There’s a New Alternative to Legacy SAP Mobile Solutions That You May Want to Look Into

There’s a Better Alternative to Legacy SAP Mobile Solutions—And It’s Worth Your Attention

Learn why—and how—you should migrate from ITS Mobile, SAPConsole, and Windows mobile apps to Havensight Inventory One, and what the migration process looked like for two global companies that have already made the move.

Too many companies around the world are still relying on legacy mobile apps to interface with SAP—particularly for inventory management. Many are still using SAP’s ITS Mobile, the SAPConsole successor, or their own custom Windows mobile apps to collect and manage SAP data for their inventory operations.

If your company is one of them, here’s a word of caution: these mobile apps are no longer sustainable. They carry serious security vulnerabilities, offer limited support for evolving business processes, and many are now incompatible with current mobile device operating systems and hardware.

If you’ve been holding on to legacy apps to avoid the time, cost, or disruption of change, let’s talk about why that strategy is becoming increasingly risky—and why the path forward is clearer and more established than you might think.

Why SAP’s ITS Mobile and SAPConsole Are No Longer Sustainable

The technology needed to move forward—SAP UI5—is well-established and proven. When SAP introduced UI5 in 2010 as its HTML5 framework for developing secure, modern, and highly responsive web-based mobile apps, the goal was straightforward: standardize the user experience across all job roles while closing the vulnerabilities, limitations, and compatibility issues of legacy SAP mobile solutions.

Since then, SAP UI5 has delivered on every promise. It allows organizations to migrate all SAP-compatible mobile apps to a new framework, new hardware, and current operating systems—restoring security, enabling future development, and significantly improving the frontline execution experience through simpler interfaces, touch-enabled workflows, and faster performance.

Many global companies have made this migration over the past decade. Two of them offer particularly instructive examples.

But first—let’s be direct about why staying on ITS Mobile or SAPConsole is no longer a viable path.

The Problems Are Real—and Compounding

For one global gaming products company, the breaking point came when security vulnerabilities, development limitations, and incompatibility with current mobile operating systems became impossible to manage. The company was using a legacy Telnet-based inventory application to connect to SAP through SAPConsole—but the interactions between SAPConsole and its Telnet server were not secure in today’s threat environment. On top of that, several mobile inventory transactions had broken over time as a result of upgrades to business processes and the SAP backend. There was no path to fix these issues while staying on SAPConsole and legacy hardware.

For Zekelman Industries, an international steel products company, the problem was hardware. The legacy Windows CE mobile devices the company relied on were no longer supported or available on the market—not even as refurbished units. Windows CE was no longer receiving security updates, and Zekelman no longer had the development resources to extend or maintain the custom application built on it. With 400 users unable to be equipped with functional, secure mobile tools, something had to change. The company made the decision to move to enterprise-grade Android devices from Zebra—and that hardware decision made the software decision unavoidable.

In both cases, what started as manageable technical debt had accumulated into a business risk that could no longer be deferred.

The Solution: Havensight Inventory One

To resolve their legacy SAP mobile app challenges, both Zekelman and the global gaming company worked with Havensight Consulting to deploy Havensight Inventory One (H1)—an SAP-native warehouse and inventory execution platform built on SAP UI5.

H1 is not a GUI wrapper or a re-skin of SAP screens. It is a purpose-built execution platform with configurable, prebuilt workflows that handle inventory transactions with a direct SAP connection, an intuitive scan-and-touch interface, and no middleware dependencies. H1 addresses the core failures of legacy ITS Mobile and SAPConsole environments—poor connection handling, security vulnerabilities, cluttered screen layouts, slow response times, limited device compatibility, and the inability to evolve with changing business processes.

Both companies agreed to deploy H1 on new Zebra Android mobile devices—and both achieved results that went beyond simply resolving their legacy problems.

Deployment #1: Replacing SAPConsole for a Global Gaming Company

The gaming company needed its new SAP-native inventory execution app to render correctly on Zebra handheld, vehicle-mounted, and ring scanner devices. Security had to be maximally hardened, and the new solution needed to restore broken transactions while adding new capabilities the previous system couldn’t support.

Havensight conducted a full requirements analysis, documented the company’s existing workflows, and identified enhancements. Using Havensight Inventory One as the execution foundation—built on SAP UI5—the team built and configured the solution to meet every requirement:

  • All previously used transactions were replicated and restored—including those that had broken under SAPConsole.
  • New capabilities were added that the legacy system could not support.
  • The app connected to SAP via SAP NetWeaver Gateway, leveraging the secure infrastructure already in place on the SAP side.
  • The solution renders fully and correctly across all Zebra device types and screen sizes.
  • Screens were optimized to minimize scrolling and reduce the number of steps per transaction.
  • The solution went live to overwhelmingly positive user feedback.
  • No licensing fees. No limits on users or sites—maximizing long-term ROI.

Deployment #2: Replacing a Legacy Windows Mobile App for Zekelman Industries

Zekelman needed a new SAP warehouse execution app to support SAP IM and WM processes, run on Zebra Android devices, and maintain full integration with its existing SAP backend. The goal was to modernize without disrupting the underlying SAP processes that fit Zekelman’s operations well.

Havensight used a five-phase development methodology to scope the project, identify requirements, and align on priorities—including simplifying screens, consolidating data, and deploying new inventory transactions. A proof-of-concept engagement followed, giving both teams a clear view of how the app would look and function on the new hardware before development scaled.

Havensight Inventory One was then used to deliver the configured screens, workflows, business logic, and validations aligned with Zekelman’s SAP backend—using an agile sprint approach to address the largest pain points first, then iterating on smaller requirements. Developers also identified opportunities to streamline and eliminate legacy functionality that was no longer needed.

The solution was deployed to Zekelman’s production operations group with full train-the-trainer training, user acceptance testing, knowledge transfer, and go-live support. The results exceeded the original project goals:

  • 400 users were equipped with a future-ready SAP execution platform on supported, modern Zebra Android hardware.
  • Full integration with existing SAP backend processes was maintained—no re-engineering required.
  • Inventory transactions became faster, easier, and more accurate.
  • Screens, button sizes, audio prompts, and workflows were all significantly improved.
  • Stronger device authentication and security closed the gaps left by the legacy Windows CE environment.
  • The solution is now maintainable and extensible as Zekelman’s business needs evolve.
  • Deployable, manageable, and updatable via SOTI mobile device management.
  • No licensing fees. No limits on users or sites—maximizing long-term ROI.

Your Turn: Migrating Away from Legacy SAP Mobile

As these deployments illustrate, replacing a legacy SAP mobile app doesn’t have to be a purely defensive exercise. Done right, it’s an opportunity to improve business processes, eliminate technical debt, close security gaps, and deliver a warehouse execution experience that workers actually want to use.

Labor is scarce and expensive. Every transaction—and the time it takes to complete—matters. The cost of running outdated software with clunky workflows, unsupported hardware, and unresolved security vulnerabilities isn’t just technical risk—it’s operational and financial risk.

Havensight Inventory One provides a proven, configurable path forward—one that replaces slow, custom-built SAP mobile solutions with a platform that can be deployed faster, maintained more easily, and extended without accumulating new custom-code debt.

If you’re ready to explore what a migration to H1 looks like for your environment, connect with the Havensight team. We’re happy to start a conversation, share relevant case studies, and assess what modern SAP warehouse execution could look like for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions About Legacy SAP Mobile Solutions

ITS Mobile and SAPConsole are legacy SAP mobile frameworks that are no longer sustainable for modern warehouse operations. Key reasons to migrate include serious security vulnerabilities tied to Telnet-based connections and outdated authentication models, incompatibility with current mobile operating systems and hardware, poor connection handling with no offline capability, cluttered and inefficient screen layouts, slow response times, and limited ability to support evolving business processes. Both frameworks were designed for a generation of technology that is now decades old.

Havensight Inventory One (H1) is an SAP-native warehouse and inventory execution platform built on SAP UI5. It replaces ITS Mobile and SAPConsole with configurable, scan-and-touch execution workflows that connect directly to SAP—without middleware, Telnet dependencies, or GUI wrappers. H1 addresses all core ITS Mobile limitations: it includes built-in offline persistence, renders dynamically across modern device types and screen sizes, uses standard SAP authentication, and can be deployed and maintained without custom code accumulation. It is compatible with both SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA.

SAP UI5 is SAP’s HTML5-based mobile development framework, introduced in 2010 and now the preferred platform for current and future SAP mobile development. It enables cross-platform, enterprise-grade applications that work on Android, iOS, and Windows devices; support offline execution through OData and web service caching; use modern SAP authentication and security; render dynamically across all screen sizes and form factors; and are fully compatible with both SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA. Unlike ITS Mobile and SAPConsole, SAP UI5 is actively maintained and aligned with SAP’s long-term technology roadmap.

Zekelman Industries, an international steel products company with 400 mobile users, migrated from a custom Windows CE SAP inventory app to Havensight Inventory One after Windows CE lost vendor support, development resources became unavailable, and compatible devices could no longer be sourced on the market. The migration was executed using a five-phase development methodology, a proof-of-concept phase, and an agile sprint approach—resulting in a new SAP execution platform on Zebra Android devices that maintained full SAP backend integration, improved transaction speed and accuracy, strengthened security, and delivered a future-ready solution with no user or site licensing fees.

After deploying Havensight Inventory One, Zekelman Industries achieved: successful migration of 400 users to supported Zebra Android devices, full maintained integration with existing SAP backend processes, faster and more accurate inventory transactions, significantly improved user interface with optimized screens and workflows, major IT security improvements through modern authentication, long-term maintainability as business needs evolve, SOTI MDM-based deployment and management, and no licensing fees or user/site limits—maximizing return on investment.

Yes. Havensight Inventory One is built on SAP UI5 and designed to replace custom legacy SAP mobile apps, including Windows CE and Windows Mobile solutions. The migration approach uses H1’s configurable workflow templates as the execution foundation, adapted to match the customer’s existing SAP backend processes and business requirements—eliminating the need to rebuild from scratch while modernizing the execution experience, security, device support, and long-term maintainability.

Havensight Inventory One is delivered as a project-based implementation—not a SaaS subscription or per-user licensing model. There are no ongoing licensing fees and no limits on the number of users or sites, which maximizes the long-term return on investment compared to third-party WMS or SaaS-based SAP mobility solutions.

Migration timelines vary based on the number of transactions, sites, users, and the complexity of existing SAP backend processes. Havensight uses a structured five-phase methodology—including requirements analysis, proof-of-concept, agile development sprints, user acceptance testing, and go-live support—to manage migrations efficiently and minimize operational disruption. H1’s prebuilt, configurable workflow templates significantly reduce development time compared to building a replacement solution from scratch.

Yes. Because H1 is built entirely on native SAP technologies—SAP UI5, OData, and standard BAPIs—it is fully compatible with both SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA. Organizations can migrate from legacy SAP mobile apps to H1 today and carry that investment forward into their S/4HANA transition without re-implementation—avoiding the double cost of replacing both the legacy mobile app and the execution platform during an ERP migration.

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