MDG Interview - Real MDG Functional. Selected candidate. No ABAP.

SAP MDG Interview – Questions and Answers

1. Experience Overview

Question

Can you briefly describe your experience? How many years of experience do you have in SAP, ABAP, SAP MDG, or any other functional areas?

Answer

I have SAP experience, including SAP MDG experience.

I have worked with:

- Material Master - Customer - Supplier - Business Partner - Finance - Other MDG objects

In my previous implementation project, I worked on master data solution gathering, requirement discussions, solution walkthroughs, and system configuration across multiple domains.

2. ABAP and Functional Experience

Question

You have ABAP experience as well, right?

Answer

Yes. I have ABAP experience and some functional experience. However, currently I am less involved in technical development.

3. SAP MDG Configuration

Question

Can you perform SAP MDG configurations?

Answer

Yes. I work with end-to-end MDG configurations.

I have worked on:

- Workflow configuration - BRFplus - Rule-based workflow - Data Quality Management - Validations - IDoc configurations - Web service integrations

4. Data Model Enhancements and Relationships

Question

Have you worked on data model enhancements? Do you understand relationship types?

Answer

Yes. I have worked on data models and relationships.

The relationship types include:

- Leading relationship - Referencing relationship - Qualifying relationship

I have also worked with cardinality.

5. Entity Types

Question

Can you explain which entity types are available in SAP MDG?

Answer

There are different entity types, including basic and dependent entity types.

There are four usage types for entity types. For changeable entities, generated database tables are created. Depending on the usage type, check tables and text tables may also be involved.

6. Cardinality

Question

What does cardinality 1:1 mean?

Answer

Cardinality 1:1 means that the relationship has a minimum of one and a maximum of one occurrence. One entity instance is related to exactly one instance of the corresponding entity.

7. UI for a 1:1 Relationship

Question

What kind of UI will a 1:1 relationship create?

Answer

It will create a form-based UI.

8. Type-4 Entity in Business Partner

Question

In Business Partner, how do we configure a new Type-4 entity, and where do we perform the general configuration?

Answer

We first create/configure the custom entity in the MDG data model.

The configuration is performed under MDG General Settings → Data Modeling, where the entity can be created with Usage Type 4.

The required fields also need to be added at the backend table level.

For Business Partner enhancements, tables such as BUT000 and the corresponding extension tables may be involved.

After that, we go to the GenIL Model Browser.

There, we enhance the root object and add the required dependent object under the root object.

9. Impact of Not Enhancing GenIL

Question

If we do not perform the GenIL enhancement, what will be the impact?

Answer

The standard component needs to be enhanced. If the GenIL component is not enhanced, the new object or fields will not properly interact with the backend layer.

The integration between the UI/component layer and backend APIs will not work as expected.

10. Handler Class vs. GenIL

Question

But isn't interaction with the active tables the job of the handler class?

Answer

Yes. We also need to create or enhance the handler class.

Follow-up Question

Then what is the job of GenIL?

Answer

GenIL provides the interaction between the UI/component layer and the backend API layer. Standard components use the GenIL model to interact with the underlying business objects and backend functionality.

11. Rule Context Workflow

Question

Have you worked on rule-context workflows?

Answer

Yes. I have worked with rule-context operations and the corresponding BAdI.

For example, if Company Code needs to be added as an additional column in the BRFplus single-value decision table, a context operation can be used to provide that information to the workflow.

12. Rule Context Workflow Scenario

Question

Tell me a scenario where you implemented a rule-context workflow.

Answer

We had a scenario where workflow routing depended on a combination of master-data-related attributes.

Based on this combination, the change request had to be routed to different users.

The required information was obtained from the UI/change-request context and supplied to the workflow using context-operation mapping.

13. Parallel Change Request Workflow

Question

Have you configured a parallel Change Request workflow?

Answer

Yes, I have configured parallel workflows.

Follow-up Question

Tell me a scenario.

Answer

One scenario involved a Change Request containing data for multiple company codes. Different departments or approvers needed to review the data at the same time rather than sequentially.

Parallel workflow was used so that the approvals could happen simultaneously.

14. Parallel Approval Configuration

Question

How do you configure a workflow for parallel approvals?

Answer

We configure the workflow so that multiple approval branches can be triggered in parallel.

Using BRFplus/rule-based workflow configuration, the workflow can determine the relevant approvers or departments and create parallel approval work items.

The parallel branches are then handled according to the configured workflow logic.

15. Inbound Integration Scenarios

Question

What kind of inbound integration scenarios have you worked on?

Answer

I have worked on inbound integrations involving systems such as:

- Procurement/cloud platforms - CRM platforms - PLM systems - Other external interfaces

16. PLM vs. Procurement Platform Integration

Question

What is the difference between the integration approach for PLM and a cloud procurement platform?

Answer

For PLM integration with Material Master, middleware can be used, and IDoc-based interfaces can also be implemented.

For a cloud procurement platform, the integration approach is different because cloud integration is generally involved. Integration flows and the corresponding cloud integration configuration need to be maintained.

A cloud integration gateway or middleware platform can be used to integrate the procurement platform with SAP MDG.

17. Mapping Missing Fields

Question

How did you perform mapping for fields that were missing between the source procurement system and SAP MDG? Can you give an example?

Answer

If a required source-system field does not exist in the standard MDG interface, the field needs to be mapped and added at the relevant structure level.

An extension can be created in the interface structure so that the additional field can be transferred.

18. Adding Fields to the Interface Structure

Question

How do you add that field? Which transaction do you use?

Answer

We identify the relevant proxy/interface structure and then identify the underlying DDIC structure.

The custom field is then added to the appropriate structure or extension structure.

19. BAdI for Inbound Integration

Question

Do you need to implement any BAdI?

Answer

Yes. Depending on the integration requirement, an SAP MDG inbound-processing BAdI can be implemented to process or map the inbound data.

20. Partner Profile

Question

Where do you configure a partner profile?

Answer

Partner profiles are configured using transaction WE20.

21. Reconciliation and Custom Tables

Question

For reconciliation, have you configured custom tables?

Answer

Yes, I have worked with custom tables for reconciliation-related requirements.

22. DQM Business Rules

Question

What kind of business rules have you implemented in Data Quality Management?

Answer

I have implemented validation rules.

For DQM rules, we define the relevant scope and expressions and configure the validation logic.

Where required, the corresponding classes or backend implementations are used to support the validation logic.

BRFplus can also be involved in the backend rule implementation, depending on the scenario.

23. Rule Mining

Question

Have you worked on rule mining?

Answer

Yes. I am aware of rule mining and related scorecards, and rule mining has been implemented in projects I worked on. However, I was not directly responsible for the rule-mining implementation.

24. ABAP Questions

Question

Should I ask you questions on ABAP as well?

Answer

Currently, I am not working extensively on ABAP or backend development, so I would prefer to focus on the MDG functional and solution areas.

25. Current Role

Question

What is your current role?

Answer

I currently work in a solution-oriented and client-facing role.

My responsibilities include:

- Requirement gathering - Conducting workshops - Solution walkthroughs and demonstrations - Client-facing discussions - Preparing solution design documents - Configuration - Preparing test scripts - Preparing test documentation

26. Determining Whether Governance Should Be Implemented

Question

Suppose a client asks you directly whether they should implement governance and for which data model they should implement it. What questions would you ask them?

Answer

I would first understand whether they are planning to use a standard data model or a custom data model.

If they require a custom model, we need to understand the business requirements and determine whether the standard model can be extended or whether a separate custom model is required.

27. MDG With or Without Governance

Follow-up Question

But you have to propose whether they should go with MDG governance or without governance. How would you determine that?

Answer

I would first understand their master data creation and change processes.

With MDG governance, we can implement:

- Controlled master data creation and change processes - Approval workflows - Role-based processing - Duplicate detection - Validation - Governance rules - Change Request-based processing

If the organization requires controlled approvals, validation, role-based responsibilities, duplicate prevention, and governed creation/change processes, governance can be used.

If they do not require a governed workflow process, an alternative non-governance approach can be considered.

The recommendation would therefore depend on how they want to create and change master data, which users or roles should participate, and whether approvals and governance controls are required.

28. IDoc vs. Web Service for ECC Replication

Question

The client has an ECC system. Should they replicate the data using IDocs or web services?

Answer

I would suggest considering the IDoc mechanism for ECC replication.

Follow-up Question

Why?

Answer

IDocs are well established in ECC and can be comparatively straightforward to implement for relevant master-data replication scenarios.

Web services can also be implemented, but depending on the scenario they may require additional service configuration and implementation effort.

Therefore, for an ECC target system, IDoc-based integration can be a practical approach.

Also, Business Partner is optional in many ECC scenarios, whereas Business Partner is mandatory in S/4HANA. This difference also needs to be considered while designing the replication approach.

Candidate Questions to Interviewer

29. Type of Projects

Candidate Question

What kind of projects are available? Are they implementation projects or rollout projects?

Interviewer Answer

The projects are primarily implementation projects.

Production support projects are also available, but they are less likely compared with implementation work.

Interview Closing

Interviewer

That's all from my side regarding the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to ask?

Candidate

No, I'm fine. Thank you.

Interviewer

Thank you.

Candidate

Thank you.