Solution Composer v/s Visual Composer

Question

I was wondering if Solution Composer is the appropriate tool to perform AS-IS business process mapping of a system. Is Visual Composer a better alternative?
If I edit and customize a solution in the Solution Composer, will it port to Solution Manager?

Answer 1

Kevin,
The answer depends on what you are trying to accomplish, also you should understand that there is a key difference between the two tool sets you mention.
Solution Composer is a high level representation of SAP capability across the different processes and industries. Since it is customisable, it is useful for showing at a high level a map between SAP enabled scenarios and a given current business model. Visual Composer is a tool that can do two things, 1) Create simple composite applications running on NW 7.0 portal as iViews :  2) Used as a reporting tool in the same scenario as option 1.
If you are trying to do an AS-IS of an existing SAP system and do not have a documented Business Blueprint linked to a Business Process Hierarchy in Solution Manager then the answer may be yes, you could possbily use Solution Composer.
However if this was more of a normal AS-IS situation covering business processes on non SAP enabled systems you may be better off doing the AS-IS using a tool such as ARIS (or other modelling tools such as Casewise or Livemodel). Even Visio used in a structured way combined with a generic Business Process Procedure document (in word format) would work. This depends on wether your organisation has a formal approach to Business Process Management.
By the way, you can save Solution Composer models as HTML files, these could then be uploaded and stored within a BPH template on Solution Manager at either Scenario or Process level.