SAP – Overview

 What is ERP

 Introduction to SAP

- Definition

- Journey of SAP

- Why SAP

- Environment of SAP

 Architecture of SAP R/3

What is ERP

 ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning

 -ERP is enterprise wide information system which consolidate information from various
functions/departments of an organization.

 Functions: Manufacturing, Operations, CRM, SCM, HR, Finance, Warehouse etc..

Definition of “SAP”

-SAP (Systems, Applications and Products) is a name of company which offers ERP solutions for
various industries to integrate information from various functions of that industry under one system.

Journey of SAP

SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf,Germany by 5 IBM employees, the goal of the company
was to provide large enterprise customers with the ability to interact with corporate database in
real-time.

SAP’s first S/w application was a financial accounting software suite that ran on “mainframes”
known for its stability eventually known as R1 system i.e. “R” stands for Real-time. In 1980s
company went international, the second iteration of the R system (R/2) accommodated
different languages and currencies. In 1990s the third iteration (R/3) moved from the mainframe
to a client/server 3 tier architecture composed of a database, S/w applications and a common
graphical user interface (GUI). SAP used the name R/3 until the 5.0 release.

Currently R/Version name changed to ERP Central Component (ECC), the latest version is ECC
6.0

Why SAP R/3

 SAP incorporates the concepts of ERP & Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) into an
integrated solutions for business applications.

SAP have a very high level of integration among its individual applications which guarantee
consistency of data throughout the system & the company

Environment of SAP

SAP system divided into three environments

 Development

 Quality

 Production

Development System: The system which entire development work of an implementation

takes place also known as “D-System”

Quality: The Quality system is where all the final testing is conducted before moving the
transports to the production environment “Q-System”

Production: The system in which all the daily business activities takes place. It is the client that
all end users use to perform their daily job functions. “P-System”

Customer's System Landscape

4.5B
4.5B
CRM
CRM
4.5B
4.5B
CRM
CRM
3.1I
3.1I SCM 4.5B
4.5B
SCM CRM
CRM
3.1I
3.1I Legacy
Legacy
SCM
SCM
Legacy
Legacy 3.1I
3.1I SCM
CUS
CUS SCM
4.6C
4.6C Legacy
Legacy
CUS
CUS 4.6C
4.6C
CUS
CUS 4.6C
4.6C
QAS
DEV
PRD
Solution
Landscape

SAP Solution
Manager

Architecture of SAP R/3

 R/3 System :Presentation Layer

Presentation Layer: This is where users of the SAP R/3 System will submit input to the SAP R/3 System
for the processing of business transactions. It is also where the output from these transactions appears
as output fields, reports, tables and spread sheets. On the desktop level, R/3 offers a user-friendly
graphical interface called SAPGUI. The system also integrates alternative interfaces for optimum
compliance with your requirements. This includes integrating common PC applications. Information
exchange is also carried out through the Internet, Kiosk touch screen systems and telephone
applications.

Activities:

 Desktop management

 Help desk

 WAN/LAN Management & Monitoring

Application Layer: An application is a logically independent component residing at the host operating
system level within the SAP R/3 client/server environment. This component is represented by an
application server in the SAP R/3 network. After a user initiates a request at the presentation level, logic
is invoked to service and process that information. The application logic modules can reside on one
centralized host machine or be distributed over several physical host machines within a particular SAP
R/3 network.

Typically, the update processes reside on the database server in the application layer. In most cases, the
message, spool and gateway processes will also reside on the database server. The database server may
also be referred to as the “central server”.
On the application level, R/3 offers sophisticated mechanisms to optimally use high-performance system
resources. The system implements interconnections between various applications so that they are
practical from a business perspective. R/3 closes the gap between the exacting concept of a business
transaction and a transaction from a data processing perspective.

Activities:

 Automation

 Workload Distribution & Balancing

 Performance Tuning

 High Availability

 Capacity Planning

Database Layer :On the database level, R/3 exclusively uses relational database systems by various
manufacturers. R/3 is able to utilize the most advanced features of each database vendor’s product. In
other words, it is not constrained by the lack of features in any individual database engine. Instead, it is
able to fully use a supplier-specific implementation without jeopardizing it’s own portability.

Activities:

 Recovery

 Backup Strategy

 Performance & Tuning

 High Availability

 Reorganization