Title: Collaboration with ubimic
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<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-Background"></a>
#### Background

[http://ubimic.org](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.

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-SAPBot"></a>
### SAP Bot
{gliffy:name=ubimic - SAP Bot|space=ESME|page=Collaboration with
ubimic|pageid=5964323|align=left|size=S}

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-GeneralUseCase"></a>
#### General Use Case

The idea is to show how microblogging can act as a integration platform for
man-machine interaction.
1. The user creates mesages on Apache ESME with a certain tag and having a
certain format
1. The Apache ESME bot listens to the Apache ESME message stream for
messages with a certain tag.
1. 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.
1. Based on the status of the back-end interaction, the Apache ESME bot
posts an Apache ESME message with the status of the interaction.

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-Technicaldetails"></a>
#### 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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<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-UseCases"></a>
#### Use Cases

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-UseMessagesforBack-endRequests"></a>
##### 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&nbsp; [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.html)

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-MicrobloggingSAPSystem"></a>
##### 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/)
"

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-Taskmanagement"></a>
##### 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

<a name="Collaborationwithubimic-Device-relatedUseCase"></a>
##### 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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