Wednesday, May 1, 2013
C O N T E N T
S
Ø Introducing SAP
Ø What is SAP
Ø The Goals
Ø History
Ø SAP’s markets
2. Interacting with the SAP systems
Ø Exploring the Interface between System
and User
Ø Interpreting the Document Principle
3. Exploring R/3 Architecture
Ø Reviewing Basic Principles
Ø Client/server Multi-tier Architecture
Ø
Client/server Communications
4. Introducing R/3 Software Architecture
Ø Method and means to implement SAP
Ø System identification
Ø SAP R/3 Software Architecture
5. SAP Security and Control
6. Online Service System
Ø
Introducing the Online
Service System
Ø
Exploring R/3 Online Services
Ø
Benefits of Online Service
System
Ø
Using the SAP EarlyWatch
System
Ø
Monitoring
7.
Using the SAP R/3 Information Database
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography
1. REVIEWING THE SAP CORPORATION
INTRODUCTION
Today, it's not enough to just access a vast quantity of information.
You've got to be able to take that information and do something productive with
it.
People need information from business applications, databases, email,
shared documents, and the Internet. So you need a solution like mySAP
Enterprise Portals that takes advantage of unification technology --
bringing together every piece of critical information and delivering it to your
users. And once it's there, your people can swing into action, making better
decisions, collaborating, and increasing business speed and efficiency.
MySAP Enterprise Portals, which was
formerly known as mySAP Workplace, delivers the promise of true e-business by
unifying every business process in the corporate ecosystem for
strategic advantage and profitability.
SAP was founded in 1972 and has grown to
become the world’s fifth largest software company. It is the name of the company as well as the
computer system or what we call software.
The SAP software is written
in ABAP/4, SAP’s fourth-generation Advanced Business Programming Language. This is the system that consists of a number
of fully integrated modules that cover virtually every aspect of business
management.
Information
Technology is now at the very core of major organizations around the world, and
its importance is beyond question.
Market forces and customer expectations continually pressure
organizations to improve the performance of their
systems. While many software companies
have looked at areas of business and have
developments systems to support those areas, SAP has looked toward the
whole business. It offers a unique
system that supports nearly all areas of business on a global scale.
Being a German
company, SAP still operates all over the world, with 28 subsidiaries
and affiliates and six partner companies maintaining offices in 40
countries. It operates in the major
continents like America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and Middle East.
What is SAP?
SAP’s name is derived from Systems, Applications, and Products
in Data Processing.
The Goals
SAP has
defined its corporate goals as the following:
Ø Customer satisfaction
Ø Profitability
Ø Growth
Ø
Employee satisfaction
HISTORY
Five people founded SAP in
1972: Herbert Wellenreuther, Dietmar Hopp, Haas-Werner Hector, Hasso
Plattner, and Klaus Tschira. Initially working for IBM,
Wellenreuther developed a financial accounting package for its customer. But SAP bought the rights from the customer
and started to design and implement the real-time finance system as a standard
package based on his experience. Further
they developed Materials Management Systems. This was later converted to a Standard
Package.
SAP’s
Market
SAP markets its
products all over the world almost every industry imaginable, as well as
government and educational institutions and hospitals. Some of the industries served by SAP:
Ø Automotive
Ø Building and heavy construction
Ø Building materials, clay and glass
Ø Chemicals
Ø Clothing and textiles
Ø Communications services and media
Ø Consulting and software
Ø Consumer packaged goods-food and nonfood
Ø Education institutions and research
Ø Electronic/optic and communications equipment
Ø Financial services, banks, and insurance
Ø Furniture
Ø Government, public administration, and utility services
Ø Healthcare and hospitals
Ø Industrial and commercial machinery
Ø Museums and associations
Ø Oil and gas
Ø Pharmaceuticals
Ø Primary metal, metal products, and steel
Ø Raw materials, mining, and agriculture
Ø Retail and wholesale
Ø Ship, aerospace, and train construction
Ø Storage, distribution, and shipping
Ø Transportation services and tourism
Ø Utilities
Ø Wood and paper
2. INTERACTING WITH THE SAP SYSTEMS
EXPLORING THE INTERFACE BETWEEN SYSTEM
AND USER
The user interface of the SAP
system presents users with attractive and informative displays and enables them
to perform tasks easily and intuitively.
It also allows users to streamline repetitive tasks if those tasks
cannot be automated altogether.
A user
is a person who has permission to use the system and an identification code
that tells the system which password to expect for that authorized user.
The system
supervisor to give the user permission to user certain functions establishes a user
profile. For example: a user who has
learned only to enter purchase orders is not allowed to send them off to
suppliers without supervisor authorization.
Using
tables in SAP applications has enabled the customizations without
affecting SAP’s reliability and integrity.
The
transaction concept has also been used in SAP systems. This helps in business transaction while
receiving and delivering of the consignments.
INTERPRETING THE DOCUMENT PRINCIPLE
Posting of any account doesn’t
succeed unless debit equals credit. The
entries for such a posting are not valid unless it passes the validation tests
applied.
Successful posting to an account as a
result of the transaction is regarded by SAP as a self-contained and coherent
unit of data.
The unit is defined as an SAP document
because evidence of this posting event and details of the transaction can be
displayed in a standard document format.
An SAP document is a data object and must obey the rules of SAP
objects.
A data object is a
cluster of data items recorded as fields.
Each field is allowed a maximum size and type of content according to
the defined data domain specification assigned to it.
3. EXPLORING R/3 ARCHITECTURE
REVIEWING BASIC PRINCIPLES
SAP system
is a BASIS system to which application can be added. Each application has several components that
can be installed as required.
The standard business functions of the
SAP R/3 system can execute the full range of business system processes used in
almost every type of business enterprise.
MULTI-TIER CLIENT/SERVER ARCHITECTURE
The R/3 system operates by using the
client/server principle applied across several levels. It is highly modular, and the principle is
applied primarily through software so that the modes of interaction between the
various clients and servers can be controlled.
This multi-tier client/server architecture supports the open system
principles. Open System Principles
allows the interplay and portability of applications, data, and user interfaces
by adhering to international standards for these elements. The work of IEEE is the basis of open
system. The international open interface
systems embodied in the R/3 system are TCP/IP, RPC, SQL, and OLE/DDE.
Other
than UNIX, the R/3 system can run over the operating systems like MPE/iX,
OpenVMS, OS/400, and Windows NT. Also portable with databases like IBM (DB2),
Informix, Oracle, Software AG, Sybase.
CLIENT/SERVER
COMMUNICATIONS
The architecture of R/3 allows various
protocols for communication between the elements of the configuration. TCP/IP and open system Interface (OSI) are
examples.
4. INTRODUCING R/3
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
METHOD AND MEANS TO IMPLEMENT SAP
The
extensive range of SAP standard software modules allows any model of business
flow to be engineered. The precise
details of each customized installation are set up as the application programs
are installed, configured, and customized.
There are three directions of development in the range of SAP products.
·
Changes in the way companies do
business are tracked and sometimes anticipated by SAP – improved software
modules, such as R/3 workflow and control over it from the interest of enable
electronic commerce with business partners and
potential customers.
·
SAP R/3 is made available in
pre-configured forms specifically designed for rapid implementation in a
particular type of industry.
·
Software systems are provided
as tools to support the process of changing businesses to increase profitability
by using computing and communications technologies.
SAP R/3 APPLICATIONS
An SAP R/3 application
or module is a set of programs designed for a specific type of business data
processing. Each application is fully
integrated with R/3 BASIS. This allows
each application to communicate with any other application
SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION
SAP R/2 is a system for
mainframes. The SAP R/3 system for open
system architecture allows medium-size companies and affiliates of corporations
to take advantage of the highly integrated SAP software. It applies the client/server concept across
multiple levels.
SAP R/3 SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE ADVANTAGES
SAP architecture
embraces a complete infrastructure of information processing. The SAP R/3 system is based on a system of
layers, each operating in a client/server manner with interfaces necessary for
R/2 and non-SAP systems. The SAP R/3
system is extremely portable across operating systems, databases, and
presentation systems. Synchronous and
asynchronous compiling between applications is supported. The following are the advantages of SAP R/3
software architecture.
·
Scalability in response to
demand
The multi-tier architecture based on the
client/server paradigm allows fresh equipment to be installed at any level and
to follow the load profiles and the requirement for additional processing
created by adding applications.
·
Portable software
Software usually remains in use longer than
hardware. SAP software is exceptionally
portable across hardware and operating systems, and across database systems.
·
Interoperability with PC
applications
Object linking and embedding (OLE) interfaces
are provided, and remote function call (RFC) procedures allow the SAP systems
to integrate both the data and the functions of the SAP R/3 system with those
of PC applications and data sources.
·
Simple customizing without
programming
Not only are the SAP systems readily
adjustable to fit exactly into the business requirement, but they come with
customizing tools to ensure that this adaptation is carried out as easily and
as accurately as possible without broaching the protected standard business
software functions, which remain intact and efficiently integrated with the
rest of the SAP systems.
5. SAP
SECURITY AND CONTROL
General
Security Guidelines
In
general terms, there is essentially nothing special about the management of
access security in an SAP environment.
Various security systems are available for the evaluation of information
systems security like –
Security policy
Security organization
Assets classification and control
Personnel security
Computer and network management
System access control
Business continuity planning
6. ONLINE
SERVICE SYSTEM
Introducing
the Online Service System
During
the implementation of the R/3 system, the OSS – Online Service System is used
to solve problems found in a test system before they get to production. After the production system is live, the
usual purpose of the OSS is to solve an existing problem thought to be a bug in
the software, for which there is a known SAP solution. If you do have any areas of uncertainty, the
components of the OSS – Online Service System
are available in your installation to help you identify the reason and
to see how to clear up the difficulty.
There is also a remote connection to the OSS library of error notes
organized so that you can search for a question that corresponds to your
query. When the system is clear about
this, it offers some solution proposals.
And as a fallback position, the Online Service System facilitates a
direct communications link to the SAP service team will solve one’s problem.
N O T E:- The full OSS - Online Service
System can be installed at a client site in the form of the Customer Competence
Center, which specializes in solving the SAP R/3 system problems of a
particular company.
Exploring R/3 Online Services
The
main elements of the online services follow:-
·
SAP OSS – Online Service System.
·
Customer Competence Center with own OSS updated from the SAP OSS.
·
Local SAP Help Desk.
·
SAP R/3 Help Desk
·
EarlyWatch
·
Remote consulting
·
Hot news and Upgrade Services
·
SAP Error Notes database
·
Online Error Correction
·
Upgrade Support on Weekends
Benefits of Online Service System
The
full ranges of the OSS – Online Service System and the SAP Remote Services
software and communications equipment have a comprehensive and powerful support
system. This characteristics feature
lets you assistance and has an automatic fault-location service up to a
consulting visit, with information provided selectively and automatically at
every level.
The
lists of benefits of this system are as follows: -
v Continuous problem processing
worldwide
v Immediate first-level customer
service
v Direct access to the error notes
database
v Problem prevention
v Review of the progress and history
of a problem solution process
v Access to SAP staff and SAP partners
v Communication with other SAP R/3
users
v Latest information on SAP R/3
products
Using the
SAP EarlyWatch System
The EarlyWatch system provides a proactive method of monitoring customer
SAP R/3 systems by conducting regular analyses. Teams of experts at SAP carry out remote
diagnosis of customer SAP R/3 installations worldwide.
Monitoring
The
following elements can fall within the scope of EarlyWatch remote diagnosis:
·
Network components
·
Operating system
·
Database
·
SAP applications and configurations
7. USING THE
SAP R/3 INFORMATION DATABASE
The
SAP R/3 information database provides you with the latest information about SAP
R/3 products and releases. In
particular, the database carries the following types of data:
SAP R/3 development strategy and product planning
System development and delivery dates
Duration of the maintenance period of new releases
SAP R/3 services and certified SAP partners
Training course enrollment calendar
Available documents and publications in other media
Technical information concerning remote connections and network products
Important
Accessing Information Resources
·
Service Guidelines. Descriptions of the SAP R/3
services
·
Product Guidelines. Marketing information and brochures.
·
Documentation. Includes SAP R/3 handbooks, upgrade and
installation instructions, and release information.
·
Presentations.
Include the SAP visual CD-ROM programs.
8. CONCLUSION
The SAP organization has always had
a policy of continuous business development.
The driving forces are the need to keep up with the marketplace in
product and requirement details and also the need to meet the evolving legal
obligations placed on companies. With
the increasing revenues and global consolidations, control, security and reliability
are paramount, and SAP doesn’t disappoint.
A
good understanding of how SAP modules integrate with each other should give you
the ability to maximize the benefits from its implementation. Success is based as much on your knowledge of
the business and what you are trying to achieve as it is on understanding the
system.
