ERP MARKET
Some of the top-tier ERP vendors are SAPAG, BAAN, PeopleSoft, Oracle Application
and J.D.Edwards. These companies are
covering the major ERP market revenue.
SAP AG:COMPANY PROFILE
SAP (System Applications & Products in data
processing) . SAP is the world's leading provider of
business software, SAP delivers products and services
that help accelerate business innovation for their
customers. Today, more than 82,000 customers in
more than 120 countries run SAP applications – from
distinct solutions addressing the needs of small
businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings
for global organizations.
SAP defines business software as comprising
enterprise resource planning and related applications
such as supply chain management, customer
relationship management, and supplier relationship
management
• SAP AG was founded in 1972 by five German engineers
with IBM in Mannheim, Germany; and is one of the top
most ERP vendors providing the client server business
application solutions.
• SAP serves as a standard in the industries like
chemicals, customer products, oil & high technology.
The SAP group has offices in more than 50 countries
worldwide & employs a workforce of over 19300.
• SAP’s ERP package comes in 2 versions i.e. mainframe
version (SAP R/2) & client server version (SAP R/3).(RReal)
• With SAP, customers can install the core system & one
or more of the fundamental components, or purchase
the software as a complete package.
PRODUCTS & TECHNOLOGY
• SAP has developed extensive library of more than 800
predefined business processes.
• These processes may be selected from SAP library & can
be included within installed SAP application solution to
suit the user exact requirements.
• SAP software has special features like, linking a
company’s business processes & applications, &
supporting immediate responses to change throughout
different organizational levels & real time integration.
• Also, the new technologies are available regularly to
cop-up with the changes of the new business trends.
• The international standards have been considered while
designing the software like support of multiple
currencies simultaneously, automatically handles the
country specific import/export requirements
• The modules of R/3 can be used individually as well as
user can expand it in stages to meet specific
requirement's
R/2 in the Late 1970s
In 1978 SAP began developing, and the
following year released, R/2 (R for "realtime"),
a
mainframe-based,
standard
business software suite in which Integrate
able modules for accounting, sales and
distribution,
and
production
enabled
customers to consolidate their financial and
operational data into a single database and
eliminate costly paperwork and data entry.
Because the modules were self-standing,
businesses could select only those they
needed, which could then be further
customized to their unique requirements.
R/3 Development in the 1980s
• As R/2's potential began to peak in the mid-1980s,
Plattner and company's former employer, IBM,
announced a new "system applications architecture"
(SAA) technology Seeing the ramifications of such
integrity ability for its own products, in 1987 SAP
began developing R/3 for use in the decentralized,
non-mainframe computing environment known as
client-server. In client-server arrangements, data is
processed not by a single costly mainframe but by
many cheaper networked "server" computers, which
display their data on flexibly arrange able PCs called
"clients." While R/2 focused on providing data
processing solutions for static, individual functions of
business operations, such as inventory tracking or
shipping, R/3 was designed to allow a business to
view its entire business operation as a single
integrated process in which data entered into any
single application in the system would simultaneously
be registered in every other.
Introduction of R/3 in the 1990s
• After five years in development, R/3 had
been launched with the expectation that it
would complement R/2's multinationaloriented niche by extending SAP's reach into
the mid-sized, less mainframe-dominated
business software market. Unexpectedly,
however, R/3's release coincided with a
growing trend toward corporate downsizing,
and even SAP's largest customers began
eyeing R/3 as a less labor-intensive
replacement for R/2. R/3 was suddenly hot,
and virtually overnight SAP had translated its
reputation as Germany's wunderfirma to the
global stage.
SAP R/3
• SAP R/3 is a computer system that is designed to
support complete business management tasks of a
corporation, company or institution. SAP R/3 is used
in business systems to handle invoice payment,
production resource management and financial
account
control.
These
specific
tasks
are
accomplished by employing application modules,
often described with acronyms such as MM
(materials management) and SD (sales and
distribution).
• Modules process information through each and
every component of the organization, using one
secure R/3 system to share relevant information
between parts of the organization, keeping the
corporation up-to-date on latest technology and
data information. A common database is employed
among each of the mid-sized to large-size
corporations that utilize R/3. R/3 may also be used
by small business, allowing business to prosper
without having to worry about changing systems.
• An additional benefit to using SAP R/3 is
that it combines with a corporation’s
previously existing computer system. R/3
uses the ABAP/4 programming language
and allows for the possibility of several
computers of differing manufacturers to
conjoin into one solid working database,
operating in the open system or
client/server environments. SAP R/3 is a
Windows and Menus driven application
containing graphical objects.
R/3 APPLICATION MODULE:
• The R/3 system provides a flexible
organizational structure.
• It can connect all the business processes
together & every employee could have
fast access to the required information.
• The in house staff can do work easily with
reference
ABAP/4R
development
workbench, which is an integral part of
R/3. R/3 application modules are either
used alone or in combination with other
solutions.
• Following are some R/3 modules:
– Financial Accounting: it collects & controls the data relevant
to financial accounting. It provides reports & documentations &
comprehensive information.
– Treasury: this module provides a complete solution for
efficient financial management. Treasury module helps in
ensuring the liquidity of your company worldwide structures,
the asset profitability & minimizes risks.
– Controlling: This module has a uniform reporting system for
company wide controlling with all procedures & controls content
of the company’s internal processes.
– Enterprise Controlling: This module has been designed to
monitor the company’s success factors & performance
indicators on the basis of management information.
– Investment Management: This module offers integrated
management & processing of investment measures. This also
participates in pre investment analysis, depreciation simulation.
Investment management monitors the projects from planning
to settlement.
– Production Planning: this provides all types of
manufacturing strategies, from repetitive MTO & ATO,
through processes, lot & MTS manufacturing, to integrated
supply chain management.
– Material Management: It manages the purchasing
processes with workflow driven processing functions. This
also handles warehouse management & integrates invoice
verification.
– Plant Maintenance & Service Management: this allows
the planning, control & processing of the inspection,
maintenance, damages & service management.
– Quality Management: this offers all processes relevant to
your quality assurance along with supply chain, co-ordinates
inspection processing & integrates laboratory information
systems.
• R/3 also provides its applications in HR managements, project
management, sales & distribution with all standard business
processes & functionality.
Some of the main advantages of using SAP
R/3 are listed below:
• The R/3 software package is designed to allow
businesses to effectively and efficiently operate a
variety of business processes within a single integrated
information system.
• The software is customizable using SAP's proprietary
programming language, ABAP/4. R/3 is scalable and
highly suited for many types and sizes of organizations
and runs on six different platforms.
 SAP’s partnership with technology, service companies,
hardware manufactures & database providers helps to
provide a complete business solution.
 This client/server solution is infinitely expandable & can
be used with anywhere between 30 & several thousand
end users. This ensures that R/3 can always grow with
the growing requirement of company.