Using the SAP LeanIX Application

When logging in to SAP LeanIX, you’ll always be connected to a specific workspace. Let’s explore what that looks like.

Companies will typically have one single productive workspace and one or possibly multiple test workspaces. The workspace defines the different types of objects that need to be modeled, and in SAP LeanIX terminology, these are named fact sheets. As explained in the previous section, each fact sheet type has several fields and relationships, which themselves can have fields too.

The figure below shows the top navigation bar that is always visible and allows navigation to the different application sections.

Let’s walk through each option on the navigation bar:

1 Dashboards

These combine selective data and reports, and you can use them to branch into deeper content. A dashboard can serve as a starting point for a specific use case and typically combines several graphical summarization reports. Even detailed object lists can be shown on dashboards.

2 Inventory

This provides access to all fact sheets. Inventories can be shown in list or table format, and flexible filters can reduce the number of specific fact sheets.

3 Reports

These are data-driven visualizations of fact sheets and their relationships. They come with drilldown capabilities and heatmapping, and they offer multiple layout options that fit into different use cases. Two generic report layouts are the most relevant ones because they are usable for all fact sheet types:

• Landscape (cluster report): This layout allows clustering of fact sheets by fields, parent hierarchies, or associated fact sheets, which themselves can be grouped into hierarchies.
• Matrix: While landscape reports allow one-dimensional clustering, a matrix allows two dimensions (rows and columns).

You can apply three other report types―Portfolio, Roadmap, and Radar―to multiple fact sheet types in the same manner, but they are typically used for more specific use cases. The following figure visualizes a total of five default report types.

4 Diagrams

These offer another way of visualizing fact sheets and their relationships, and users can usually lay them out manually. Filtering and heatmapping work in the same way in diagrams as in reports. While individually composed diagrams are widely adopted in other enterprise architecture tools, SAP LeanIX users should always ask themselves if they can’t depict the same semantics via a fully generated report.

5 Collaboration

This groups the following two functions:

• TO-DOS: This provides access to questions and answers or to-dos. The to-do menu entry guides you to a page listing the to-dos you created or to those assigned to you.
• SURVEY: This guides you to surveys assigned to you for further data collection and to the survey you created, so that you can further edit them and see the status of the collected responses.

6 Search (Jump to a Fact Sheet)

This allows you to search fact sheets of any type by name. It shows you a preview of results while you type, and it lets you jump to a specific fact sheet or to a filtered fact sheet list that matches the typed search string.

7 Invite

This sends an invitation to coworkers that identifies you as a viewer, member, or administrator, depending on your user rights. For example, a member can only invite other members or viewers but can’t invite someone else to become an administrator.

8 What’s new

This provides information on the latest product updates and bug fixes, and it highlights upcoming webinars.

9 Help

This offers help from multiple sources. Help can take the form of on-screen tours, online documentation, community feedback, and more.

10 Settings

These provide access to the following options:

• Personal settings like language preferences
• Switching to another workspace
• An administration area for comprehensive settings like meta model configuration, automation, notifications, and user administration
• Access to the SAP LeanIX Store, from which third-party extensions can be downloaded
• Switching from an administrator role to a member or viewer role to better test the security settings

One key selling point for SAP LeanIX is its out of-the-box, easy-to-use preconfiguration.

The areas the majority of users will navigate the most in are these ten navigation targets. They’re typically displayed in an adjustable navigation area on the left side of the screen to easily direct users to the content that’s relevant to them. When you’re accessing a specific inventory list, report, or diagram, a configurable filter panel replaces the navigation category area and allows you to filter down lists, reports, and diagrams to relevant subsets.

The panel on the right-hand side is typically used as an action panel that refers to additional data or recently viewed items. Within a diagram or a report, you can use the panel on the right to display the most important details from the selected fact sheet.

Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Enterprise Architecture with SAP: Planning, Management, and Transformation by Anup Das, Peter Klee, and Johannes Reichel. Anup is a chief enterprise architect and the regional delivery head for the SAP Transformation Hub in North America. He leads a team of enterprise architects and is responsible for accelerating business transformations for strategic customers. Peter leads the SAP Transformation Hub within the Customer Services and Delivery board area. He co-leads SAP’s overall enterprise architecture methodology as part of the cross-architecture program at SAP. Johannes is a principal enterprise architect within SAP Transformation Hub, focusing on global transformation and architecture planning for SAP clients. He is deeply involved in developing the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework and scaling enterprise architecture within SAP.

This post was originally published in 3/2025.