Runner

Why use it?

Winshuttle Runner™ enables companies to implement a desktop solution that helps make SAP simpler to use for casual SAP users.

With Runner, employees can enter and extract SAP data through an Excel add-in or desktop application, yet all SAP security and data validation rules still apply. Runner works with any of SAP’s thousands of transactions and business application programming interfaces (BAPIs and RFMs).

Runner helps companies reduce training costs by enabling casual SAP users to use the system through a familiar and usable interface without risk of compromising security, data integrity, or critical process scripts. To ensure data validity and improve efficiency, Runner immediately flags any errors so users can quickly correct and reprocess the data.

What can it do?

Runner enables “click once, load many” data entry automation from Excel, which helps save time and money. Runner helps users more efficiently run ad-hoc activities, one-off SAP processes that involve massive amounts of data changes, or what-if analyses. Additionally, Runner respects existing SOX-compliance practices by adhering to existing SAP security authorizations. Runner users do not have access to anything in SAP that hasn ‘t already been authorized via the SAP GUI.

Runner preserves SAP data security by:

• Requiring the use of SAP-issued login credentials
• Using all native SAP security profiles and audit trails
• Restricting the modification or creation of recordings and mappings

Key features of Runner

• SAP data creation and change without interacting with the SAP GUI
• Full-featured SAP transaction or BAPI capabilities within Excel
• Support for chained process steps
• Data template association with the appropriate Winshuttle Transaction recording or Winshuttle Query definition
• Real-time error or warning identification within Excel at a data-record level
• Client level scheduling of queries or data runs
• Contextual SAP data field lookup (F4) from within Excel

How does it work?

Runner enables users to move data between Excel and SAP using templates predefined in Winshuttle Transaction™ or Query™. Once the transaction or business process has been recorded or selected and mapped, the Runner application uploads and downloads data using shuttle files (.TxR and QsQ) paired with an Excel template.

Deployment options

• Runner works with almost any SAP query created with Query or SAP transaction recording created with Transaction. Winshuttle has customers who deploy Runner with SAP versions R/3 4.7, ECC5 and ECC6.
• Runner is an entirely client-side install product that requires a Windows desktop with Microsoft Office installed. Additional security authorization objects may need to be added to SAP security profiles for certain Transaction recordings. The Winshuttle Function Module may be required for SAP queries developed with Query that use more than one table or use advanced querying capabilities.
• Those using Transaction or Query scripts only need a few SAP .dll files and do not require the full SAP GUI.