Hi Abishek,
SAP, started in 1972 by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany, states that it is the world's largest inter-enterprise software company and the world's fourth-largest independent software supplier, overall.
The original name for SAP was German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, German for "Systems Applications and Products." The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. Gradually, the applications have been assembled and today many corporations, including IBM and Microsoft, are using SAP products to run their own businesses.
SAPs products are in the Enterprise resource planning ERP business sector. The company's main product is SAP R/3, where the "R" stands for Realtime, the number 3 relates to the three tier application architecture: database, application server and client. The predecessor to R/3 was R/2. Other major offerings include APO (Advanced Planner and Optimizer), BW (Business Information Warehouse), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), SRM (Supplier Relationship Management), Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) and KW (Knowledge Warehouse). The company also offers a new technology platform, named SAP NetWeaver. While its original products are mostly used by larger companies, SAP is now also offering products for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) with SAP Business One and SAP All In One.
You can use SAP R/3 to manage functional systems in an organization. A firm will have functional systems, such as human resource system, sales and distribution, material management. Each functional system has a collection of business application tools and a set of tables to store the application data. For example, the sales and distribution module has the application tools to prepare billing and sales documents.
SAP R/3 uses Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) language to develop interactive business applications. All the application tools in SAP R/3 are written in ABAP language. A firm can customize standard business applications by modifying the standard ABAP code and using the modified application for its own specific business requirements.
Advantages of the SAP R/3 ERP Package
The advantages of a SAP R/3 ERP package are:
Integrates all functional modules to create a centralized system. As a result, application data can be shared between various functional modules.
Is customizable to the needs of an organization.
Is available in several programming languages. In addition, it provides various translation tools.
Note Translation tools are provided by SAP to convert short text, comments, and long texts from a source language to a target language. To access these tools, use the SE63 transaction code.
Supports multiple currencies. The ERP package can be customized to conversion and exchange rates specific to a region.
Supports Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS), such as Oracle 8.x, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2/Unix, DB2/AS400, and DB2 MVS.
Integrates with e-mail applications, third party applications, and B2B sites.
Roles Involved in the Development Process
A SAP development team has different roles assigned to different members. Roles involved in the development process are:
Functional Consultants: Develop the blue print to customize SAP modules and develop ERP applications. The functional consultant must be conversant in creating functional modules and should be able to create the requirement specification documents, database designs, software designs, and execution plans.
Technical Consultants: Implement the blueprint developed by the functional consultant. A technical consultant must possess good ABAP/4 programming skills and should have broad technical knowledge about functional aspects. The tasks carried out by a technical consultant include coding, database creation, customization of modules, and report generation.
To develop SAP applications, you need an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), such as ABAP Workbench. ABAP Workbench provides various tools, such as Screen Painter, Menu Painter, ABAP Editor, and ABAP Dictionary. These tools are used to develop the interactive business applications.
Reward points if this helps....
Regards
Vani.
