SAP

Editor's Notes

• #4: Information found on the SAP Web Site - http://www.sap.com/company and the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel
• #5: Information found on the SAP Web Site - http://www.sap.com/company
• #7: Information found on the The SAP Fan Club Web Site - http://www.sapfans.com/ and the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel SAP constitutes a radical shift from traditional fragmented business computer systems. In the past, each business unit or department might have maintained their own separate computer system which were often incompatible with others in the company. As a result, the prospect of synchronizing processes, sharing information, and communicating results was inefficient at best and often impossible to achieve. Furthermore, resources were wasted on redundant activities. SAP, on the other hand, is an enterprise-wide software solution that links an entire organization together with one comprehensive system. That means that SAP can handle a wide range of tasks, from keeping track of manufacturing levels to balancing the books in accounting, and then tie it all together effectively streamlining the data flow between different parts of a business. The goal is a company where information gets entered into a computer once, and only once. A sales rep, say, books an order for a product and enters it into SAP. After that the software makes sure everyone stays informed. When the factory begins assembling the order, shipping can check its progress on-line and calculate the expected transport date. The warehouse can check its stock of parts and fill whatever bins the factory has depleted. Once the order gets shipped, the information goes directly into the sales reports for the folks at the top. The bottom line is that SAP allows businesses to share information in real-time with employees, suppliers and distributors no matter what the size of the organization. This kind of streamlining has a direct and positive effect on productivity, customer service, overall quality and ultimately the profitability of the company.
• #9: Information found on the The SAP Fan Club Web Site - http://www.sapfans.com/ and the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel The R stands for real – i.e. real-time processing. The original SAP software was developed for mainframe based architecture. It has a modular structure, and its comprehensive business functionality enables a high degree of integration. The R/2 software runs on mainframes, such as IBM, Siemens, Amdahl.  The current version of R/2 is 6.1. Currently SAP continues to update and add functionality to its R/2 system for those clients who prefer to use a mainframe based architecture. SAP has keep up with technology changes. In the 1980s data processing began to be decentralized due to the implementation of department computers and workstations making client/ server architecture popular. In response to this change, in 1992 SAP introduced SAP R/3 based on 3 Tier Client/ Server Architecture. R/3 is a three tier client/server system with distinct layers for presentation, application and database. The database layer performs database processing, the application layer executes the business processes, and the presentation layer handles client and local preprocessing and presents the graphical user interface. The R/2 mainframe solution is not open, although with the help of ALE (Application Link Enabled) technology, R/2 can be linked to R/3 systems and share online data. The following information is from a power point presentation prepared by Edward L. Summers Thosmas Professor of Accounting for the University of Texas at Austin. Client-server is a type of computer network architecture in which some computers store information and processes (the servers) which they provide on demand to the other computers (the clients). SAP R/3’s three-tier client/server architecture distinguishes between the user interface (or “presentation”), the applications, and the database. Tier One, the user interface, appears at the workstations and allows the user to concentrate on the tasks being performed. Tier Two, the applications, may be spread among various servers on a network. SAP R/3 has the ability to route a user-initiated task to the proper servers(s) which have the data and software to execute it. When the tasks are coming in thick and fast, SAP R/3 may place them in a queue and prioritize them for execution. Tier Three, the database, may be implemented using Oracle or some other product. The applications pass data to and from the database as they perform their functions.
• #10: Information found in the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel
• #12: Information found in the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel
• #13: Information found on the The SAP Fan Club Web Site - http://www.sapfans.com/ The following information was from a power point presentation put together by Edward L. Summers Thomas Professor of Accounting at the University of Texas at Austin. This is the SAP diagram which explains symobolically how the component parts of R/3 operate. The light blue area symbolizes the client/server architecture. The smaller colored diamonds bordering the the client/server area represent the major R/3 modules and their users. The following slides list all of the R/3 modules.
• #14: Information found in the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel
• #15: Information found in the book “SAP R/3 Process Oriented Implementation” by Gerhard Keller and Thomas Teufel The following information is from a power point presentation by Edward L. Summers Thomas Professor of Accounting University of Texas at Austin. The SAP R/3 Modules exchange data with each other and with non-SAP R/3 applications. The modules cover all enterprise information needs comprehensively. SAP R/3 can be customized using built-in options, and can be user-modified to include new capabilities. Customization allows SAP R/3 to reflect virtually any organization’s structure.
• #16: Information found on the The SAP Fan Club Web Site - http://www.sapfans.com/
• #17: Information found in the book “Configuring SAP R/3 FI/CO” by Quentin Hurst and David Nowak The following information is from a power point presentation by Edward L. Summers Thomas Professor of Accounting University of Texas at Austin. SAP R/3’s design is based on the idea that an accounting system should be integrated, real-time, enterprise-wide, secure, and reliable.
• #18: This information is from the Central Michigan University SAP Web Site - http://wwwext03.sap.com/scripts/redirect.asp?contenturl=http://sap.mis.cmich.edu&source=ext&backurl=/usa/alliance/alliancemem.asp When you use R/3, you are free to choose your technical infrastructure. You are able to choose which hardware, operating systems, or databases you want to use. An organization has the ability to choose from the leading international vendors; the IT strategy can even be planned to include various systems from different manufacturers. Most importantly, the openness of R/3 protects your investment for the long term. As your company grows, R/3 grows with you. And if you change your hardware environment, R/3 stays with you on your path of change without jeopardizing your software investment. The number of workstations you include with the R/3 in your client/server solution is determined solely by your individual need. R/3 is infinitely expandable, and can be used just as well in client/server architectures with 30 seats as in installations with 3,000 end-users. This scalability ensures that R/3 can always grow with your requirements. We offer total solutions for qualified client/server information processing that combines a variety of products and services in a smoothly functioning communication network. R/3 incorporates not only system management, database recovery, and print management, but also network administration and backup solutions. Our partnerships with hardware manufacturers, database providers, and technology and service companies play a significant role here. The benefit: Cooperative client/server processing distributes applications and computing capabilities almost at will across a number of levels, and systematically takes advantage of the strengths of different hardware and software components. The following information is from a power point presentation by Edward L. Summers Thomas Professor of Accounting University of Texas at Austin. SAP R/3 integrated software functionality is portable across different hardware platforms. “Portable” means that SAP R/3 works with Unix, NT, and AS/400 systems. It also words with Oracle, Informix, and other database systems. The most common choices are UNIX and Oracle.
• #19: Information found on the The SAP Fan Club Web Site - http://www.sapfans.com/