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 Ad Sales With a Technical System as the Front End

Purpose

This scenario describes integration between SAP Media and a technical system during the sale of ads, where the technical system is used as the front end system and SAP Media is used as the back end.

Prerequisites

During the sale of classified ads, you want orders to be created, modified and produced in the technical system. Billing and settlement is to be performed in SAP Media .

See also: Ad Sales With an Integrated Technical System

Process Flow

One example of the sale of classified ads where SAP Media is integrated with a technical system as a front end is as follows:

  1. A customer visits a sales office or contacts the office where ads are accepted by telephone and places an order for a classified ad.

  2. The agent enters or modifies the business partner data for the customer in the technical system.

    If the agent creates an order for a new customer, they must create a business partner in the technical system. This business partner is used to create a business partner in the media customer role in the Advertising Management System.

    A business partner can be created in the general business partner , media customer or media sales agent roles in the Advertising Management System. The media sales agent role is a credit-side role. Data for the general business partner role is sufficient for sending documents such as invoices and voucher copies. However, a business partner in the media customer role is required to create ad orders. The sold-to party, advertiser and payer roles can only be performed by a media customer.

    See also: SAP Business Partner (SAP BP)

    If the agent creates an order for an existing customer, they can display the business partner data in the technical system and change existing data such as the address as required.

    An agent can display information on existing customers that is not available in the technical system in the Customer Interaction Center in Advertising Management. The ISM_CIC_BP_SEARCH BAdI is available for communication with the Customer Interaction Center.

    1. The credit status of the payer can be checked during order entry in the Advertising Management System. Credit data that has been created for the customer in the Accounting component is accessed during this check.

      See also: Credit Management

      The DebtorCreditAccount.GetStatus BAPI is used to access Accounting and check the business partner credit status. Any open items or the business partner dunning level are checked here. Various export parameters can be used to return the credit status to the technical system as an A/R summary. You have defined the way in which A/R summaries can be displayed and how the agent can respond to them when you implemented the calling program for the BAPI.

      The GetStatus B API is used to perform the credit check in this scenario. However, any other BAPIs that have been created in the DebtorCreditAccount) business object for the credit check, such as the GetDetail BAPI can also be used. You decide which BAPI is to be used for the credit check in the project. You must choose between improved performance or more current data when choosing between the GetStatus and GetDetail BAPI.

      See also: Documentation for the DebtorCreditAccount.GetStatus and DebtorCreditAccount.GetDetail BAPIs.

    2. If the credit status is admissible, the ISM_BAPI_007_ADDRESS_CHECK function module can be used to check the business partner address in the Advertising Management System. During this address check, the system adds any data that the agent has entered. This can include adding the postal code to the city entered. The system also checks whether the business partner address matches the postal structures. It uses the main business partner address to be checked and a date from which the address is valid.

      The Advertising Management System returns a list of error messages such as P.O.box does not match postal code to the technical system in the Return parameter. You have defined the way in which error messages can be displayed and how the agent can respond to them when you implemented the calling program for the function module. You can for instance stipulate that error messages are to be displayed in a dialog box.

      See also: Documentation for the ISM_BAPI_007_ADDRESS_CHECK function module

    3. Following the address check, the ISMBusinessPartner.GetDuplicates BAPI can be used to access the Advertising Management System and perform a duplicate check for the business partner master record created.

      Business partner master records where the addresses or telephone numbers do not match are defined as duplicates. The duplicate check uses the main business partner address that is valid on the day that the check is performed.

      The Advertising Management System returns a list of any duplicates identified to the technical system in the PartnerList parameter. You have defined the way in which business partner duplicates can be displayed and how the agent can respond to them when you implemented the calling program for the BAPI.

      See also: Documentation for the ISMBusinessPartner.GetDuplicates BAPI

    4. If the address matches the postal structures and no duplicates exist, the ISMBusinessPartner.CreateFromData BAPI or the ISMBP_CREATE IDoc can be used to create a business partner or the I SMBusinessPartner.Change BAPI or the ISMBP_CHANGE IDoc can be used to change a business partner in the Advertising Management System.

      See also: Documentation for the ISMBusinessPartner.CreateFromData and ISMBusinessPartner.Change BAPIs

      Most business partner data from the Advertising Management System is not usually known to the technical system. It is therefore possible to create a business partner using a reference business partner ( Partnertemplate parameter) in the Advertising Management System. All data that is required to create a business partner in the Advertising Management System but cannot be transferred in the ISMBusinessPartner.CreateFromData BAPI or the ISMBP_CREATE IDoc, is transferred from the reference business partner This can include sales data that is not required to create a business partner in the technical system. X-structures can be used in Advertising Management to define which data is determined by the caller and which data is copied from the reference business partner.

    Note Note

    Use the ISMBusinessPartner.CreateFromData BAPI or the ISMBP_CREATE IDoc if the business partner is to be created in an additional role and/or in an additional sales area.

    End of the note.

    Note Note

    Since the business partner must exist in both systems, the business partner number must be unique in both systems. Two options are available for assigning a unique business partner number:

    If you intend to use identical business partner numbers, create two number ranges in Advertising Management : An external number range for the business partner who was created in the technical system and an internal number range for the business partner created in the Advertising Management System. Advantage of using identical business partner numbers: Your agents are working with a single business partner number in both systems. You should note however, that identical business partner numbers can cause problems if various business partners with identical numbers are created in both systems.

    If you are using different business partner numbers, you can create a reference between the two business partners in Advertising Management. Use the External partner number and Data origin fields that are found on the Control tab page in the business partner master record for the SAP business partner.

    End of the note.

  3. The contract for the media customer can be transferred to the technical system using the ADMGMTCOAEXT_SAVE IDoc.

    See also: Documentation for the AdMgmtCOAExt.Save BAPI

    A contract in Advertising Management has a limited validity period and is used to grant advance discount on advertising services that are sold on a regular basis. . It is negotiated between a sales area in your organization and a media customer.

    See also: Contract

    Since contracts are created and changed in the Advertising Management System, all contract information must be transferred to the technical system. Contracts can be used for contract determination and discount conditions from contracts can be used for pricing in the technical system.

    See also: Contract Determination

    If a discount condition from an Advertising Management contract is used in an order in the technical system, the technical system must return the contract number to the Advertising Management System as a contract assignment for the order.

    Note Note

    Contracts are not usually relevant during the sale of classified ads. This step has been included in the scenario to show that contracts can be maintained in Advertising Management to assign discount to advertising services.

    Contracts are usually processed as orders by other agents. During the sale of advertising services, contract maintenance should not be performed at the time selected in this scenario. Since the ADMGMTCOAEXT _SAVE IDoc is always called if a contract is created or changed in Advertising Management , contract maintenance can also take place at a much earlier stage, independently of order entry.

    End of the note.

  4. Order data can be transferred to the Advertising Management system using the AdMgmtSalesOrder.CreateFromData BAPI or the ADMGMTSO_CREATE IDoc when the agent creates an order. The BAPI documentation explains which data is to be transferred to the Advertising Management System.

    See also: Documentation for the AdMgmtSalesOrder.CreateFromData BAPI

    Modified order data can be transferred to Advertising Management using the AdMgmtSalesOrder.Change BAPI or the ADMGMTSO_CHANGE IDoc when the agent changes an order.

    See also: Documentation for the AdMgmtSalesOrder.Change BAPI

    Note Note

    Orders for classified ads can also be modified in the Advertising Management System. We recommend only making changes in one system to ensure that the data is consistent. Orders for classified ads should for instance only be modified in the technical system.

    The order origin indicator that can contain the from technical system , not modifiable values is available to you in Advertising Management to ensure that the data is consistent. If the technical system transfers the indicator with the corresponding value, you can ensure that the order is not modified during dialog processing in the Advertising Management System.

    End of the note.

    During order processing, each process step that changes the status of the order, such as canceling an order or creating a production completion confirmation, must always be returned to the other system. If an order status is reached in Advertising Management that does not permit any further order changes in the technical system, you must ensure that the order can no longer be modified in the technical system from this point. This is for instance the case if the order has been billed in Advertising Management.

  5. The order is produced in the technical system.

    The order is not usually billed in the Advertising System until it has been produced. An accounting document is created and transferred to accounting during billing.

    See also: Billing and Settlement

    If price data such as the ad size, color scheme or position (booking unit, content component, page, positioning instruction) is modified during production or a production completion confirmation is created when the order is produced, this information must be transferred to the Advertising Management System using the AdMgmtSalesOrder.Change BAPI or the ADMGMTSO_CHANGE IDoc. This means that the order data can be updated in the Advertising Management System and the order can be billed.

    Caution Caution

    Relevant information is transferred to the technical system using the ADMGMTSOEXT_SAVE IDoc when the order is billed. You must ensure that the order can no longer be modified in the technical system from this point.

    End of the caution.

Result

An agent in your organization has created or modified a business partner and an order in the technical system. The business partner and order data have been replicated in Advertising Management once the system has checked the credit status, address consistency and duplicates for the business partner.

The contract is processed and the order is billed and settled in Advertising Management.