What is SAP (System Applications Products)

What is SAP (System Applications Products)?

The following articles guides you everything about SAP ERP Systems. The first
question which arises in our mind “what is SAP” ? and what is SAP ERP
software?, which is the best SAP module and which module has a best scope
for bright future ??

What does SAP stands for – SAP stands for Systems, Applications and
Products in data processing.

● SAP is the fourth largest software company in the world.

● The SAP R/3 system is a business software package designed to integrate
all areas of a business.
● It provides end to end solutions for financials, manufacturing, logistics,
distribution etc.
● All business processes are executed in one SAP system and sharing
common information with everyone.

SAP Tutorials

SAP is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system by SAP AG, company

based out of Walldorf in Germany. AG is derived from the German word
AKtiengesellschaft. According to German Language SAP Stands for Systeme,
Anwendungen und Produkte in Der Datenverarbeitung. SAP software suite
that is being implemented as part of re-engineering and Provides end to end
solutions for financial, logistics, distribution, inventories. Present scenario
large number of companies are using sap software for their day to day business
activities.

After the hugely successful R/3, SAP created more and more niche software
like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SRM, XI (now called Process
Integration or PI) and once again living up to the standards of SAP by
maintaining tight integration with their core ECC software. The newest version
of the suite is SAP ECC 6.0.
SAP History
SAP Founded in and around 1972 by five IBM engineers Hopp, Wellenreuther,
Hector, Tschira and Plattner.

SAP R/1 :– The first version of SAP software was launched in and around
1972 known as the “R/1 system. R” stands for real-time data processing. it is
one tier architecture in which three layers Presentation, Application and
Database are installed in one system/server

(one – Presentation + Application + Database)

SAP R/2 :– In 1979 second version of SAP R/2 was released. with IBM’s
database and a dialogue-oriented business application. SAP R/2 to handle
different languages and currencies. R/2 is 2 tier architecture in which three
layers Presentation, Application and Database are installed in two separate
server.

(Server one – Presentation, Server two – Application + Database

SAP R/3 :– SAP upgraded R/2 to R/3. SAP R/3 is the client/server version of
the software and it is 3 tier architecture in which three layers Presentation,
Application and data base are installed in three server/system.

Server one – Presentation, Server Two – Application, server Three – Database

Products of SAP
● SAP R/3 and R/3 Enterprise
● mySAP Business Suite
● SAP ERP
● SAP Industry Solutions
● SAP xApps
● SAP Solution Manager

Industry Solutions of SAP

SAP R/3 – Modules & Integration

SAP Functional Modules

● FICO – Finance & Control

● PP – Production Planning
● MM – Material Management
● SD – Sales & Distribution
● HR – Human Resources
● CRM – Customer Relationship Management

SAP Technical Modules

● ABAP – Advanced business applications programming

● XI – Exchange Infrastructure
● Net viewer
● Basis
● BIW – Business Information Warehousing

What is SAP FICO ?

SAP FICO Stands for FI (Financial Accounting) and CO
(Controlling). SAP FICO is the imp module of ERP and both Finance
and Controlling modules stores the financial transactions data. The
‘FI (Financial Accounting)’ records, collects, and processes financial
transactions or information on a real-time basis to provide the necessary inputs
for external (statutory) reporting purpose. SAP CO plays an important role for
the management decision making purpose and for the internal reporting
purpose. Read More for SAP FICO

FICO contains the following sub-modules.

FI CO
General Ledger
Cost Element Accounting
accounting
Accounts Receivables Cost Center Accounting
Accounts Payable Profit Center Accounting
Asset Accounting Internal Orders
Bank Accounting Product Cost Controlling
Consolidation Profitability Analysis
Special Purpose Ledger
Travel Management

What is SAP MM ?
SAP MM ( Material Management ) is one of the imp module in SAP ERP
software and it supports the procurement and inventory functions occurring in
day-to-day business operations. This MM module contains many aspects such
as purchasing, goods receiving, material storage, consumption-based planning,
and inventory. SAP MM module is fully integrated with other modules in the
SAP R/3 System such as FICO, SD, QM, PM, PP, and WM. Read More for SAP
MM

SAP PP
The Production Planning application module is used to plan and control the
manufacturing activities of a company. consists of all system
configuration, master data, , and complete solution to Produce process. Read
more for SAP PP Training

SAP SD ?
SAP SD ( Sales and Distribution ) is important module of SAP and it is a part of
logistics. The main activities of SD are sales order handling, distribution of
shipments to customers, billing process, customer invoice, delivery. SD module
is fully integrated with other modules in the SAP R/3 System such as Finance,
Purchasing(MM), Production Planning(PP). Read Mor for SAP SD

What is SAP HR ?
SAP Human Resources manages complete employee life cycle and payroll. All
aspects are covered from training to appraisal. Read more for SAP Human
Capital management

Advantages of SAP :-
● SAP software manages these business management tasks in modules
that all work together in one system by sharing information.
● Promoting consistent practice across an entire division
● No duplicate data
● Automate Project Monitoring and Multi dimensional and flexible
reporting
● Standardization of business processes
● Make Planning, Scheduling, Tracking and Management easier leaving
more time for you to perform value-added work
● Ability to provide clear cut job roles with authorizations
● Enabling integration with e-commerce
● Cost Savings on overheads such as Stationery, File Storage, etc

Why – SAP R/3 software has been successful

● Multi-Lingual
● Secure Information
● Multi-Currency
● Best business Practice
● Enterprise-Wide
● Real time processing with an integrated suite of client/server applications

SAP R/3 Architecture

SAP Systems contains three layers such as Presentation Layer, Application Layer and
Database Layer.

● Presentation: – It is a layer where the user work with SAP GUI. It interacts
with database layer via Application layer.
● Application: – It interacts between presentation and database layer
● Database: – It is a central database that stores all the data of ERP SAP
Systems.

SAP Business Suites

SAP offering various applications along with the ERP SAP to meet the customer
requirement. The important applications of SAP are as follows.

● SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM)

● SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM)
● SAP Product Life Cycle Management (SAP PLM)
● SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM)
● SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO)

Phases of SAP Implementation project

● Phase 1 – Project Preparation,

● Phase 2 – Business Blueprint,
● Phase 3 – Realization,
● Phase 4 – Final Preparation,
● Phase 5 – Go-Live and support

What is Baan
The Baan Corporation was created by Jan Baan in 1978 in Barneveld, Netherlands, to
provide financial and administrative consulting services. With the development of his first
software package, Jan Baan and his brother Paul Baan entered what was to become the ERP
industry. The Baan company focused on the creation of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
software.
Jan Baan developed his first computer program on Durango F-85 computers in BASIC
language. In the early ’80s, Baan Company began to develop application on Unix computers
with C and self-developed Baan-C language, whose syntax was very similar to BASIC
language.[1]
Baan gained its popularity in the early nineties. Baan software is famous for its Dynamic
Enterprise Modeler (DEM), technical architecture and its 4GL language. Baan 4GL and Tools
nowadays is still considered to be one of the most efficient and productive database
application development platforms. Baan became a real threat to market leader SAP after
winning a large Boeing deal in 1994. It went IPO in 1995 and became a public listed
company in Amsterdam and US Nasdaq. Several large consulting firms throughout the world
partnered to implement Baan IV for multi-national companies. It acquired several other
software companies to enrich its product porfolio, including Aurum, Berclain, Coda and Caps
Logistics. Sales growth rate was once claimed to reach 91% per year.
However the fall of the Baan Company began in 1998. The management exaggerated
company revenue by booking “sales” of software licenses that were actually transferred to a
related distributor. The discovery of this “creative” revenue manipulation led to a sharp
decline of Baan’s stock price at the end of 1998.[2]
In June 2000, facing worsening financial difficulties, law suits and reporting seven
consecutive quarterly losses and bleak prospects, Baan was sold at a price of US$700
million to Invensys,[3] a UK automation, controls, and process solutions group to become a
unit of its Software and Services Division. Laurens van der Tang was the president of this
unit. With the acquisition of Baan, Invensys’s CEO Allen Yurko began to offer “Sensor to
Boardroom” solutions to customers.
In June 2003, after Allen Yurko stepped down, Invensys sold its Baan unit to SSA Global
Technologies for US$ 135 million.
Upon acquiring the Baan software, SSA renamed Baan as SSA ERP Ln. In August 2005, SSA
Global released a new version of Baan, named SSA ERP LN 6.1. In May 2006, SSA was
acquired by Infor Global Solutions of Atlanta, which was a major ERP consolidator in the
market.

Product version

Triton 1.0 to 2.2d, 3.0 to last version of Triton is 3.1bx, then the product is renamed to
Baan
Baan 4.0 (last version of BaanIV is BaanIVc4 SP30) & Industry extensions (A&D,…)
Baan 5.0 (last version of BaanV is Baan5.0 c SP26)
Baan 5.1, 5.2 (for specific customers only)
SSA ERP 6.1 /Infor ERP LN 6.1 / Infor10 ERP Enterprise
ERP Ln 6.1 FP6, released in December, 2009
ERP Ln 6.1 FP7, released in January, 2011 – latest version
Infor ERP Ln 6.1 supports Unicode and comes with additional language translations.
[edit]Supported Platform and Database (Server)

Introduction to Oracle
Oracle is a product from Oracle corporation that provides a relational

database management system. RDBMS supports any kind of data model. It

has different product editions, including Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition,

Express Edition, and Personal Edition. Oracle products are scalable and

secure, with high-performance ability.

What is Oracle?
Its database is also known as Oracle. It is a multi-model relational database

management system, mainly designed for enterprise grid computing and data

warehousing.
Its database currently comes in five different editions based on the available

features.

● Standard Edition One: It is suitable for single-server or highly branched

business applications with limited features.

● Standard Edition: It delivers all facilities provided in Standard Edition

One. In addition, it provides larger machine support and Oracle Real

Application clustering service.

● Enterprise Edition: This edition is packed with features like security,

performance, scalability, and availability, required for highly-critical

applications in which online transaction processing is involved.

● Express Edition: It is an entry-level edition that is free to download,

install, manage, develop and deploy.

● Personal Edition: It comes with the same Enterprise edition features

except Oracle Real Application Clustering.

Features
An Oracle database offers the following features to meet the requirements of

powerful database management:

● Scalability and Performance: Features like Real Application

Clustering and Portability make a database scalable according to its

 usage. In a multiuser database, it is required to control data consistency

and concurrency which Oracle contemplates.

● Availability: Real-time applications require high data availability. High-

performing computing environments are configured to provide all-time

data availability. Data is available during the time of planned or

unplanned downtimes and failures.

● Backup and Recovery: Its layout has complete recovery features to

recover data from almost all kinds of failures. In case of failure, the

database needs to be recovered within no time for high availability.

Unaffected parts of data are available while the affected ones are

getting recovered.

● Security: Securing the data is always the top priority. It provides

mechanisms to control data access and usage. Implementing

authorization and editing user actions can prevent unauthorized access

and allow distinct access to the users.

Importance of Oracle
It is among the oldest companies which provide database management

solutions. The company has always focused on Enterprise requirements and

acknowledged the latest technology trends. That’s why its products are

always embellished with new features. For instance, the latest Oracle
database 19C is also available on Oracle Cloud. It offers users to choose from

the different database editions that suit their needs to provide a cost-effective

solution.

Benefits
We have talked about the features of its database. These features give Oracle

an edge over other competitors. Now, we will look at the advantages.

1. Performance: It has methodologies and principles to achieve high

performance. We can implement performance tuning in its database to

retrieve and alter data faster, in order to improve query execution time and

hence application operations.

2. Multiple Database: Its database supports managing multiple database

instances on a single server. It provides an Instance Caging method to

manage CPU allocations on a server running the database instances.

Instance caging works with the database resource manager to manage

services over multiple instances.

3. Editions: As we discussed above, about the different editions Oracle

offers, it benefits the users to purchase editions as per their application

requirements. They can seamlessly update the edition if their requirements

change in the future. If you want to learn and do some hands-on Oracle, you
can download and install the express edition database which is absolutely

free.

4. Clusters: It uses Real Application Clusters to provide a high data

availability system. The database with RAC has benefits over traditional

database servers :

● Scaling the database over multiple instances.

● Load balancing

● Data redundancy and availability

● Flexible to increase processing capacity

5. Failure Recovery: RMAN (Recovery Manager) is the feature of an Oracle

DB which recover or restore the database files during downtimes and

outages. It supports online, archived backups and continuous archiving. Users

can also SQL* PLUS for recovery, called user-managed recovery, which is

supported by it. There is an export utility available in the database to add

user-managed backups.

6. PL/SQL: The database supports PL/SQL extension for procedural

programming.