SAP Fiori is SAP’s modern user experience: the design system and the web apps that people use to work in SAP S/4HANA and other SAP products. Instead of typing transaction codes into the classic SAP GUI, users open a browser, see a home page of tiles and click the task they need. This guide explains what Fiori is, how the Fiori launchpad is organized, the main types of Fiori apps and what Fiori means for SAP security.
In one sentence: SAP Fiori is SAP’s role-based, browser-based user experience, delivered through the SAP Fiori launchpad, that gives each user simple apps for the tasks their job requires.
Why SAP created Fiori
The classic SAP GUI is powerful, but it was built for experts. Screens are dense, navigation relies on memorizing transaction codes, and the same screen often serves many different jobs. Fiori takes a different approach: each app focuses on one task for one kind of user, works on desktop, tablet and phone, and follows a consistent design so that once you learn one app, the others feel familiar.
Fiori is also the main way users experience SAP S/4HANA, and SAP’s newer features, including the AI assistant Joule, appear in the Fiori launchpad.
The five Fiori design principles
SAP describes Fiori apps as:
- Role-based: built around what a specific person needs to do.
- Adaptive: working across screen sizes and devices.
- Simple: one main task per app, with only the information needed.
- Coherent: the same look, behavior and navigation everywhere.
- Delightful: pleasant and efficient to use every day.
The SAP Fiori launchpad
The launchpad is the front door to Fiori. It is a web page that shows each user the apps their roles allow, personalizes their home page and handles navigation between apps. Since SAP S/4HANA 2021 FPS01, SAP recommends organizing the launchpad with spaces and pages instead of the older tile groups.
| Building block | What it does |
|---|---|
| Catalog | A technical collection of apps (tiles and target mappings). Catalogs decide which apps a user is allowed to launch. |
| Space | A top-level area in the launchpad, usually one per job role. Spaces are assigned to roles. |
| Page | Belongs to a space and holds the tiles a user sees, arranged in sections. |
| Section | A titled group of tiles on a page. |
| Business role | A PFCG role that bundles catalogs, spaces and back-end authorizations for a job. |
A useful way to remember it: catalogs grant the apps, spaces and pages display them. A user needs both to see and launch an app, and then the right authorizations to actually use it.
Types of Fiori apps
- Transactional apps: do a task, such as creating a sales order or approving a purchase requisition.
- Analytical apps: show key figures and charts, often on live data from SAP HANA.
- Fact sheets: summarize an object, such as a customer or material, with links to related information (mainly in older releases).
- SAP Fiori elements apps: generated from standard templates (for example list report and object page) plus metadata, which makes them consistent and quick to build.
- Classic UIs in the launchpad: SAP GUI for HTML transactions and Web Dynpro apps can also appear as tiles, so users can reach older functions from the same place.
How Fiori works under the hood
Most Fiori apps are built with SAPUI5, SAP’s JavaScript framework, and run in the browser. The app talks to the back-end system through OData services, a standard way of reading and writing data over the web, provided by SAP Gateway. A typical request travels like this:
- The user clicks a tile in the launchpad.
- The SAPUI5 app loads in the browser.
- The app calls an OData service to read or change data.
- The back end checks the user’s authorizations and returns only what they may see or change.
Fiori can be deployed embedded in the S/4HANA system or on a separate front-end server (“hub” deployment), and SAP Build Work Zone can provide a launchpad in the cloud.
What Fiori means for SAP security
Fiori adds layers that classic SAP security teams must manage:
- Launchpad content: catalogs, spaces and pages in roles, so users see the right tiles.
- OData service authorizations: users need permission to call each app’s service (authorization object S_SERVICE).
- Back-end authorizations: the classic authorization objects still decide which data users can see and change.
Most “I can see the tile but the app is empty” tickets come from one missing layer. A good Fiori role design keeps all three aligned and is tested before go-live.
Frequently asked questions
Is SAP Fiori free?
Fiori is included with SAP S/4HANA and many SAP products; there is no separate charge for standard Fiori apps when you have licenses for the underlying functions.
What is the difference between Fiori and SAPUI5?
Fiori is the design approach and user experience. SAPUI5 is the technical framework most Fiori apps are built with.
How do I find which Fiori app replaces a transaction?
The SAP Fiori apps reference library lists standard apps, the roles they belong to and, often, the classic transactions they replace.
Can I build my own Fiori apps?
Yes. Developers use SAPUI5 or Fiori elements, often with the SAP Cloud Application Programming Model on SAP BTP or the ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model in S/4HANA.
The bottom line
SAP Fiori is how people work in modern SAP: simple, role-based apps in a browser, organized in the launchpad with catalogs, spaces and pages. Behind each tile sit SAPUI5, OData services and authorization checks. Understanding those layers is the key to designing good Fiori roles and fixing access problems fast.
