SAP BASICS

By, Manjunath Rao J V

 SAP Basics

1.1 ERP

ERP Stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. Enterprise stands for a business or an entity.
Resources stands for Money, Man, Machine and Material (4M).

ERP concept was developed based on the planning of the resources to the maximum extent to
reach the business goals (Profit).

Example:- Tally, Finacle, Microsoft Dynamics.

1.2 SAP

SAP stands for System Application in Product data processing. SAP was introduced to
market in the year 1983 by Five Ex. IBM employees in Germany. SAP ERP is an integrated
ERP software, which integrates with different modules like FI with MM, FI with SD.

Architecture of SAP:-SAP runs under the architecture of R/3, where R stands for 3 tire
architecture R/3 architecture represents,

1. Presentation Layer
2. Application Layer
3. Database Layer

1. Presentation Layer:- The user system or desktop are called as presentation layer.
2. Application Layer:- The user wants same reports from the system in the system we
have application layer. Application layer sends the request to database layer. This
process is called R/3 architecture.
Application layer is the mediator between Presentation layer and Database layer,
which takes all the request from presentation layer and delivers back the requested
needed to the respective presentation layer in sequential manner receives from the
database.
3. Database Layer: - This is the layer where the data is stored.

Before to R/3 architecture took market they introduced R/1 architecture and R/2 architecture.
R/1 is real time 1 tire architecture where all the 3 layers kept in a single server. R/2 is real
time 2 tire architecture in R/2 there was no application layer only Presentation layer and
Database layer were there.

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In this scenario all the clients are directly accessing to database layer as a result system faces
frequent brake down and very low performance.

It is an arrangements of servers that a client wants to implement an SAP, then have to

purchase servers SAP suggest or recommend to have three servers.

Develpment Quality Production

Server or Server or Server or
Clinet Client Client

Development Server: - It is used to configure the client’s business process into SAP system.
For development server only consultant will have the access.

Quality Server: - It is used to test the scenarios based on the business process. For quality
server consultant and the core user can access.

After developing the configuration in the development server, all the configuration will be
transported to the quality server from development server and start doing testing.

Production server:-It is used to enter day to day live transaction in SAP. For Production
server only end users can access.

1.4 Modules in SAP

 Functional Modules
1. FI- Financial Accounting
2. CO- Controlling
3. MM- Material Management
4. SD- Sales and Distribution
5. PP- Production and Planning
6. QM- Quality Management
7. HR- Human Resource

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8. PS- Project System

9. PM- Plant Maintenance
10. CRM- Customer Relation Management
11. HANA- High-performance ANalyticAppliance
 Technical Modules
1. BASIS- Business Application Systems Integrated Solutions
2. ABAP- Advanced Business Application Programming

As a functional consultant, we first study the client’s business process and then we configure
the client’s business process into SAP system.

SAP is a package which is already provided with standards configuration. As a consultant we

need to use the standard configuration and to do the necessary changes as per the client’s
requirement. As a consultant we can be placed as either implementation or support project.

Implementation: - It is a project where we start configuring the client’s business process

freshly into SAP system who will be using same legacy SAP (apart from SAP/ non SAP).

Support project: - Handling the issue raised by the client who are already using SAP system.

1.5 Implementation project

Role and responsibility in implication projects:- Every implement partners (IT Champs,
Wipro, Infosys) will have Business Development Manager (BDM). This BDM will meet the
clients who are not yet implement SAP and try to Convince the client to use SAP.

If the client convince to use SAP, client will ask quotation to implement partners. The
implementation partners will send the pre sales team to client location to do the basic study of
the client business process after studding the business process the pre sales team will submit
their report to implementation partners. The implementation partners will prepare the
quotation based on the report submitted by the presales team.

The quotation will be sent to client and if client satisfy with the quotation the client will make
an agreement for implementing SAP to their business with implementing partner. When the
client makes an agreement with the implementing partners to implement SAP then the
implement partners will start a methodology called as ASAP methodology.

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1.6 ASAP methodology

Where A Stands Accelerated SAP.

ASAP methodology consist of the guidelines to implement SAP by phases process. In SAP
methodology we have five phases,

1. Project preparation
2. Business Blueprint
3. Realization
4. Go live andrr6 support