Häufig gestellte Fragen
What does GUI mean?
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface and refers to the visual layer of a software application through which people interact with the system. Instead of typing commands as text, users work with graphical elements such as windows, menus, buttons and input fields that can be operated by mouse, keyboard or touch. In an ERP system, the GUI is the central point of contact between the business processes running in the background and the people who enter orders or create reports every day. The quality of this interface largely determines how efficiently and with how few errors a software product can be used.
What is the difference between a GUI and a CLI?
A CLI (Command-Line Interface) is a text-based form of operation in which users enter commands as character strings, while a GUI enables control via visible graphical elements such as windows, buttons and menus. The decisive advantage of the GUI is direct manipulation: options are visible and require less prior knowledge than memorised commands, which significantly lowers the entry barrier. In the ERP environment, the GUI therefore dominates as the interface for business users, while command lines live on mainly in system administration, database maintenance and scripting. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive but address different user groups and tasks.
What is the difference between a GUI and an API?
A GUI and an API are both interfaces, but they address fundamentally different counterparts: the GUI is designed for operation by humans, while an API (Application Programming Interface) serves machine-to-machine communication between software systems. Via the GUI, a clerk puts an order together by clicking; via an API, an online shop and the ERP, for example, exchange order data automatically and without human intervention. Both typically access the same underlying business logic but present it in completely different ways. When evaluating an ERP system, both aspects are therefore relevant because they cover different integration scenarios.
Which GUI does SAP S/4HANA have?
SAP S/4HANA uses SAP Fiori as its central interface, a role-based, tile-driven user experience concept that runs in the browser and works on desktop, tablet and smartphone. Fiori replaced the classic SAP GUI as the primary user interface, though the latter remains available for certain customizing and administration tasks as well as for power users, and can even be accessed via the Fiori launchpad. SAP positions Fiori as a modern access point oriented towards user roles that bundles relevant applications via personalisable launchpads. This example merely illustrates the range of vendor-specific interface concepts and does not constitute an assessment.
How important is the GUI in ERP selection?
The GUI is a central criterion in ERP selection because it significantly influences user acceptance, training effort and data quality. Experience shows that a cumbersome interface leads users to resort to workarounds such as Excel (shadow IT), causing the ERP to lose its value as the central data source. More meaningful than pure looks are consistency of operation, the number of clicks for frequent tasks, keyboard support for heavy users, responsiveness and the adaptability to a company's own processes. A practical test with real tasks in a demo or sandbox environment is recommended, ideally carried out by the future users themselves.
Does an ERP GUI have to be accessible?
With the German Accessibility Improvement Act (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, BFSG), which came into force in Germany on 28 June 2025, stricter accessibility requirements apply to digital products and services, the exact scope of which depends on the specific use case. The technical requirements are based on the European standard EN 301 549, whose web section refers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at levels A and AA. These include, among other things, full keyboard operability, sufficient colour contrast, alternative texts and a clear content structure. Whether and to what extent a specific ERP interface falls under this should be legally assessed on a case-by-case basis, but accessibility is a sensible quality feature for the broad usability of a software product regardless.
Where does the concept of the graphical user interface come from?
The graphical user interface largely goes back to research at Xerox PARC in the 1970s, where from 1973 the Xerox Alto computer was the first to demonstrate core elements of modern GUIs, such as windows, the mouse and the desktop metaphor, in one system. These building blocks are now summarised under the acronym WIMP, coined only around 1980, which stands for Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointer (a pointing device such as the mouse). The Xerox Star, released in 1981, was the first commercial implementation and strongly influenced later systems such as the Apple Lisa and Macintosh as well as desktop computing as a whole. Today's ERP interfaces thus stand in a long line of the principle of direct manipulation, even though they now frequently run in the browser rather than as locally installed applications.