. EShare is a completely optional feature and can be added if needed at a later date.

Question 9. What Is Bapi?

Answer :

BAPI is an SAP acronym which stands for Business Application Programming Interface. BAPIs are at the heart of SAP's Business Framework. They are essentially APIs for the SAP world which allow other applications (like Process Runner) to talk to business objects and processes stored inside SAP.

Question 10. What Are Alternatives To Process Runner?

Answer :

Alternatives include manual entry, using ABAP programming, ECATT / ECATT / LSMW, or another tool like Process Runner.

Question 11. Why Not Use Some Of The Alternatives To Process Runner?

Answer :

Alternative solutions are usually very expensive and do not react as fast as your situation may demand.

For example, if you use manual entry method, it could be expensive, would be extremely slow, and will be subject to human errors. Error trapping and correction is also not easy.

ABAP, SECAT, CATT, and LSMW - all have some common issues:

• ABAP, SECAT, CATT, or LSMW are too technical for most people.
• Experts who knows these technologies are usually very expensive, centralized, and hard to access or otherwise difficult to reach across organizational boundaries.
• Even with approval to utilize and create these solutions, you are still dependent on data, process owners, and BASIS and change management personnel to work in perfect synchronization before you can implement their use in a production environment. In short, you are constrained by the release process with these technologies.
• Your SAP landscape may be littered with one-time use and throw away conversion programs that have lost their relevancy due to prohibitive modification and update costs.
• Overall User action time and SAP execution time is longer to significantly longer as compared to running process with Process Runner.
• These technologies are constantly and significantly changing as SAP releases changes.
• When something does not work: SAP does not provide direct support. If you have questions or issues, you will be routed to a normal OSS support process or will be directed to a consulting group. In contrast, we at Innowera will quickly help you to come to the right resolution.

Question 12. How Does Process Runner Compare To Other Third Party Software In This Segment?

Answer :

We think we are the best. But you have to be the judge. Here's why we think we are the best.

• With Process Runner, Transaction automation, BAPI automation, Data extraction, and Enjoy automation (utilizing GUI Scripting technology or BAPI technology) are all possible with Process Runner, from one stand-alone application.
• Process Runner has additional features, such as Parallel Processing, Share, iBook (Excel embedded right in your script, so your data is saved along with your script), Dynamic Row Splitting (allows you to upload document of more than 999 lines to SAP), and Test Run (allows you to test data against SAP on a line by line basis, without actually committing data to SAP), just to name a few.
• Process Runner is simple to use, completely script less and comes in a modern interface - targeted towards a non-technical workforce.

We encourage you to bookmark Innowera.com. Find and evaluate other tools so you can see the difference for yourself. We are very certain that you will come back here.

Question 13. Does Process Runner Support Sap Hana Without Any Additional Updates?

Answer :

SAP HANA as a backend database is automatically supported by Process Runner, Excel Add-in, and Process Runner DB. No additional updates are required.

Question 14. Does Innowera Have A Mass Update Product For Sap That Works With Third Party Database Products As Well As With Sap Hana And Sap S/4hana?

Answer :

Yes, Innowera is the only company in our space who provides mass update software compatible with databases and SAP HANA database.

Process Runner DB allows users to upload and download data between connected database tables of some of the most popular database systems today and your SAP systems and now supports SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA.

Question 15. Does Transitioning To Sap Hana And Sap S/4hana Mean We Have To Change The Process Runner Scripts We Have Already Recorded?

Answer :

Presuming that your company is implementing HANA as a backend to your existing ECC, that transition should NOT require any re-scripting, as the transition is happening at the database layer at the backend.

While transitioning to HANA, your SAP system may be upgraded to the next level. In some rare cases, there may be an add/change to a field or screen in a transaction code, and if you were using that particular screen or field, you would have to make some minor changes to your script. While this rarely happens, if it does, Process Runner will give a return message that it cannot find that particular screen/field. If needed, our support team would be available to assist you with modifying your script to account for the change in SAP.

Question 16. Which Sap Release Does Process Runner Work With?

Answer :

Process Runner works on all the recent SAP releases. See side bar on this page for up to date system requirements and supported systems.

Question 17. Do I Have To Install Anything In My Sap System To Make Process Runner Work?

Answer :

No, you do not have to install anything in SAP to make Process Runner work. Once you install Process Runner on your desktop, it will work if you have required SAP authorization.

Question 18. How Does Process Runner Use Sap Security?

Answer :

When you use Process Runner with SAP, it will ask you to login to SAP. You will have to enter a user id and password (if you are using SNC or SSO, it will automatically log you in the same way SAP GUI does). Process Runner uses that information with SAP to first authenticate the user. All subsequent communication with SAP is based on that User ID authorization as set in that SAP system. There is no backdoor or exception to this method as that is the only way SAP allows any other remote application to communicate and this is the only way Process Runner communicates with SAP. This makes Process Runner fully compliant with SAP security and authorization objects you have implemented for that user.

Question 19. Can Process Runner Transaction (tx) Technology Do Direct Table Updates?

Answer :

No. Process Runner Transaction cannot do direct table updates.

Question 20. Does Process Runner Support Sap Business One, Success Factors And Business Objects?

Answer :

No, Process Runner technology does not work with SAP Business One, SAP Success Factors and SAP Business Objects.

Question 21. How Does Process Runner Communicate With Sap?

Answer :

Process Runner makes Remote Function Calls (RFC) and GUI Scripting calls to SAP.

Question 22. Does Process Runner Support French, German And Other European Languages?

Answer :

Process Runner supports European languages for upload/download operations to and from SAP. Process Runner's user interface is available in English (US), German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Question 23. Does Process Runner Support Japanese, Chinese And Other Far Eastern Languages?

Answer :

Process Runner is a Unicode aware application. If your SAP server is also Unicode, it will support these languages. However, Process Runner's user interface is currently only available in English (US), German (Germany), French (France), Spanish (Spanish) and Portuguese (Brazil) at this time.

Question 24. Can Process Runner Be Hosted Via Citrix?

Answer :

Yes, Process Runner can be hosted via Citrix; however you will need to have a specific license.

Question 25. What Happens If A Field Is Added Or Removed In Sap Due To An Upgrade Or Other Changes? Is It Possible To Add Or Remove Fields To A Transaction Script Without Recreating The Entire Script?

Answer :

Adding new mandatory fields to a Transaction are honored automatically. Changes to screens and fields are automatically detected at run time. If a new field is added to SAP but not to the script, it can be added manually by the Designer without recreating the entire script. Similarly, if a field is removed but used in the script, the script will clearly error our and the designer can suppress the field with minimal efforts. If you are using the Business API (BAPI) technology, such changes are almost transparent as SAP usually guarantees that BAPIs are forward compatible.

Question 26. Where Can I Get Information On The Validation Of Process Runner For The Pharmaceutical And Medical Devices Industries?

Answer :

The Innowera Software Validation Kit was created to aid customers in their validation efforts. The software validation kit is a downloadable ZIP file which contains details about our validation process, software development life cycle, and other relevant information.

Question 27. What Is A Normal Return On Investment (roi)?

Answer :

It depends on your use case. Typically an investment in Process Runner licensing is recouped within a few weeks to less than a year. In some cases it could be as quick as a few hours to a couple of days. Please contact us and we can help you determine your ROI.

Question 28. Does Innowera Process Runner Have An Export Classification Control Number (eccn)?

Answer :

Yes, Innowera Process Runner has an Export Classification Control Number (ECCN). Process Runner's ECCN is # 5D992. The first character refers to the Category Group (5 = Telecomm. & Information Security), the second character refers to the Product Group (D = Software), and the last three digits refer to the Type of Controls (992 = Anti-terrorism or United Nations). However, Commodity Classification Automated Tracking System (CCATS) number is not applicable for Process Runner.

Question 29. Does Process Runner Have Any Export License Exceptions?

Answer :

Process Runner does not have any export license exception. A license exception is an authorization that allows you to export, under stated conditions, items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that would otherwise require a license based on the ECCN and destination.

Question 30. What Is The Basis Of The Export Control Classification Number (eccn) Determination For Process Runner?

Answer :

The ECCN for Innowera Process Runner is determined by self-classification as per government guidelines. Innowera has self-classified its ECCN and a classification date is not applicable as it is self-classified. The proper classification of an item is essential to determine any licensing requirements under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

Question 31. Is Any Cryptography Used In Process Runner Applications?

Answer :

Cryptography is used in encrypting various files within applications.

Question 32. How Old Is Innowera?

Answer :

Innowera was founded in 2007 and started offering its products in 2008.

Question 33. Where Is Innowera Located?

Answer :

Innowera is located in Las Colinas, Irving, Texas, USA. Address and contact information can be found on our Contact Us page.

Question 34. Why Innowera?

Answer :

Innowera is one of the first companies to offer an easy-to-use, Transaction, Data Extraction, BAPI, and GUI Scripting based software product, targeted to a non-technical workforce. Innowera's founder Mickey Shah was the first to deliver SAP transaction automation software back in 2000, and now through Innowera continues to provide technical leadership in the SAP automation market.

Innowera has greatly expanded the breadth and depth of its SAP automation solutions, from its core product Process Runner. Customers who take advantage of our full product offering, can execute SAP processes from Android and IOS devices (Innowera Web and Mobile Solution), a Command Prompt (Process Runner Command Prompt), Email (Email Runner), Excel (Process Runner Excel Add-in & Innowera Easy Workflow), SharePoint (SAP-SharePoint Integration), the Web (Innowera Web Runner), and their own application (SKD Development Kit).