SAP’S RELEASE STRATEGY

For All Major Shipments From 2005 On

© Copyright 2004 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or for any purpose without the express permission of
SAP AG. The information contained herein may be changed
without prior notice.
Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distri-
butors contain proprietary software components of other
software vendors.
Microsoft, Windows, Outlook, and PowerPoint are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, OS/2, Parallel Sysplex,
MVS/ESA, AIX, S/390, AS/400, OS/390, OS/400, iSeries, pSeries,
xSeries, zSeries, z/OS, AFP, Intelligent Miner, WebSphere,
Netfinity, Tivoli, and Informix are trademarks or registered
trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States and/or
other countries.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.
UNIX, X/Open, OSF/1, and Motif are registered trademarks
of the Open Group.
Citrix, ICA, Program Neighborhood, MetaFrame, WinFrame,
VideoFrame, and MultiWin are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc.
2
HTML, XML, XHTML and W3C are trademarks or registered
trademarks of W3C®, World Wide Web Consortium,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.,
used under license for technology invented and implemented
by Netscape.
MaxDB is a trademark of MySQL AB, Sweden.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver,
and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well
as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks
of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over
the world. All other product and service names mentioned are
the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in
this document serves informational purposes only. National
product specifications may vary.
These materials are subject to change without notice. These
materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies
(“SAP Group”) for informational purposes only, without
representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall
not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials.
The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are
those that are set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein
should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
SAP’S RELEASE STRATEGY AT A GLANCE
When you decide to implement software, you enter a long-
term business relationship with the software manufacturer.
Therefore, SAP®’s release and maintenance strategy provides
planning reliability for your implementation and upgrade
projects as well as for optimal use of SAP applications and
SAP NetWeaver.
For all SAP software shipped from 2005 on, SAP will further
simplify its release and maintenance strategy. The strategy
determines the availability of new SAP releases, the length and
conditions of their maintenance, and the dependencies among
individual releases.
As announced in June 2004, major SAP software offerings also
obey the 5-1-2 maintenance strategy:
• 5 years of mainstream maintenance at the standard
maintenance fee
• 1 year of extended maintenance at an additional 2% fee
• 2 years of extended maintenance at an additional 4% fee
per year
The following major SAP offerings follow the new release and
maintenance strategy:
• The SAP NetWeaver™ technology platform
• mySAP™ Business Suite, that is all SAP cross-industry
applications: mySAP ERP, mySAP Customer Relationship
Management (mySAP CRM), mySAP Product Lifecycle
Management (mySAP PLM), mySAP Supply Chain Manage-
ment (mySAP SCM), and mySAP Supplier Relationship
Management (mySAP SRM)
• All SAP industry solutions which are realized either within
cross-industry applications and are enabled by means of
the SAP switch framework or which are realized via SAP’s
industry-specific applications delivered as add-ons
Evolving SAP applications, such as SAP xApps™ packaged
composite applications, SAP Business One, and SAP applications
for mobile business, still follow their individual release and
maintenance cycles.
Synchronized releases ensure the simultaneous availability of
all these releases on a single common technology platform,
SAP NetWeaver. Software to support new scenarios is also
delivered on the same synchronized-release plan.
In the past, SAP’s release and maintenance strategy was more
component-oriented than application-oriented. Thus, former
versions of the brochure SAP’s Release Strategy displayed a more
fragmented planning approach. With applications as bigger
units of upgrade and integration planning, the complexity of
the upgrade planning process has been reduced and integration
planning has become simple. However, if in the future, expe-
rience shows that this approach does not fulfill customers’
needs, SAP will be able to adjust the strategy easily, due to the
flexibility of the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. It is SAP’s
goal to balance flexibility and quality in the way that serves
customers’ needs best.
The contents of this brochure reflect the status of planning in
September 2004. The brochure thus represents an outlook on
SAP’s simple and flexible release strategy for applications
released from this date on. Customers deploying SAP software
that was released before this date are asked to please consult
SAP’s Release Strategy For All Major Shipments Up to 2005.
3
CONTENTS
SAP’s Release Strategy at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1 Structure of this Brochure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2 Disclaimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 SAP’s Go-To-Market-Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 Business Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Business Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Integration and Application Platform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 SAP Solution Maps and Application Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 SAP’s Release and Maintenance Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.1 Release Strategy in General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Release Strategy in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 Maintenance Strategy in General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Maintenance Strategy in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5 Release Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.6 Product Availability Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4 Release Planning in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.1 mySAP Cross-Industry Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1.1 mySAP ERP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1.2 mySAP Customer Relationship Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1.3 mySAP Product Lifecycle Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.1.4 mySAP Supply Chain Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.1.5 mySAP Supplier Relationship Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.1.6 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for SAP Cross-Industry Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2 SAP Business Solutions and SAP Industry-Specific Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2.1 Technical Realization of SAP Business Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.2.2 SAP Industry-Specific Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.1 – SAP for Banking: SAP Account Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.2 – SAP for Banking: SAP Bank Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.3 – SAP for Consumer Products: SAP Apparel and Footwear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.4 – SAP for Insurance: SAP Reinsurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.5 – SAP for Insurance: SAP Product and Policy Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.6 – SAP for Media: SAP Classified Advertising Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2.2.7 – SAP for Oil and Gas: SAP Oil and Gas Secondary Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2.2.8 – SAP for Public Sector: SAP Extended Functions for U.S. Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4
4.2.2.9 – SAP for Public Sector: SAP Versorgungsadministration (for the German Public Sector) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2.3 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for Industry-Specific Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 Further SAP Cross-Industry Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3.1 SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3.2 SAP Billing Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.3 SAP Global Trade Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3.4 Release and Maintenance Planning for Further Cross-Industry Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4 SAP xApps Packaged Composite Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.1 SAP xApp Resource and Portfolio Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.2 SAP xApp Product Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.3 SAP xApp Emissions Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.4 SAP xApp Cost and Quotation Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4.5 SAP xApp Integrated Exploration and Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.4.6 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for SAP xApps Packaged Composite Applications . . 21
4.5 SAP Applications for Mobile Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.1 SAP Mobile Time and Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.2 SAP Mobile Sales for Handheld (With mySAP CRM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.3 SAP Mobile Asset Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.4 SAP Mobile Direct Store Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5.5 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for SAP Applications for Mobile Business . . . . . . . . 22
4.6 SAP NetWeaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.6.1 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for SAP NetWeaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.7 SAP Applications for Small and Midsize Businesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.7.1 SAP Business One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.7.2 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for SAP Business One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5 Special Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.1 SAP Customer Services Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.2 Implementation of SAP Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.3 SAP Upgrade Offerings (Services, Tools and Content) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
5.4 Support Package Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

7 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.1 Cross-Industry Applications and Their Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7.2 Cross-References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5
1 INTRODUCTION
SAP applications stand for efficiency, customer value, and
return on investment. By combining its strengths – namely, its
industry expertise, its broad array of applications, its customer
and partner base, and its skill in integrating enterprise business
processes – SAP offers comprehensive applications for the best-
run businesses.
1.2 Disclaimer
This brochure reflects the status of planning as of September
2004. Information in this brochure is subject to change
without notice. For up-to-date information on individual
SAP offerings, please refer to SAP Service Marketplace at
http://service.sap.com

This brochure provides an overview of the SAP product port-
folio and its current status of release planning. Furthermore,
special topics related to SAP’s release strategy are dealt with.
SAP’s Release Strategy is aimed at the reader group of SAP Sales
and SAP Consultants, at IT managers of SAP customers and
at all readers interested in a technical overview of SAP’s product
portfolio.
SAP Notes mentioned in this brochure are available in the
SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/notes
SAP AG assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in
these materials. They are provided as is without a warranty of
any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited
to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a partic-
ular purpose, or noninfringement.
SAP shall not be liable for damages of any kind, including with-
out limitation direct, special, indirect, or consequential damages
that may result from the use of these materials. SAP does not
warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text,
graphics, links or other items contained within these materials.

1.1 Structure of this Brochure

This brochure is divided into six further sections. The second
section introduces SAP’s go-to-market-approach and explains
the related terminology.

Closely connected to this topic, the third section provides an

overview of SAP’s release and maintenance strategy. It explains
how SAP introduces releases to the market and which mainte-
nance provisions are available.

Section four describes the detailed release planning for SAP

applications and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform.
The release planning tables provide all relevant information on
release and maintenance dates.

In section five, special topics closely related to delivery issues

are dealt with. These include, for example, the SAP Customer
Services Network as well as Support Package Stacks.

Sections six and seven explain the terminology used in this

brochure and provide cross-references to related topics.

6
2 SAP’S GO-TO-MARKET-APPROACH
SAP’s go-to-market approach is shown in figure 1. The figure’s
three levels portray a business-oriented view of solutions that
BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
address your specific business issues (top level) and a product-
oriented view of the SAP applications and of the technical
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
infrastructure that are the foundation for those solutions
(middle and bottom levels). mySAP Business
SAP xApps

Suite
Industry-specific Apps
The business solutions in the first level are flexible combinations
of application software, services, and support that help you
WebSphere

INTEGRATION & APPLICATION

solve business problems and achieve your business objectives. INFRASTRUCTURE

The business applications in the middle level are both cross-
industry and industry-specific software offerings from SAP.
They include the mySAP Business Suite family of business
applications, SAP xApps packaged composite applications,
and SAP applications that perform specialized functions in
particular industries. These business applications are assembled
as needed to create your business solutions, as portrayed in the
top layer.
The integration and application infrastructure on the lower-
most level is the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. All SAP
software offerings and a large ecosystem of SAP partner software
offerings are built on the open SAP NetWeaver technology
platform. Applications built on the SAP NetWeaver technology
platform are easy to combine into highly industry-specific
business solutions and easy to integrate with non-SAP applica-
tions for added value.
.NET
SAP NetWeaver
Figure 1: SAP’s Product Portfolio
2.1 Business Solutions
SAP business solutions are flexible combinations of application
software, support for best business practices, consulting, and
ongoing support. You can easily deploy SAP business solutions
to perform industry-specific business processes using software
that is tailored to various roles in your business. Thus you can
address your business issues in the way that best meets your
objectives and matches the way you need to work.
For each industry, SAP offers a portfolio of applications. These
support key business scenarios and enable you to implement
industry-specific business processes using software that is
tailored to job functions within your organization. An industry
solution can be realized in different parts: within a cross-
industry application’s core, as an industry extension of
mySAP ERP, as an industry-specific application or as a com-
bination of the mentioned possibilities. SAP currently offers
the following portfolios:
• SAP for Aerospace & Defense
• SAP for Automotive
• SAP for Banking**
• SAP for Chemicals
• SAP for Consumer Products**
• SAP for Defense & Security

7
• SAP for Engineering, Construction & Operations 2.2 Business Applications
• SAP for Healthcare SAP applications provide the software foundation for organiza-
• SAP for High Tech tions to address their business issues. SAP delivers the following
• SAP for Higher Education & Research business applications.
• SAP for Industrial Machinery & Components
• SAP for Insurance** • Cross-industry applications – The mySAP Business Suite
• SAP for Life Sciences family of business applications consists of mySAP ERP,
• SAP for Logistics Service Providers mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM),
• SAP for Media** mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM),
• SAP for Mill Products mySAP Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM), and
• SAP for Mining mySAP Supplier Relationship Management (mySAP SRM).
• SAP for Oil & Gas** These applications support major business functions and can
• SAP for Pharmaceuticals be licensed individually or together as a suite
• SAP for Postal Services • Industry-specific applications – These applications are
• SAP for Professional Services delivered as add-ons to the cross-industry applications. They
• SAP for Public Sector** perform defined business functions in particular industries.
• SAP for Railway Services Examples are SAP Apparel and Footwear for the consumer
• SAP for Retail products industry, and SAP Reinsurance for the insurance
• SAP for Telecommunications industry
• SAP for Utilities • Packaged composite applications – The SAP xApps family
• SAP for Wholesale Distribution of packaged composite applications perform functions that
span multiple applications, departments, and organizations.
Parts of the business solutions indicated with ** are realized as They include SAP xApp Resource and Portfolio Management,
industry-specific applications and are delivered as add-ons to SAP xApp Product Definition, SAP xApp Emissions Manage-
the cross-industry applications (see section 4.2). ment, SAP xApp Cost and Quotation Management, and
SAP xApp Integrated Exploration and Production
With the software market maturing and focusing on total cost
of ownership (TCO), there is growing pressure to streamline the All SAP applications are based on the SAP NetWeaver technol-
delivery of industry-specific functions. Also, there are a number ogy platform. Both SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver are
of generic functions in industry-specific applications which are delivered in releases according to the strategy explained in
valuable for all SAP customers. chapter 3.

Therefore, SAP’s goal is to have all industry-specific functions

shipped as part of the cross-industry applications, especially of
mySAP ERP, in the next few years. The switch framework is the
prerequisite for this approach. This technology enables the
optional usage of certain industry-specific functions while
keeping the application’s core stable, ensuring maximum per-
formance, and enabling the reuse of functions.

8
2.3 Integration and Application Platform
The SAP NetWeaver technology platform is the open integra-
tion and application platform that helps organizations align IT
with their business. SAP NetWeaver powers the mySAP Business
Suite family of business solutions, SAP xApps packaged com-
posite applications, and partner solutions. It provides the best
way to integrate all systems running SAP or non-SAP software.
SAP NetWeaver also is the technical foundation for Enterprise
Services Architecture, the SAP blueprint for services-oriented
business solutions in the future.
2.4 SAP Solution Maps and Application Maps
An SAP solution map portrays crucial business scenarios within
a particular industry (see figure 2). Starting with the overall
industry value chain, the solution map documents and illus-
trates the business scenarios of a typical enterprise in a certain
industry, showing the relationship of the enterprise with
customers, suppliers, and other partners. The business scenarios
consist of a series of business processes performed by people
working in various roles in the business. The map shows exactly
how business processes are supported by SAP applications. It
also serves to provide relevant information on implementation.
In this way, SAP helps you define your business processes and
the applications needed to perform them.
The following example, which is also displayed in figure 2, illus-
trates the terminology explained above: The order-to-delivery
activities of your company are a business scenario that can be
broken down into several business processes such as order
processing. The creation of a sales order is an example for a business
process step within this business scenario. On the Industry Solu-
tion Map, the scenario spans the phases of Manufacturing and
Sales & Distribution in your value chain.

INDUSTRY APPLICATION

Engineering Procurement Manufacturing Sales & Customer Customer & Marketing Marketing Planning
Value
Distribution Service Channels
Chain Sales . . . Order Processing
Time-to-Market
Service

Analytics
Supplier Collaboration

• Create Sales Order

Build-to-Order • Check availability
Process
• Perform Credit Check
Step

Sales & Marketing

Business Order-to-Delivery
Scenario

Business
• Order Processing
Process
• Outbound Delivery
•...

Figure 2: Relationship between Industry Solution Maps and Application Maps

9
3 SAP’S RELEASE AND MAINTENANCE STRATEGY
SAP’s release and maintenance strategy defines how SAP 3.2 Release Strategy in Detail
delivers and maintains SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver. The release strategy defines rules for delivering releases of SAP
applications and SAP NetWeaver.
For all SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver, SAP’s release
strategy assures the following: Releases of SAP applications or SAP NetWeaver are introduced
• Aligned availability to the market in several phases. mySAP Business Suite always
• Availability of country, language, and platform versions contains the application releases that have already reached the
• Possibilities for you to participate in different phases of final phase (unrestricted shipment). All releases are available to
shipment all customers and can be used in production operation. They
• Well-defined upgrade paths have a predefined scope in terms of country, language, and
platform versions.
SAP’s maintenance strategy provides the following:
• Aligned maintenance between SAP applications and SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver have a defined upgrade
SAP NetWeaver path: SAP provides upgrade procedures to the latest release.
• A three-phase maintenance model to satisfy different
customer needs A new SAP application release can be seamlessly integrated with
• Well-defined timelines for different maintenance phases all releases of other applications that are still in mainstream
maintenance or extended maintenance. After an upgrade of
Thus SAP’s release and maintenance strategy provides planning an application, all previously used scenarios are still available.
reliability for your implementation and upgrade projects as well However, if you want to take full advantage of the latest version
as for optimal use of SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver. This of a scenario or of a new scenario, you might need to upgrade
reduces your TCO. more than one SAP application within your landscape. The
example in figure 3 shows that you only need to upgrade the
3.1 Release Strategy in General applications your new scenarios rely on. For each scenario, SAP
The release strategy is based on the following principles: publishes the list of possible application releases within Master
• You can obtain the entire mySAP Business Suite, individual Guides documents on SAP Service Marketplace.
SAP applications or SAP NetWeaver
• SAP applications and SAP NetWeaver have their individual
release cycles. Usually, SAP delivers a new release of SAP
NetWeaver first, and shortly afterwards, new releases for SAP
applications of mySAP Business Suite follow synchronously
• SAP always gives you access to the current release of an SAP
application and to procedures to upgrade to the current
release
• A new release of an SAP application can always be integrated
with any release of any other SAP application that is still in
mainstream and extended maintenance. This approach offers
you maximal flexibility for continuous improvement

10
 EXISTING CUSTOMER CUSTOMER
LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPE 2004
SOLUTION MAP 2004
mySAP SCM 2004

mySAP CRM 2004

Number of customers
mySAP PLM 2004
CUSTOMER
mySAP ERP 2004 LANDSCAPE 2005
SAP NetWeaver
2004 mySAP SCM 2005

mySAP CRM 2004 BEGIN OF RELEASE TO

VALIDATION CUSTOMER Time
mySAP PLM 2005
APPLICATION
VERSIONS NEEDED mySAP ERP 2004
INTRODUCTION OF FOR NEW SAP NetWeaver SAP-INTERNAL RESTRICTED UNRESTRICTED
ADDITIONAL SCENARIOS SCENARIOS 2004 VALIDATION SHIPMENT SHIPMENT
PHASE PHASE
SOLUTION MAP 2005
mySAP SCM 2005
mySAP PLM 2005
Figure 4: Software Distribution

RESTRICTED SHIPMENT PHASE AND RAMP-UP

Figure 3: Decoupled Upgrades
The following paragraphs describe the different shipment
phases for releases in more detail.
SHIPMENT PHASES
Before a new release is delivered to you, the SAP-internal
solution validation takes place. SAP Production Unit, an
internal SAP organization, functions as a first customer and
thus validates the new release. This goes far beyond testing of
the new release. SAP Production Unit implements cross-
industry applications and industry-specific applications in
order to test business scenarios that ultimately combine to
form a business solution. At this stage, the integration behavior
of the new release is also tested to ensure that it can be
seamlessly integrated into an existing system landscape.
From a customer’s point of view, the release is checked for
completeness and for error-free operation of a range of
functions. Once the release is ready to be used in production
operation, it becomes available to you, initially in a restricted
shipment phase.
The restricted shipment phase for a new release begins with the
release-to-customer date, which marks its initial availability.
As of this date, you can use the new release in your production
operation, and SAP provides corrections, such as SAP Notes and
legal changes, support packages and support package stacks.
During this phase, the availability of platform and language
versions may still be restricted.
The restricted shipment phase is guided by the ramp-up process,
which is SAP’s process of introducing new application releases to
the market. Participating in the SAP ramp-up program provides
a risk-free way for you to implement new SAP software as soon
as it becomes available.
At the beginning of the ramp-up process, SAP identifies target
industries as well as customers who then implement and use
the new release in closely monitored and documented projects.
During the ramp-up process, the number of customers using
the new release increases in a controlled manner.

11
You gain the following benefits from participating in the ramp-
up process:
• Dedicated SAP coaching, support, and knowledge transfer
• Sharing of information within the global SAP community
of ramp-up experts, which allows you to benefit from the
experiences of others, to reduce costs and to speed up
implementation
• Support from a dedicated ramp-up back-office team, which
delivers extra coaching exclusively for ramp-up implemen-
tation projects
With the ramp-up process, SAP ensures completeness of the
application – offering integration scenarios, best practices, edu-
cation products, and more. The ramp-up process also improves
software quality because all detected errors are removed.
Feedback on process improvements from ramp-up customers
is considered before the unrestricted shipment phase begins.
Your benefit from becoming a ramp-up customer is to obtain
and immediately use a new release with increased functions and
other new technological developments.
UNRESTRICTED SHIPMENT PHASE
With the successful conclusion of the ramp-up process, the
unrestricted shipment phase begins – usually several months
after the release-to-customer date. The default release date
marks the beginning of the unrestricted shipment phase.
During this phase, all customers can obtain the release. All
language and platform versions planned for this release are
available (however, platform versions may be dependent on
database / operating system partners). If required, a support
release is offered shortly after the beginning of the unrestricted
shipment phase. The support release already contains all
previously available support packages in order to smoothen and
speed up your upgrade project.
12
Once it enters into unrestricted shipment, the most recent
release of an SAP application is declared the current default
release. When ordering an SAP application, you will receive
this default release unless you explicitly specify a different
release which is still in mainstream maintenance in your order.
The current default releases are also delivered as part of
mySAP Business Suite.
3.3 Maintenance Strategy in General
The maintenance strategy for cross-industry applications is
based on the following principles:
• SAP offers three successive maintenance phases: mainstream
maintenance, extended maintenance, and customer-specific
maintenance
• SAP provides support packages during mainstream mainte-
nance and extended maintenance. The delivery frequency of
support packages is dependent on the maintenance phase
• SAP also provides legal changes to adapt the SAP application
to new or changed legal requirements during mainstream
and extended maintenance
• As part of its release strategy, SAP announces the planned
period and scope of mainstream maintenance for a release as
soon as the release is announced
3.4 Maintenance Strategy in Detail
For all cross-industry applications, SAP usually applies the so-
called 5-1-2 maintenance strategy:
• Five years of mainstream maintenance
• One year of extended maintenance at an additional 2% fee
• Two years of extended maintenance at an additional 4% fee
Mainstream and extended maintenance include all industry-
specific applications which are delivered as add-ons. However,
if there are several releases of an industry-specific application
for the same underlying release, only the latest release of the
industry-specific application will be supported until the end of
mainstream maintenance and during extended maintenance of
the underlying release.
SAP xApps packaged composite applications, SAP applications
for mobile business and SAP Business One do not yet follow the
5-1-2 strategy; mainstream maintenance is defined individually
for each release. Maintenance for SAP NetWeaver is as long as
maintenance for the SAP applications that build upon it.
Please note that SAP cannot support underlying third-party
components that run out of their suppliers’ maintenance. In
this case, you may have to upgrade to more recent versions of,
for example, your operating system and database (provided that
these more recent versions are sufficiently compatible to be
supported by SAP in the given release).
MAINSTREAM MAINTENANCE
Mainstream maintenance begins with the restricted shipment
phase and merges into the unrestricted shipment phase. SAP
provides corrections, such as SAP Notes and legal changes,
support packages and support package stacks for the entire
mainstream maintenance period. Corrections are provided at
brief intervals during the first year of mainstream maintenance.
However, if the requirements for corrections decrease, the
frequency at which SAP provides support packages and support
package stacks may decline during the following years.
MAINSTREAM MAINTENANCE
RELEASE N+1 OR HIGHER
Upgrade Upgrade Upgrade
EXTENDED EXTENDED
MAINTE- MAINTE-
NANCE NANCE
MAINSTREAM
MAINTENANCE RELEASE N
CUSTOMER-SPECIFIC
MAINTENANCE
Restricted Unrestricted shipment
~ 5 years 1 year 2 years
Figure 5: Maintenance Phases
EXTENDED MAINTENANCE
Over the entire extended maintenance period, the scope of
maintenance remains similar to the scope of mainstream
maintenance – extended maintenance covers the provision of
support packages and legal changes. SAP publishes information
on the availability and scope of extended maintenance in
advance. You can order extended maintenance for your
releases via an easy-to-use form in SAP Service Marketplace at
http://service.sap.com/maintenance
CUSTOMER-SPECIFIC MAINTENANCE
Software deployed at your site can enter into the customer-
specific maintenance phase in one of three ways:
• The extended maintenance period ends
• The mainstream maintenance period ends and no extended
maintenance is offered
• The mainstream maintenance period ends, and extended
maintenance is offered, but you do not choose to take
advantage of the offering
During the customer-specific maintenance phase, you receive
maintenance services similar to those in the mainstream
maintenance phase, but the following restrictions apply:
• No guaranteed delivery of legal changes
• No guaranteed delivery of support packages
• No guaranteed technological updates (for example, no new
SAP Kernel versions to support new database and operating
system versions)
• No guaranteed direct upgrades to a current release (if no
direct upgrade to a current release is offered, the upgrade has
to be performed in several steps)
Problem resolution is customer-specific. In some cases, you
may be charged for the cost of solving problems not yet known
to SAP. This applies to customer-specific enhancements in
particular.
t
For more information, please refer to SAP Note 52505 and SAP
Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/maintenance
13
3.5 Release Sequence
Usually, you can directly upgrade from one release to any other
release of the respective SAP application or SAP NetWeaver as
long as these releases are in the mainstream maintenance phase.
Depending on technological constraints, upgrades to a release
that is far apart from your current release may require several
steps. SAP supports upgrades from releases in extended mainte-
nance to higher standard releases in mainstream maintenance.
However, SAP does not support upgrades to releases that are in
extended maintenance or upgrades between releases that are in
extended maintenance. In order to support smooth upgrades,
SAP ensures that the overlap of two successor releases is at least
one year – thus the window of time in which you may upgrade
from one release to the next is at least one year.

3.6 Product Availability Matrix

In the product availability matrix (PAM) in SAP Service Market-
place, SAP regularly publishes the following information on
SAP application releases and on SAP NetWeaver releases:
• Availability
• End of mainstream maintenance
• End of extended maintenance
• Platform availability including database platforms and
operating systems

For further information, please see the SAP Service Marketplace

at http://service.sap.com/pam

14
4 RELEASE PLANNING IN DETAIL
The following section briefly introduces you to the SAP applica- mySAP ERP responds to today’s daily business need for insight,
tions and gives you a detailed overview of their release planning availability, flexibility, and productivity. In detail,
and maintenance strategy. For the release planning tables, the • With mySAP ERP, organizations have the possibility to extend
following applies: new, adaptable business processes beyond the traditional
• First, the application release is listed, followed by the SAP enterprise to customers, partners and suppliers
NetWeaver release it is based on (or, in the case of an add-on, • mySAP ERP offers improved insight into business data and
the application release it is based on) processes. It helps both information for management and
• The availability date listed thereafter refers to the release-to- employees when it comes to evaluating and decision making
customer date as well as required regulatory insight for example for the
• The next two columns provide you with the end of main- Sarbanes-Oxley act (SOA), Basel II and the Food and Drug
stream and extended maintenance Administration (FDA)
• mySAP ERP offers improved productivity, enabling both
For detailed information on which components are part of occasional and professional users to work more efficiently
the SAP application releases, please refer to the Master Guides with tailored information, based on the role they have in an
documents published in the SAP Service Marketplace at organization. SAP delivers predefined content and roles to
http://service.sap.com/instguides help organizations become faster and more productive
• Finally, by building on SAP NetWeaver, the open integration
4.1 mySAP Cross-Industry Applications and application platform, mySAP ERP is extendable and
4.1.1 mySAP ERP thereby flexible enough to integrate a complex heterogeneous
The mySAP ERP cross-industry application is the successor IT environment
offering to SAP R/3® Enterprise and includes all functions of
SAP R/3 Enterprise plus a large number of additional business mySAP ERP combines and integrates a full set of business
processes. mySAP ERP is powered by SAP NetWeaver and functions – encompassing superior analytics, financials, human
provides the core functions that support all other mySAP capital management, operations, and corporate services.
Business Suite applications.
4.1.2 mySAP Customer Relationship Management
The mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM)
mySAP PLM application helps you plan, build, and maintain profitable cus-
(Product Lifecycle Management) tomer relationships. mySAP CRM drives closed-loop customer
Maintenance & Quality interactions through all phases of the customer relationship
Purchasing & Inventory

Distribution & Sales

Order Management

mySAP ERP lifecycle – engage, transact, fulfill, and service. It supports all
Management

mySAP SRM Financials mySAP CRM

(Supplier (Customer
relevant channels, including mobiles, telephony, and the Inter-
Human Capital Management
Relationship Coporate Services Relationship net. mySAP CRM drives customer relationships in all CRM
Management) Operations Management)
business dimensions – operational, analytical, and collaborative.
Production & Project Management

mySAP SCM With mySAP CRM, all corporate groups that deal with cus-
(Supply Chain Management)
tomers have access to the customer information and market
SAP NetWeaver knowledge required to interpret customer needs and to design
future business. All employees interact with customers through
Figure 6: mySAP ERP and Other mySAP Cross-Industry Applications role-based mySAP CRM workplaces.

15
mySAP CRM links the back-office with front-office functions,
both within an enterprise and across enterprise boundaries.
As a result, it provides comprehensive, powerful functions
for planning, executing, and controlling all customer-based
activities across all sales channels.
From a technological perspective, you can capture customer
data across your enterprise, consolidating all internally and
externally acquired customer-related data in a central database.
4.1.3 mySAP Product Lifecycle Management
When it comes to developing new products, innovation is no
longer the sole preserve of the designer or engineer. The most
successful companies involve not only all departments within
their organization but also external parties in the development
of new products: marketing and sales, planning and production,
procurement, and maintenance as well as partners, suppliers,
contract manufacturers, service providers, and customers.
The mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM)
application provides a holistic view of all product-related
business processes and information throughout the complete
product and asset lifecycle and throughout the extended supply
chain. This applies to all phases, from product conception,
design, and engineering through production ramp-up and
product change management to service and maintenance.
Therefore, mySAP PLM enables companies to get the right
product to market at the right time and at the right cost.
4.1.4 mySAP Supply Chain Management
The mySAP Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM) applica-
tion comprises a complete set of business processes supporting
advanced supply chain planning as well as collaboration. In
addition, it provides capabilities to monitor and manage busi-
ness processes and to react on an exceptional basis.
16
This is how mySAP SCM enables adaptive supply chain net-
works. The application’s five key capabilities are to plan, to
execute, to sense, to respond, and to learn. These allow
companies to know what is going on in the extended supply
chain, to learn how to adapt their processes, and to respond
immediately, in real time, to meet their customer’s demands.
In other words, these are the abilities that a business needs to
compete in today’s marketplace.
4.1.5 mySAP Supplier Relationship Management
mySAP SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) is a pur-
chasing platform that closes the loop between sourcing and
procurement and supports your company’s SRM efforts from
strategy through execution.
With mySAP SRM, you can apply strategic sourcing techniques
to lower the cost of materials, streamline operational procure-
ment to increase internal compliance and efficiency, and
encourage supplier collaboration to improve quality and reduce
supply risk. Because its flexible processes extend across multiple
business units and spend categories, mySAP SRM enables
business change, helping you adapt to new developments in
the market place with greater ease, agility, and success. Instead
of making one-off deals to secure the day’s lowest price, you
can leverage mySAP SRM to realize repeatable savings that
continuously reduce unit costs year after year.
mySAP SRM provides a complete solution for enabling and
managing supplier relationships – from choosing the supplier
that aligns with strategic corporate goals to streamlining and
enhancing procurement processes for the greatest business
value. The main building blocks of mySAP SRM are as follows:
• Strategic Purchasing and Sourcing
• Operational Procurement
• Supplier Collaboration
Underlying mySAP SRM is the SAP NetWeaver technology plat-
form, which facilitates collaboration, harmonizes information,
and connects enterprises with their suppliers.
4.1.6 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for Business Solution 100% within a Industry extension Add-on to a
cross-industry of mySAP ERP cross-industry
SAP Cross-Industry Applications
application’s core (switch framework) application
(ind.-spec. appl.)
Application Based On Availability End of End of
SAP for Banking SAP Banking SAP Account
Release (Release to Mainstream Extended
Customer, Maintenance Maintenance Management;
RTC) SAP Bank Analyzer
SAP for Chemicals SAP for Chemicals
mySAP ERP 2005 Successor October 2005 March 2011 March 2014
mySAP CRM 2005 release to SAP for Consumer SAP Beverage; SAP Apparel and
mySAP PLM 2005 SAP NetWeaver Products SAP Catch Weight Footwear
mySAP SCM 2005 2004
Management
mySAP SRM 2005
SAP for Defense SAP Defense Forces
& Security And Public Security
SAP for Engineer- SAP Discrete
4.2 SAP Business Solutions and SAP Industry- ing, Construction Industries Mill
Specific Applications & Operations Products

4.2.1 Technical Realization of SAP Business Solutions SAP for SAP Patient
Healthcare Management
Section 2.1 provides an overview of SAP business solutions.
SAP for High Tech SAP Discrete
This section offers more details on their technical realization. Industries Mill
Business solutions shipped in 2005 can be technically realized Products

• within a cross-industry application’s core SAP for Higher

Education &
SAP Campus
Management
• as industry extensions of mySAP ERP (to be activated via the Research
SAP switch framework) SAP for Industrial SAP for Industrial
Machinery &
• as add-ons to cross-industry applications (industry-specific Components
Machinery and
Components
applications)
SAP for Insurance SAP Claims SAP Reinsurance;
• or as a combination of the above-mentioned possibilities Management; SAP Product
SAP Insurance and Policy
Collections and Management
Only the industry-specific applications are shipped separately Disbursements;
SAP Commissions;
from the cross-industry applications and carry their own SAP Financial Asset
release. Therefore, they are listed in section 4.2.2 with their Management

release and maintenance dates. All other parts of business SAP for Life SAP for Life
Sciences Sciences
solutions follow the cross-industry applications’ release and
SAP for Logistics SAP for Logistics
maintenance cycle. Service Providers Service Providers
SAP for Media SAP Media SAP Classified
The following table shows how the individual business solutions Advertising
Management
are technically realized:
SAP for Mill SAP Discrete
Products Industries Mill
Products
Business Solution 100% within a Industry extension Add-on to a
cross-industry of mySAP ERP cross-industry SAP for Mining SAP Mining
application’s core (switch framework) application
(ind.-spec. appl.) SAP for Oil & Gas SAP Oil & Gas; SAP Oil & Gas
SAP Joint Venture Secondary
SAP for Aerospace SAP Discrete Accounting Distribution
& Defense Industries Mill
Products SAP for SAP for
Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals
SAP for SAP Discrete
Automotive Industries Mill SAP for Postal SAP for Postal
Products Services Services

17
 Business Solution 100% within a Industry extension Add-on to a 4.2.2.3 SAP for Consumer Products: SAP Apparel and Footwear
cross-industry of mySAP ERP cross-industry
application’s core (switch framework) application
SAP Apparel and Footwear (SAP AFS) contains specific
(ind.-spec. appl.) enhancements and supplementary functions for the apparel
SAP for SAP for and footwear industry’s needs. These include, for example, the
Professional Professional
Services Services mySAP CRM customer interaction center and Internet sales
SAP for Public
functions. Within mySAP SCM, you can use demand planning
SAP Human SAP Public Sector SAP Extended
Sector Resources Public Funds and Position Functions for US on the material level and on the level of the stock-keeping unit.
Sector Management; Federal Agencies;
SAP Public Sector SAP Versorgungs- In addition, an SAP AFS reseller business package for use with
Collection & administration SAP Enterprise Portal 6.0 (SAP EP 6.0) is available.
Disbursement
SAP for Railway SAP for Railway
Services Services 4.2.2.4 SAP for Insurance: SAP Reinsurance

SAP for Retail SAP for Retail (SAP Retail)

Reinsurance is a treaty relationship between a primary insurer
(cedent) and a reinsurer (cessionaire). Financial Services –
SAP for Tele- SAP Tele-
communications communications Reinsurance (SAP FS-RI) enables you to save all relevant figures
SAP for Utilities SAP Utilities/
regarding planning and estimation for all treaties. Data related
Customer Care & to quotations can be saved, and the parameters and conditions
Services;
SAP Utilities Waste; have to be defined for the existing treaties. With SAP FS-RI,
SAP Federal Energy you can also run evaluations to display and assess the business
Regulatory
Commission performance of your reinsurance business.
SAP for Whole- SAP for Wholesale
sale Distribution Distribution 4.2.2.5 SAP for Insurance: SAP Product and Policy Management
SAP Product and Policy Management (SAP FS-PM) assists the
4.2.2 SAP Industry-Specific Applications complete life cycle of policy administration – from acquisition
4.2.2.1 SAP for Banking: SAP Account Management to changes to the contract’s conclusion – on the basis of a
SAP Account Management is a flexible accounting application flexible product definition. SAP FS-PM (Financial Services –
for all balance-based products of banks that have a high Product and Policy Management) supports the management of
number of accounts or transactions. It provides comprehensive products and contracts that covers all lines of business and all
functions for checking accounts, savings, fixed-term deposits, countries, as well as additional functions for business lines such
and card management. The product portfolio includes product as life, property and casualty or policy management.
configuration that enables the development of new products
without programming. 4.2.2.6 SAP for Media: SAP Classified Advertising Management
SAP Classified Advertising Management is a comprehensive, call
4.2.2.2 SAP for Banking: SAP Bank Analyzer center-based solution with a single, easy-to-use interface, which
SAP Bank Analyzer represents a common infrastructure for covers the sales of advertising space for classified and semi-
analytical banking software. SAP’s solutions for international display ads. It manages orders and assigns ads to the respective
accounting standards (IAS) and Basel II, which are part of the publications and issue dates. It creates ad content and layout
industry solution SAP for Banking, are based on SAP Bank including graphics and photos and provides ad content to
Analyzer. technical production systems.

18
4.2.2.7 SAP for Oil and Gas: SAP Oil and Gas Secondary 4.2.3 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for
Distribution Industry-Specific Applications
The SAP Oil and Gas Secondary Distribution (SAP OGSD) appli-
Application Based On Availability End of End of
cation provides functions for order placement, transportation Release (Release to Mainstream Extended
scheduling and logistics, and delivery fulfillment. It is based on Customer, Maintenance Maintenance
RTC)
IS-Oil Downstream, and provides functional enhancements for
commercial sales and secondary distribution of fuels, lubes, and SAP for Banking Successor October 2005 March 2011 March 2014
– SAP Account release to
gas. SAP OGSD is available independently (functional enhance- Management 4.0 SAP NetWeaver
2004
ments only) or in a package with implementation services. It is
SAP for Banking SAP NetWeaver December December December
focused on helping small to midsize businesses in the oil and gas – SAP Bank 2004 2004 2009 2012
downstream industry. Analyzer 4.0

SAP for Consumer mySAP ERP December March 2010 March 2013
4.2.2.8 SAP for Public Sector: SAP Extended Functions for U.S. Products – SAP 2004 2004
Federal Agencies AFS 5.0

SAP Extension for U.S. Federal Agencies (SAP IS-PS-XT) enables SAP for Insurance SAP R/3 August 2004 March 2009 March 2012
– SAP FS-RI 4.72 ENTERPRISE
the industry solution SAP for Public Sector to be used by U.S. 47X200
federal agencies. The component SAP Public Sector Collection SAP for Insurance September –
and Disbursement is not Joint Financial Management and – SAP FS-PM 3.0 2005

Improvement Program (JFMIP) – certified and thus may not be SAP for Media: SAP NetWeaver December March 2009 March 2012
SAP IS-M-AMC 2004 2004
used by U.S. federal agencies. 1.0
SAP for Oil and IS-Oil 4.72 October 2004 March 2009 March 2012
4.2.2.9 SAP for Public Sector: SAP Versorgungsadministration Gas – OGSD 4.72
(for the German Public Sector) SAP for Public mySAP ERP September March 2010 March 2013
Sector – 2004 2004
SAP Versorgungsadministration (SAP HR VADM) includes: SAP IS-PS-XT
• the request of pension SAP for Public SAP R/3 November December –
• the assessment of the retirement percentage and pension Sector – SAP HR-
VADM 3.00
Enterprise 2004 2006

• the creation of the notifications

• the payment of the retirement pension in consideration of
various imputations and
• reductions respecting the legal requirements of the German
Public Sector
Simulation and information management – also for third
parties – complete this industry-specific application.
4.3 Further SAP Cross-Industry Applications
4.3.1 SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure
SAP AII 2.1 is the current version of SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure,
SAP’s RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) application. It
makes your data processing “real world aware” by connecting
the physical supply chain process to your data systems in real
time. Version 2.1 not only enables several back-end systems to
use radio frequency identification data but can also be used as a
standalone installation.

19
4.3.2 SAP Billing Consolidation 4.4 SAP xApps Packaged Composite Applications
SAP Billing Consolidation is an electronic bill presentment and 4.4.1 SAP xApp Resource and Portfolio Management
payment application (EBPP) that connects the invoicing party SAP xApp Resource and Portfolio Management (SAP xRPM)
and the invoice recipients via participating financial institutions. delivers the foundation of strategic portfolio management by
Thus a network is established that offers services to issue combining and giving visibility into the financial, strategic,
invoices and to handle payments. operative project management and product management
aspects across the entire portfolio.
4.3.3 SAP Global Trade Services
SAP Global Trade Services (SAP GTS) helps companies manage SAP xRPM supports customers in enforcing governance,
the complexities of international trade including regulatory making fact-based decisions and maximizing return on existing
compliance, interactions with customs and management of assets.
risk while trading on a global scale. Companies need to comply
with increasingly complex regulations or face costly fines and 4.4.2 SAP xApp Product Definition
penalties. They need to expedite customs clearance process to SAP xApp Product Definition (SAP xPD) is designed to address
lower cost and realize just-in-time inventory strategies, while the hurdles and inefficiencies of critical product definition
meeting increasing demand from governments all over the processes, that is idea management, concept definition, and
world to communicate electronically and secure their supply design evaluation, through integration with design systems.
chains. SAP GTS also helps companies to manage trade prefer-
ence processes and to manage and calculate the restitution 4.4.3 SAP xApp Emissions Management
for the export of common agricultural products out of the SAP xApp Emissions Management (SAP xEM) is designed to
European Union. support all scenarios and processes relevant to emissions and
compliance management in large industrial corporations. This
4.3.4 Release and Maintenance Planning for Further comprises the provision of functions required at an operational
Cross-Industry Applications level for single plant sites as well as for corporate demands, for
example environmental reporting, key performance indicator
Application Based On Availability End of End of
Release (Release to Mainstream Extended (KPI) monitoring, and so on.
Customer, Maintenance Maintenance
RTC)
4.4.4 SAP xApp Cost and Quotation Management
SAP AII 2.1 SAP NetWeaver November June 2008 –
2004 2004
SAP xApp Cost and Quotation Management (SAP xCQM) is
designed to streamline the quoting process for Electronic
Manufacturing Services (EMS) providers and automotive
SAP Billing Not applicable December December December
Consolidation 1.5 2004 2007 2008 contract manufacturers (tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers). The
SAP GTS 3.0 SAP Web AS October 2004 December –
acquisition of revenue through responding to customer
6.20 2006 Requests for Quotation (RFQs) is a core business process for
SAP GTS 3.0 SAP NetWeaver November December – those companies. The application allows an efficient screening
2004 2004 2006
of incoming RFQs, the creation of one or more quotations
through the upload of a bill of materials (BOM), automated
pricing of existing components, streamlined RFQ processing for
new components, as well as business analysis on those activities.

20
4.4.5 SAP xApp Integrated Exploration and Production 4.5 SAP Applications for Mobile Business
SAP xApp Integrated Exploration and Production (SAP xIEP) 4.5.1 SAP Mobile Time and Travel
optimizes the upstream operations, including appraisal, SAP Mobile Time and Travel supports travel-expense manage-
development, production, and abandonment activities – ment and time-sheet management on a laptop computer using
driving value at all stages of the exploration and production two components that can be deployed separately or together.
(E&P) life cycle through online services and systems.
4.5.2 SAP Mobile Sales for Handheld (With mySAP CRM)
SAP xIEP allows real-time integration of applications and data SAP Mobile Sales for Handheld enables field sales personnel to
from technical, project management, knowledge management, carry out their daily work as sales representatives anywhere
and virtual collaboration systems – creating powerful project- at any time using handheld devices in the offline mode. It gives
and process-based teaming environments for sharing best quick access to current sales-related information and supports
practices and organizational know-how. various business processes such as account management,
sales order management, opportunity and quotation manage-
With SAP xIEP, you can reduce time to market, accelerate the ment, activity and task management, and product and price
prospect evaluation process, and coordinate well planning, information.
rig selection, scheduling, and drilling across the enterprise.
The application can be adapted and used in all major upstream 4.5.3 SAP Mobile Asset Management
areas, including exploration and planning, financials, asset A full offline mobile application, SAP Mobile Asset Manage-
management, complex procurement, engineering and ment (SAP MAM) supports specific scenarios that help field
construction, production, or logistics. technicians perform their daily activities at customer sites and
within plants. SAP Mobile Asset Management works with the
4.4.6 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for enterprise asset management functions of mySAP PLM and can
SAP xApps Packaged Composite Applications be deployed either on a laptop computer or a standard personal
digital assistant (PDA) device.
Application Release Based On Availability End of
(Release to Mainstream
Customer, RTC) Maintenance 4.5.4 SAP Mobile Direct Store Delivery
The SAP Mobile Direct Store Delivery application is tailored
SAP xRPM 4.0 Successor release to October 2005 March 2007
SAP NetWeaver 2004 to the needs of delivery drivers, van sellers and pre-sellers –
functional areas that are part of the SAP Mobile Direct Store
SAP xPD 2.0 Successor release to October 2005 October 2007
SAP NetWeaver 2004 Delivery capabilities. A full offline mobile application, SAP
SAP xEM 2.0 Successor release to April 2005 April 2007 Mobile Direct Store Delivery supports specific scenarios that
SAP NetWeaver 2004 help handheld users to perform their daily deliveries and
SAP xCQM 1.0 SAP NetWeaver 2004 December 2004 December 2006 activities at customer sites. SAP Mobile Direct Store Delivery
can be used on a standard PDA device.
SAP xIEP 1.0 SAP NetWeaver 2004 October 2004 December 2005

21
4.5.5 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for More information on the successor release to SAP NetWeaver
SAP Applications for Mobile Business 2004 will be available soon.

Application Release Based On Availability End of

(year of RTC) (Release to Mainstream SAP Composite Application Framework 2.0 (SAP CAF 2.0) is
Customer, RTC) Maintenance delivered as integral part of SAP NetWeaver from the successor
release to SAP NetWeaver 2004 on. It frames objects, services,
SAP Mobile Sales SAP NetWeaver 2004 September 2004 September 2006
online (2004) processes and user interfaces for composite applications. SAP
CAF therefore provides a comprehensive environment for
SAP Mobile Time and SAP NetWeaver 2004 October 2005 October 2007
Travel (2005) modeling (meta data and tools). In addition, SAP CAF enables
SAP Mobile Sales for SAP NetWeaver 2004 October 2005 October 2007 you to build applications leveraging the whole SAP NetWeaver
HH with mySAP CRM technology platform without feeding low-level application
(2005)
programming interfaces (APIs). As a result, developers can focus
SAP Mobile Asset SAP NetWeaver 2004 October 2005 October 2007
Management (2005) on implementing the business logic of a composite application.
SAP Mobile Direct SAP NetWeaver 2004 November 2004 November 2006
Store Delivery (2004) SAP CAF 1.0 has been available for selected pilot users since
Mobile Applications Successor release to October 2005 October 2011 August 2004 as an add-on to SAP NetWeaver 2004.
delivered as part of SAP NetWeaver 2004
mySAP ERP (2005):
SAP Mobile Time and
Travel with mySAP ERP
SAP Mobile Sales with SAP NetWeaverTM
mySAP ERP
SAP Mobile Asset People Integration
Management with
mySAP ERP
Multichannel Access
SAP Mobile Direct Store
Delivery with mySAP ERP
Portal Collaboration

4.6 SAP NetWeaver

The SAP NetWeaver technology platform is the open integra- Information Integration
Composite Application Framework

tion and application platform that integrates people, infor- Business Knowledge
Life-Cycle Management

Intelligence Management
mation, and processes. It powers not only mySAP Business Suite
applications and SAP xApps composite applications, but also Master Data Management
partner solutions and custom-built applications. Its openness
reflects SAP’s commitment to industry standards and inter- Process Integration
operability that enables you to implement, integrate, and Integration Business Process
maintain your infrastructure through a Web services-oriented Broker Management

architecture.
Application Platform
SAP NetWeaver provides a single, integrated technology plat-
J2EE ABAPTM
form. All the components of SAP NetWeaver have been created
to work with each other – reducing the overall effort to manage DB and OS Abstraction
and change business processes built on SAP NetWeaver.

Figure 7: SAP NetWeaver

22
4.6.1 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for 4.7.2 Release Planning and Maintenance Strategy for
SAP NetWeaver SAP Business One

Application Release Availability End of End of Application Release Availability (Release to End of Mainstream
(Release to Mainstream Extended Customer) Maintenance
Customer, RTC) Maintenance Maintenance

SAP NetWeaver 2004 March 2004 March 2010 March 2013 SAP Business One 2004 (A) Q3 2004 Q3 2006

SAP Business One 2004 (B) Q4 2004 Q4 2006

Successor release to Second half of the To be To be
SAP NetWeaver 2004 year 2005 determined determined SAP Business One 2004 (C) Q2 2005 Q2 2007

4.7 SAP Applications for Small and Midsize

Businesses
4.7.1 SAP Business One
SAP Business One is an affordable, integrated business manage-
ment application designed specifically for small and midsize
companies. For the first time, business owners have a single
system that was built to automate business processes and deliver
a true and unified picture of critical, up-to-the minute business
information across customer relationship management,
manufacturing, and finance. With SAP Business One, owners
can increase the profitability of their business and achieve a new
level of control.

The releases of SAP Business One are exclusively available for

the following countries:
Release A is available for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,
Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Guatemala, the Irish Republic, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Nether-
lands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA.

Release B is available for China, Japan, Singapore and South

Korea.

Release C is available for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,

Russia, Slovakia, Greece and Turkey.

For further information, please refer to the SAP Service Market-

place at http://service.sap.com/smb/solutions

23
5 SPECIAL TOPICS
5.1 SAP Customer Services Network
SAP Customer Services Network (SAP CSN) enables you to
create competitive advantage by bringing together the right
team with the expertise, best practices, tools and methodologies
you need to leverage SAP software.
SAP CSN helps you quickly and easily access the expertise of the
entire SAP ecosystem and put it to work for you. With over
9,000 consultants of its own and over 120,000 certified partner
consultants worldwide, SAP has the unparalleled reach to
provide a truly global service offering.
Customer self-sufficiency is at the very heart of the SAP CSN
philosophy. We not only work hand in hand with you to maxi-
mize the technical and business benefits of your applications,
we also empower you to take control of your systems. Highly
effective knowledge transfer, self-service resources, and proven
best practices enable you to establish the in-house skills and
structures you need to run your SAP environment at the very
highest level of quality and flexibility.
SAP CSN OFFERINGS
SAP Active Global Support
We are committed to making sure SAP solutions provide the
high levels of quality, performance, and flexibility you demand
throughout the entire lifecycle. And we provide unequalled
support:
• 2,000+ service and support employees located in over
40 countries
• 800,000+ solutions for customer messages
• 34,000+ proactive service sessions
• 1,500+ on-site services and service-enabling training sessions
For more information, please refer to
http://www.sap.com/services/maintenance
24
SAP Business Maps and Engagement Tools
Our cutting-edge resources help you quickly and easily identify
the SAP applications that best match your business needs:
• Maps help you understand how SAP applications support
key business processes in more than 20 industries and cross-
industry areas
• Collaborative business maps illustrate intra- and inter-
enterprise processes
• The Solution Composer tool enables you to create customer-
specific business maps to document, plan, and design a made-
to-measure software environment
• The Business Case Builder tool takes you through a step-by-
step procedure to produce a high-level value proposition
tailored to your unique business drivers
For more information, please refer to
http://www.sap.com/services/servsuptech/businessmaps.asp
SAP Consulting
With our extensive hands-on experience, proven methodologies,
and best practices, we provide all the advice and assistance
you need to reap maximum business benefit from your SAP
applications:
• A network of over 9,000 SAP consultants in more than 50
countries
• Seamlessly integrated portfolio of expert business and IT serv-
ices for the entire lifecycle
• Consistent consulting offerings for organizations of any size,
geographic scope, or industry
For more information, please refer to
http://www.sap.com/services/consulting
SAP Education
Thanks to our extensive experience, we have a unique insight
into the learning requirements of SAP customers and partners.
No matter what challenges you face, we can provide the
training you need – quickly and effectively:
• 200,000+ students annually
• Global in scope and standardization: represented in
48 countries, with courses offered at 77 training centers
and in 15 languages
• Over 200 instructor-led and online courses, covering all
SAP applications and spanning the entire lifecycle
For more information, please refer to
http://www.sap.com/education
SAP Custom Development
We develop highly effective custom solutions closely tailored
to your unique business processes. SAP Custom Development
helps maximize return on your SAP investment, minimize
operational risk, and establish competitive advantage. We
provide:
• Direct access to SAP development resources
• Solutions synchronized with the SAP product roadmap and
our future release strategy
• Solutions delivered within the framework of SAP’s proven
software development methodology
• A range of maintenance options
For more information, please refer to
http://www.sap.com/services/globalcds
SAP Hosting
SAP Hosting operates, manages, and maintains SAP applications
at a remote site. You benefit from the power and functions
of SAP with minimal risk and low total cost of ownership.
SAP Hosting offers:
• Evaluation hosting
• Implementation hosting
• Application hosting
• Remote application operations
• Application management
• Upgrade hosting
For more information, please refer to
http://www.saphosting.com
5.2 Implementation of SAP Applications
SAP offers a wealth of tools, methodologies, and services to
facilitate the evaluation and implementation of SAP
applications. Two examples follow.
SAP Best Practices
An SAP Best Practices offering comprises the following
elements:
• A detailed, step-by-step implementation procedure, including
automated activities
• Extensive reusable documentation that you can use for self-
study, evaluation, as well as for project team and end-user
training
• Complete preconfiguration settings that give you everything
you need to run specific key processes out of the box with
minimal installation effort. (The configuration is fully
documented, including preconfigured business processes,
training material, user roles, data conversion tools, and test
catalogs. It is built using the latest technology, so you can
adapt it quickly and easily)
SAP Best Practices assists you in all phases of a project. In the
evaluation phase, SAP Best Practices helps you to quickly set up
a prototype to understand the look and feel of an SAP applica-
tion. In the implementation phase, SAP Best Practices contains
all the steps necessary to implement selected business scenarios.
The business solution based on SAP Best Practices can be used
at an early stage during the implementation project for demo
and training purposes for both the project team and future
end-users. In addition, SAP Best Practices delivers numerous
end-user procedures that you can use as material for end-user
training and as a basis for end-user documentation.
25
The SAP Best Practices family covers a wide range of business
areas: SAP Best Practices industry packages are designed to meet
industry-specific needs, for example SAP Best Practices for High
Tech or SAP Best Practices for Wholesale. In contrast, the SAP
Best Practices Baseline Package provides generic business scenarios
that can be used as the basis for creating any application. Finally,
an assortment of SAP Best Practices cross-industry packages provides
predefined business content that focuses on the areas of cus-
tomer relationship management, supply chain management,
enterprise portal, and business intelligence.
5.3 SAP Upgrade Offerings (Services, Tools
and Content)
Change and improvement are integral parts of today’s business
environment. SAP is committed to support you in continuously
improving your existing SAP application and in doing the
following:
• Meeting the latest market requirements and flexibly adapting
your business
• Using the latest technologies available on the IT market
• Achieving company-specific targets to reduce TCO for the
existing IT infrastructure
SAP helps you align your IT strategy with SAP’s release and
maintenance strategy and identify the best transition option for
your existing SAP application. Furthermore, SAP offers tailored
services, tools and content to help you analyze the value propo-
sition and challenges of an upgrade project and to facilitate and
safeguard the project execution.
The SAP Upgrade Info Center (http://service.sap.com/upgrade)
as the central point of access for SAP upgrade information
provides details on SAP upgrade offerings, on application-
specific upgrade information, for example on mySAP ERP, and
on upgrade news.
26
5.4 Support Package Stacks
In 2003, SAP’s support package strategy was extended to
include support package stacks (SP stacks). The new strategy
addresses your demands for regular support packages and patch
recommendations at minimized cost of ownership.
SP stacks provide clear guidelines on recommended and permit-
ted combinations of support packages for a particular release.
They describe the optimal set of support packages and patches
for the individual software components within the release at the
given time.
SAP recommends that you apply SP stacks regularly. The tech-
nology for applying the support packages and patches within
an SP stack will not change, but SP stacks should be seen as an
entity in themselves – that is, you need to heed the minimum
requirements and dependencies between individual software
components and apply the support packages and patches
specified in the SP stack together.
SP stacks reduce the wide range of support package combina-
tions theoretically possible to practical, sensible combinations
with numerous advantages. They ensure enhanced quality of
single support packages, improved compatibility, simplified
downloading, dedicated application instructions, extensive
knowledge about possible restrictions, and high transparency of
side effects. Ultimately, this leads to easier execution of planned
maintenance, reduction of risks in operative business, and
accelerated problem resolution.
More details, a list of supported product versions, and the
current SP stacks are available in SAP Service Marketplace at
http://service.sap.com/sp-stacks
6 GLOSSARY
A E
Add-on – SAP application that is technically dependent on
and can only be installed on top of another application
ABAP – SAP programming language
Application – Software unit supporting a specific
collection of business processes required to address defined F
business needs
Application map – Graphical representation of the
business applications that support all business processes
related to a specific market view
B for certain applications apply)
Business process – Set of logically related tasks performed
to achieve a defined business outcome I
Business process step – Elementary task performed to
accomplish a business process
Business scenario – Set of business processes that define
an end-to-end business task in a comprehensive and self-
contained manner
Business solution – See industry solution
C needs of a specific industry
Cross-industry application – Software unit supporting a
specific collection of business processes required to address
needs across different industries
Cross-industry business scenario – Business scenario that L
can be performed in multiple industries without major
modifications
Customer-specific maintenance – Maintenance phase
after mainstream/ extended maintenance (including slightly M
restricted maintenance services)
D access to information and online service channels
Default release – Most recent release of an SAP application
once it enters into unrestricted shipment
– see also
Extended maintenance – Optional maintenance phase
after mainstream maintenance (including similar maintenance
services)
5-1-2 maintenance strategy – SAP’s maintenance strategy
for cross-industry applications based on SAP NetWeaver
2004, including five years of mainstream maintenance, one year
of extended maintenance at an additional 2% fee, and two years
of extended maintenance at an additional 4% fee (restrictions
Industry solution – Set of specific business scenarios address-
ing the requirements of an industry segment (is realized
within a cross-industry application and/or as an add-on)
Industry solution map – Graphical representation of an
industry solution from a customer’s perspective
Industry-specific application – Software unit supporting a
specific collection of business processes required to address the
Industry-specific business scenario – Business scenario
that is specifically relevant to a given industry
Legal change – Correction or adjustment to SAP software
to ensure legal and regulatory compliance of an SAP release
Maintenance – Software support comprising legal changes,
SAP Notes, support package stacks, problem support, and
Mainstream maintenance – First maintenance phase
(including full maintenance services) followed by extended/
customer-specific maintenance
27
M U
Master guides – Documents informing on the installation
of business scenarios within SAP applications (including links
to all other documents that are required for this task)
mySAP Business Suite – Family of cross-industry applications
Unrestricted shipment phase – Second phase of release
delivery (preceded by the restricted shipment phase) during
which all customers can obtain the release

R
Ramp-up – SAP’s process to introduce new application
releases into the market (to selected customers)
Release – Shipment of an SAP application at a particular
point of time and with defined maintenance phases
Release-to-customer date – Date that marks the initial
availability of a release to customers and the beginning of
the restricted shipment phase
Restricted shipment phase – First phase of release delivery
(followed by the unrestricted shipment phase) during which the
number of customers using this release is increased in a
controlled fashion in the course of the ramp-up process

S
SAP Notes – Instructions on how to remove known errors
from SAP software including a description of the symptoms,
the cause of the error as well as the SAP release and support
package level in which the error occurs
SAP xApps Packaged Composite Applications – Family
of SAP composite application offerings. A composite appli-
cation is composed of application components consuming
services from both SAP and non-SAP components.
Support package – Bundle of software corrections available
as an ABAP support package or a Java support package
Support package stack – Software corrections consisting
of the best combination of aligned support packages and
patches for a certain release at a specific point of time
(usually provided quarterly)
Support release – Release offered after the beginning of
the unrestricted shipment phase (if required) and containing
a collection of all previously available support packages
Switch framework – SAP technique to activate industry
solutions within cross-industry applications (activation requires
a license)

28
7 APPENDIX
7.1 Cross-Industry Applications and Their
Components
A list of all cross-industry applications and their components
will be provided on SAP Service Marketplace at
http://service.sap.com/releasestrategy as soon as the
planning process for mySAP Business Suite 2005 has been
completed.

7.2 Cross-References

Topic (in order of appearance) Link

SAP Notes http://service.sap.com/notes

SAP Service Marketplace
SAP Maintenance Services
SAP Product Availability Matrix
SAP Master Guides
SAP Business One
SAP Active Global Support
SAP Business Maps and Engagement Tools
SAP Consulting
SAP Education
SAP Custom Development
SAP Hosting
SAP Ramp-Up
SAP Upgrade Info Portal
SAP Support Package Stacks
http://service.sap.com
http://service.sap.com/maintenance
http://service.sap.com/pam
http://service.sap.com/instguides
http://service.sap.com/smb/solutions
http://www.sap.com/services/maintenance
http://www.sap.com/services/servsuptech/businessmaps.asp
http://www.sap.com/services/consulting
http://www.sap.com/education
http://www.sap.com/services/globalcds
http://www.saphosting.com
http://www.sap.com/services/rampup
http://service.sap.com/upgrade
http://service.sap.com/sp-stacks

29
30
31
 www.sap.com /contactsap

50 019 667 (04/12)