Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

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ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning.  ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system. Today's ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database.

For example functions such as   Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relations Management, Financials, Manufacturing functions and Warehouse Management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella - the ERP system. 

There are many advantages of implementing an EPR system:

• A totally integrated system 
• The ability to streamline different processes and workflows
• The ability to easily share data across various departments in an organization
• Improved efficiency and productivity levels Better tracking and forecasting 
• Lower costs Improved customer service 

 

 

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Introduction to SAP R/3

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SAP R/3 is SAP's integrated software solution for client/server and distributed open systems.

The letter R stands for real-time, and 2 and 3 represent two-tiered and three-tiered architectures, respectively. SAP R/2 is for mainframes only, whereas SAP R/3 is three-tiered implementation using client/server technology for a wide range of platforms-hardware and software.  When implementing a Web front-end to an SAP R/3 implementation, the three-tiered architecture becomes multi-tiered depending on how the Web server is configured against the database server or how the Web server itself distributes the transaction and presentation logic.

SAP R/3's multi-tiered architecture enables its customers to deploy R/3 with or without an application server. Common three-tiered architecture consists of the following three layers:

• Data Management 
• Application Logic
• Presentation

The Data Management layer manages data storage, the Application layer performs business logic, and the Presentation layer presents information to the end user.

Most often, the Data Management and Application Logic layers are implemented on one machine, whereas workstations are used for presentation functions. This two-tiered application model is suited best for small business applications where transaction volumes are low and business logic is simple.

When the number of users or the volume of transactions increases, separate the application logic from database management functions by configuring one or more application servers against a database server. This three-tiered application model for SAP R/3 keeps operations functioning without performance degradation. Often, additional application servers are configured to process batch jobs or other long and intense resource-consuming tasks.

 

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Versions of SAP BW/BI

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In 1997, the first version of SAP product for reporting, analysis and data warehousing was launched and the product was termed as "Business Warehouse Information System".

Evolution of SAP BW/BI

Name	Version	Release
BIW	1.2A	Oct-1998
BIW	1.2B	Sep-1999
BIW	2.0A	Feb-2000
BIW	2.0B	Jun-2000
BIW	2.1C	Nov-2000
Name Change, BIW to BW
BW	3.0A	Oct-2001
BW	3.0B	May-2002
BW	3.1	Nov-2002
BW	3.1C	Apr-2004
BW	3.3	Apr-2004
BW	3.5	Apr-2004
Name Change, BW to BI
BI	7	July-2005

BIW    : Business Warehouse Information System.

BW     : Business Warehouse

BI       : Business Intelligence.

 

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Introduction to SAP BI

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SAP Netweaver Business Intelligence (SAP BI) is the name of the Business Intelligence, analytical, reporting and Data Warehousing (DW) solution which is one of the major enterprise software applications produced by SAP AG.

SAP BI consists among other things of components for data management (Data Warehousing Workbench), extensive data modeling capabilities, an embedded analytical engine, a suite of rich front-end analytical tools referred to as Business Explorer (BEx), and operational tools used for importing the most current transactional data into the system.

It may be helpful to consider layers that make up the structure of SAP's BI solution:

• Extraction, Transformation and Load (ETL) layer: responsible for extracting data from a specific source, applying transformation rules, and loading it into SAP BW system.
• Data warehouse area: responsible for storing the information in various types of structures (e.g. Data Store Objects, InfoObjects and multidimensional structures called Info Cubes).
• Reporting: responsible for accessing the information in data warehouse area (and directly in source systems using virtual InfoProviders) and presenting it in a user-friendly manner to the analyst or business user.
• Planning: Provides capabilities for the user to run simulations and perform tasks such as budget calculations

Purpose of Business Intelligence

During all business activities, companies create data. In all departments of the company, employees at all levels use this data as a basis for making decisions. Business Intelligence (BI) collates and prepares the large set of enterprise data. By analyzing the data using BI tools, you can gain insights that support the decision-making process within your company. BI makes it possible to quickly create reports about business processes and their results and to analyze and interpret data about customers, suppliers, and internal activities. Dynamic planning is also possible. Business Intelligence therefore helps optimize business processes and enables you to act quickly and in line with the market, creating decisive competitive advantages for your company.

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Introduction to SAP

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SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany by five former IBM employees: Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus E. Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther. It stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing. Over the years, it has grown and evolved to become the world premier provider of client/server business solutions for which it is so well known today. The SAP R/3 enterprise application suite for open client/server systems has established new standards for providing business information management solutions.

SAP product is considered excellent but not perfect.  The main problems with software product are that it can never be perfect.

The main advantage of using SAP as your company ERP system is that SAP has a very high level of integration among its individual applications which guarantee consistency of data throughout the system and the company itself.

In a standard SAP project system, it is divided into three environments, Development, Quality Assurance and Production.

The development system is where most of the implementation work takes place. The quality assurance system is where all the final testing is conducted before moving the transports to the production environment.  The production system is where all the daily business activities occur.  It is also the client that all the end users use to perform their daily job functions.

To all company, the production system should only contain transport that has passed all the tests.

SAP is table drive customization software.  It allows businesses to make rapid changes in their  business requirements with a common set of programs.  User-exits are provided for business to add in additional source code.  Tools such as screen variants are provided to let you set fields attributes whether to hide, display and make them mandatory fields.

SAP are categorized into 3 core functional areas:

Logistics 

• Sales and Distribution (SD)
• Material Management (MM)  
• Warehouse Management (WM) 
• Production Planning (PP) 
• General Logistics (LO) 
• Quality Management (QM)

Financial

• Financial Accounting (FI) 
• Controlling (CO) 
•  Enterprise Controlling (EC)  
• Investment Management (IM)  
• Treasury (TR) 

Human Resources 

• Personnel Administration (PA)  
• Personnel Development (PD)

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