SAP Modules

INTRODUCTION

SAP Modules overview: SAP stands for Systems, Applications and

Products in data processing and it is the fourth largest software company in the
world. SAP provides end to end solutions for financials, manufacturing, logistics,
distribution etc.
SAP Core HR modules are delivered pre-integrated to allow for the seamless transfer
of data between all components and thus increase the efficiency and effectiveness
of HR processes. As experts in SAP HCM, AspireHR consultants are primed to assist
in the implementation of or upgrade to all SAP Core HR modules.
SAP integrates and optimizes business processes as well as eliminates high
integration costs and the need to purchase third-party software. Use of SAP
incrementally improves cash flow and reduces costly borrowing.
There is a defining moment in the journey of all companies on the road to SAP
nirvana. This moment comes just after the company has concluded that it wants
SAP, it needs SAP, its gotta have SAP then comes the question so what does it
take to implement it?
This is the question which separates those who are ready from the wannabees.
Before being accused of being too negative, let me remind you that at the heart of
every good business decision lies a cost benefit analysis. If this cannot be complete
with a positive outcome, the initiative (whatever it is) should probably not be
launched. Same goes for a SAP implementation.

SAP Modules

SAP MODULES OVERVIEW

SAP Modules overview: SAP stands for Systems, Applications and
Products in data processing and it is the fourth largest software company in the
world. SAP provides end to end solutions for financials, manufacturing, logistics,
distribution etc. Each SAP module is integrated with other modules. SAP System
divided in to two types of modules such as functional modules and technical
modules.
The

important SAP

modules used

by

organization

are FICO (Financials

and

Controlling),MM (Materials Management), SD (Sales & Distribution), HR (Human

Resources), PP (Production Planning).

SAP Modules Integration

SAP Modules

SAP Modules

SAP Modules in R/3

SAP R/3 System is divided in to various modules, each module has its own business
task.

Functional

Technical

Functional Modules Overview

SAP Module FI (Finance Accounting) :- The following are important submodules of Financial accounting

General Ledger(GL)

Accounts Payable(AP)

Accounts Receivable(AR)

Bank and Cash Management

Budgeting and Monitoring

Withholding Tax (TDS)

Asset Accounting(AA)

Funds Management(FM)

Treasury Management(TM)

SAP Modules

SAP Module CO (Controlling) :- The important sub-modules of controlling

are as follows

Product Costing(CO-PC)

Periodic Allocations

Profitability Analysis(CO-PA)

Cost Center Accounting(CCA)

Profit Center Accounting(PCA)

SAP Module SD (Sales and Distribution) :

Sales Order Processing and Monitoring

Shipping

Bill / Invoice Generation

Credit Management

Bill of Material

Pricing and Discounts

Statutory Requirements

SAP Module HR

Organizational Management

Personnel Administration

Recruitment Time Management

Management Personnel Cost

Planning Budget

Payroll Benefits Compensation

Management Personnel

Development Training & Event Management

Travel Management

SAP Modules

SAP Module PP (Production Planning)

Production Planning

Production Order Processing

Demand Management (DM)

Materials Requirements Planning (MRP)

Shop Floor Control

Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP)

Information System

SAP Module MM (Materials Management)

Purchasing

Inventory Management

Inventory Valuation

Vendor Evaluation and Rating

Invoice Verification

Statutory Requirements

SAP Module QM (Quality Management)

Incoming Inspection

Process Inspection

Final/Delivery Inspections

Quality Reports / Certificates

Quality Notifications

SAP Module PM (Plant Maintenance)

Maintenance Planning

Breakdown Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance

Predictive Maintenance

SAP Modules

SAP Module PS (Project Systems)

Project Planning

Project Monitoring

Project Costing

Milestone based Billing

Handling of WBS Elements

SAP Module Supply Chain Management

Technical Modules Overview

Netweaver

ABAP - Advanced Business Application Programming

IS (Information Systems) Management

XI Exchange Infrastructure

SAP Basis

BIW Business Information Warehousing+

SAP Modules

SAP modules

General Info
System SAP ERP (previously SAP R/3) has a modular structure; that is, it contains a
number of modules accessible via one login to the SAP ERP system (with the
exception of SAP BW and SAP KW).
SAP ERP modules are widely known by their abbreviations. Modules are organized
hierarchically; that is, they have submodules (e.g., Fixed Assets FI-AA is a
submodule of Finance FI). Some modules are extensions of existing modules, but are
not officially a submodule (e.g., Fleet Management FM is an extension of Plant
Maintenace PM).
Some parts of SAP software are also described with module code due to support
issues. These are Technical Modules.

SAP Modules

Accounting

FI Finance
o FI-GL Genral Ledger Accounting

Classic GL

New GL

o FI-AP Accounts Payable

o FI-AR Accounts Receivable
8

SAP Modules

o FI-BL Banking & Loans

o FI-AA Asset Accounting (Also call Fixed Assets FI-FA by some)
o FI-SL Special Purpose Ledger

SAP Modules

IM Investment Management
o IM-AP Appropriation Requests
o IM-IP Investment Programs
o IM-IO Investment Orders/Measures
o IM-IS Investment Support (Grant accountign in the Asset Accounting
Module)

PS Project Systems

CO Controlling
o Cost Element Accounting
o Cost Centre Accounting (CO-CCA)
o Profit Centre Accounting (CO-PCA) - Mostly for product lines use
o Internal Orders
o Activity based Costing
o Product Costing
o Profitability Analysis (CO-PA)

EC Enterprise Controlling
o EIS Executive Information System
o Consolidations
o Profit Centre Accounting (EC-PCA) - Mostly for Business Area use
10

SAP Modules

o FM Funds Management

RE Standard Real Estate (obsolete)

o RE-FX Flexible Real Estate

FSCM
o TR Treasury
o CM Cash Management

11

SAP Modules

Logistics

MM Material Management
o PUR Purchasing (Includes Requesitions & Contract Management)
o INV Inventory & Physical Inventory Management
o LIV Logistics Invoice Verification (Mostly handled by the Finance
consultants)

SD Sales and Distribution

o Sales Enquiry
o Sales Order Processing
o Delivery & Goods issues
o Billing (Mostly handled by the Finance consultants

LO Logistics Execution (Used in MM & in SD)

WM Warehouse Management

PM Plant Maintenance

CS Customer Service- Service Management

FM Fleet Management

QM Quality Management

PP Production Planning
12

SAP Modules

o PP-PI Production Planning Process Industries

EH&S Environment, Health & Safety

PS Project System (Also mostly handled by Accounting)

Human Resource

HR Human Resources
o HR-OM Organisation Management (This deals with the hierarchical
structure

of

an

organization.

It

consists

of

the

object

types

Organizational Units (O), which can be departments, divisions or wings,

Positions (S) which are held by employees in the organization and
Persons (P) who are employees)
o HR-PM Personnel Management
o HR-PA Personnel Administration
o HR-PD Personnel Development
o HR-PT Personal Time Management
o HR-PY Payroll (Payroll functionality is very country-specific. Each country
version is treated as a separate entity by SAP for enhancement and
support purpose, e.g., PY-US. Under PY IMG, you will see a node for each
country SAP supports. For the countries that are not supported by SAP,
you can use the international version PY-XX.)
o HR-TE Training & Event Management
o HR-LSO Learning Solutions***
13

SAP Modules

o HR-CM Compensation
o HR-ECM Enterprise Compensation
o HR-BN Benefits
o HR-PB Recruitment
o HR-LN Loan
o HR-ABAP Advance business application programming
Until 4.7 EE (Enterprise Edition) it was called as SAP HR. From 5.0 ECC (Enterprise
Central Component) it is called SAP HCM. The current version being is 6.0 ECC.

Technical Modules

CA Cross-Application
o Classification System
o ABAP/4 Query
o Workflow

BC Basic Components (Often referred to as BASIS)

ABAP Programming
o Basic ABAP/4 Programming (Mostly used for report version before 3.1 to
around 4.5b)
o Workflow programming

14

SAP Modules

o ALV Programming
o ABAP/4 OOPS (Objetc Oriented Programming)
o Web-Dynpro

Security & Authorisations

Additional Systems

Some modules requires separate (from SAP ERP) installation. There are:

BW - Business Warehouse

BI - Business Intelligence

KW - Knowledge Warehouse

IDES - International Demonstration and Education System

CRM - Customer Relationship Management

MDM - Master Data Management

SRM - Supplier Relationship Mangement

CRM - Customer Relationship Management

XI - Exchange Infrastructure

PI - Process integration

GTS - Global Trade Services

15

SAP Modules

SEM - Strategic Entreprise Management

BCS - Business Consolidation & Sourcing

BPC - Business Planning & Concolidation

CFM - Corporate Finance Management

This presents a partial list of products of the enterprise software company SAP AG

SAP
o Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
o Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
o Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
o Supply Chain Management (SCM)
o Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.

Business Solutions
Industry Solutions
Solutions for Small and Midsize Enterprises
Platforms and frameworks
4.1
Legacy Platforms
5. Others

16

SAP Modules

1) Business Solutions

SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO)

SAP Analytics

SAP Apparel and Footwear Solution (AFS)

SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW)

SAP Business Intelligence (BI)

SAP Catalog Content Management ()

SAP Convergent Charging (CC)

SAP Enterprise Buyer Professional (EBP)

SAP Enterprise Learning

SAP Portal (EP)

SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI) (From release 7.0 onwards, SAP XI has been
renamed as SAP Process Integration (SAP PI))

SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)

Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)

Enterprise Central Component (ECC)

SAP HANA (High-performance Analytics Appliance)

SAP Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)

17

SAP Modules

SAP Internet Transaction Server (ITS)

SAP Incentive and Commission Management (ICM)

SAP Knowledge Warehouse (KW)

SAP Manufacturing

SAP Master Data Management (MDM)

SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS)

SAP Service and Asset Management

SAP Solutions for mobile business

SAP Solution Composer

SAP Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM)

SAP Test Data Migration Server (TDMS)

SAP Training and Event Management (TEM)

SAP NetWeaver Application Server (Web AS)

SAP xApps

SAP Supply Chain Performance Management (SCPM)

SAP Sustainability Performance Management (SUPM)

2) Industry Solutions

SAP for Retail (ISR)

18

SAP Modules

SAP for Utilities (ISU)

SAP for Public Sector (IS PSCD)

SAP for Oil & Gas (IS Oil & Gas)

SAP for Telecommunications (IST)

SAP for Healthcare (ISH)

SAP for Banking (SAP for banking)

SAP Financial Services Network (FSN)

SAP Shiping Services Network (FSN)

3) Solutions for Small and Midsize Enterprises

SAP Business One (6.2, 6.5, 2004, 2005, 2007, 8.8x, 9.0)(simple and powerful
Product)

SAP Business ByDesign

4) Platforms and frameworks

SAP Enterprise Services Architecture

SAP NetWeaver Platform

o SAP NetWeaver Portal (formerly SAP Enterprise Portal)
o SAP NetWeaver BI (formerly SAP NetWeaver BW- "BW" is still used to
describe

the

underlying

data

components)
o SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer
19

warehouse

area

and

accelerator

SAP Modules

o SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure

o SAP Composite Application Framework
o SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure
o SAP NetWeaver Identity Management
o SAP NetWeaver Single Sign-On

SAP Business Connector (deprecated/removed from product range)

Legacy Platforms

SAP R/2

SAP R/3

20

SAP Modules

5) Others

SAP CCMS, monitoring program

SAPgui

eCATT

SAP Central Process Scheduling, process automation and job scheduler

SAP Solution Manager

Sybase ASE

oracle partner

Insync Techfin Solution Ltd

21

SAP Modules

WHICH ARE THE MAIN MODULES OF SAP HR?

The solution SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) contains all the process are
classified in three mayor scenarios:
Workforce Process Management
That includes the following processes:

Employee administration

Personnel time management and evaluation

Organizational Management

Benefits management

Payroll calculation

Talent Management
That includes the following processes:

Recruiting

Career management

Succession management

Enterprise Learning

Employee performance management

Compensation management
22

SAP Modules

SAP HCM & Talent Management

SAP Core HR modules are delivered pre-integrated to allow for the seamless transfer
of data between all components and thus increase the efficiency and effectiveness
of HR processes. As experts in SAP HCM, AspireHR consultants are primed to assist
in the implementation of or upgrade to all SAP Core HR modules.

SAP HCM

Talent Management

SAP HCM modules store and organize employee master data and payroll data; these
modules manage employees enrollment in benefits, the running of payroll, how
clocked time is reported and approved, and the relationships of positions in your
organizational structure.

Organizational Management (OM) and Personnel Administration (PA)

Personnel Administration stores employee master data in logical collections, such as
addresses, phone numbers, or dependents, called infotypes. To create a history of
employee master data, the infotypes of employee information are stored with a
validity

date

range.

Organizational Management is a repository of the objects within a companys

organizational structure including the different companies within the main company,
the various divisions, and the positions available for employees to hold. The
mapping between a position and employee is shown in both the OM and PA through
tight integration between the modules. The relationships between the organizational
objects, when chained together, create an evaluation path that helps to identify
indirect connections between objects like an employee and their manager.
The relationship between OM and PA is important for businesses processes, such as
23

SAP Modules

compensation planning in SuccessFactors Compensation and approving clocked

time in SAP Time Management.
Benefits
The SAP Benefits module is where a companys benefits offerings are defined and
eligibility requirements are configured to determine those employees who qualify for
benefits enrollment.
Time Management and Payroll
SAP Personnel Time Management stores employee clocked time. The clocked time is
translated from time pairs to evaluated hours that are relayed to SAP Payroll with
their pay information (pay rate, wage type, etc.) from PA to run payroll.
Processes and Forms (HCMPF)
The SAP Processes and Forms component automates additions and modifications to
HR master data. The Processes and Forms module bridges the gap between medias,
such as paper to PC and fax to PC. It also helps HR users to avoid entering data
multiple times, thereby decreasing the chance of errors in data entry, and reduces
HR processing time.

SAP HCM Talent Management modules exist so that managers have the
functionalities to review employees, plan for compensation adjustments based on a
budget, and distribute learning materials and see their effect.
Performance Management
SAP Performance Management allows you to align team and individual goals with
corporate strategy and standardize employee reviews and appraisals. With
Performance Management, compensation is tied directly to employee performance.
Learning Solution
SAP Learning Solution helps your workforce to be ready for change and develop
your most important asset your people. By managing training and development
with the SAP Enterprise Learning environment, you can plan for the future, identify
24

SAP Modules

training needs, deploy learning across the enterprise, track its completion, and
validate its business impact. Let AspireHR help you implement a learning
environment to help you do just that.
Enterprise Compensation Management
Implement

innovative

reward

strategies,

such

as

performance-based

and

competency-based pay, variable pay plans, and long-term incentives reward

programs. Analyze and compare compensation packages using internal and external
salary data to ensure your companys competitiveness in the marketplace.
Succession Planning
SAP Succession Planning allows employees to create career development profiles
including internal and external work history, education history, and career goals.
Recruiters and Managers can then track the progress of employees to their career
goals and implement training to fill qualification gaps.
E-Recruiting
SAP E-Recruiting allows recruiters to find the right people quickly, leverage their
talent in the right place at the right time, and maintain relationships with candidates
who register in the talent warehouse. Recruiters can perform comprehensive reports
of applicants.

Human Resource Management (SAP HR)

Support for HR and Payroll is provided by the SAP HR system which is comprised of
a number of modules supporting different HR and Payroll functions:
Personnel Administration
This SAP module captures and maintains all employee data, eg personal details,
salary, employee history and their movements within the organisation, contractual
information, statutory payroll information in effect recording all major events in the
employees lifecycle.

25

SAP Modules

Organisation Management
Support for HR and Payroll is provided by the SAP HR system This SAP module
provides the ability to illustrate the organisational and reporting structures in the
University.

This

is

broken

down

in

to

Organisation

Units

(Faculties/Departments/Sections/); and then into positions to give an image of the

Universitys organisational structure.
Time Management
This SAP module controls work schedules, annual leave, maternity leave, absences
etc.
HR Reporting
This SAP module provides monthly Executive Group staff reports, HESA statutory
returns, Equal Opportunities reports, monthly NSO (National Stats Office) returns,
HMRC statutory returns, and Pension returns (LPFA, TP & USS).
Staff Costs
This SAP module provides for precise tracking of payments and deductions against
account codes, cost centres and projects.
It provides gross to net reconciliation of costs in the form of a balance sheet of
credits and debits; and the management of accounting structure.
Also reflects retrospective amendments via monthly carried and brought forward
figures.
Payroll System (SAP HR)
Support for HR and Payroll is provided by the SAP HR system This SAP module
enables financial remuneration of employees via a single monthly payroll with
additional facilities for ad hoc payments.

26

SAP Modules

HMRC is notified of in year staff movements via an electronic data interface.

The system provides a very high level of automation retrospective calculations,
occupational and statutory sick, maternity and paternity pay calculation, automatic
increments, mass update of grade structures/spinal points with annual pay rise and
automated payslip, P45 and P60 production.

What is SAP (System Applications Products)?

The following articles guides you everything about SAP ERP Systems. The first
question which arises in our mind what is SAP ? and what is SAP ERP
software?, which is the best SAP module and which module has a best scope for
bright future ??
What does SAP stands for SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products
in data processing.

SAP is the fourth largest software company in the world.

The SAP R/3 system is a business software package designed to integrate all
areas of a business.

It provides end to end solutions for financials, manufacturing, logistics,

distribution etc.

All business processes are executed in one SAP system and sharing common
information with everyone.

SAP is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system by SAP AG, company based
out of Walldorf in Germany. AG is derived from the German word AKtiengesellschaft.
According to German Language SAP Stands for Systeme, Anwendungen und
Produkte in Der Datenverarbeitung. SAP software suite that is being implemented
as part of re-engineering and Provides end to end solutions for financial, logistics,
distribution, inventories. Present scenario large number of companies are using sap
software for their day to day business activities.
27

SAP Modules

After the hugely successful R/3, SAP created more and more niche software like
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SRM, XI (now called Process Integration
or PI) and once again living up to the standards of SAP by maintaining tight
integration with their core ECC software. The newest version of the suite is SAP ECC
6.0.
SAP History
SAP Founded in and around 1972 by five IBM engineers Hopp,

Wellenreuther,

Hector, Tschira and Plattner.

SAP R/1 :- The first version of SAP was launched in and around 1972 known as the
R/1 system. R stands for real-time data processing. it is one tier architecture in
which three layers Presentation, Application and Database are installed in one
system/server
(one Presentation + Application + Database)
SAP R/2 :- In 1979 second version of SAP R/2 was released. with IBMs database
and a dialogue-oriented business application. SAP R/2 to handle different languages
and currencies. R/2 is 2 tier architecture in which three layers Presentation,
Application and Database are installed in two separate server.
(Server one Presentation, Server two Application + Database
SAP R/3 :- SAP upgraded R/2 to R/3. SAP R/3 is the client/server version of the
software and it is 3 tier architecture in which three layers Presentation, Application
and data base are installed in three server/system.
Server one Presentation, Server Two Application, server Three Database
Products of SAP

SAP R/3 and R/3 Enterprise

28

SAP Modules

mySAP Business Suite

SAP ERP

SAP Industry Solutions

SAP xApps

SAP Solution Manager

What is SAP FICO ?

SAP FICO Stands for FI (Financial Accounting) and CO (Controlling). SAP
FICO is the imp module of ERP and both Finance and Controlling modules
stores the financial transactions data. The FI (Financial Accounting) records,
collects, and processes financial transactions or information on a real-time basis to
provide the necessary inputs for external (statutory) reporting purpose. SAP CO
plays an important role for the management decision making purpose and for the
internal reporting purpose. FICO contains the following sub-modules.
FI
General
accounting

CO
Ledger

Cost Element Accounting

Accounts Receivables Cost Center Accounting

29

SAP Modules

Accounts Payable

Profit Center Accounting

Asset Accounting

Internal Orders

Bank Accounting

Product Cost Controlling

Consolidation

Profitability Analysis

Special Purpose Ledger

Travel Management
What is SAP MM ?
SAP MM ( Material Management ) is one of the imp module in SAP ERP software and
it supports the procurement and inventory functions occurring in day-to-day
business operations. This MM module contains many aspects such as purchasing,
goods receiving, material storage, consumption-based planning, and inventory. SAP
MM module is fully integrated with other modules in the SAP R/3 System such as
FICO, SD, QM, PM, PP, and WM. Read More
SAP PP
The Production Planning

application module is used to plan and control the

manufacturing activities of a company. consists of all system configuration, master

data, , and complete solution to Produce process
SAP SD ?
SAP SD ( Sales and Distribution ) is important module of SAP and it is a part of
logistics.

The main activities of SD are sales order handling, distribution of

shipments to customers, billing process, customer invoice, delivery.SD module is

fully integrated with other modules in the SAP R/3 System such as Finance,
Purchasing(MM), Production Planning(PP). Read More
What is SAP HR ?

30

SAP Modules

SAP Human Resources manages complete employee life cycle and payroll. All
aspects are covered from training to appraisal.
Advantages of SAP :

SAP manages these business management tasks in modules that all work
together in one system by sharing information.

Promoting consistent practice across an entire division

No duplicate data

Automate Project Monitoring and Multi dimensional and flexible reporting

Standardization of business processes

Make Planning, Scheduling, Tracking and Management easier leaving more

time for you to perform value-added work

Ability to provide clear cut job roles with authorizations

Enabling integration with e-commerce

Cost Savings on overheads such as Stationery, File Storage, etc

Why SAP R/3 has been successful

Multi-Lingual

Secure Information

Multi-Currency

Best business Practice

31

SAP Modules

Enterprise-Wide

Real time processing with an integrated suite of client/server applications

Phases of SAP Implementation project

Phase 1 Project Preparation,

Phase 2 Business Blueprint,

Phase 3 Realization,

Phase 4 Final Preparation,

Phase 5 Go-Live and support

What is SAP HR ?
SAP Human Resources manages complete employee life cycle and payroll. All
aspects are covered from training to appraisal.

Advantages of SAP :

SAP manages these business management tasks in modules that all work
together in one system by sharing information.

Promoting consistent practice across an entire division

No duplicate data

32

SAP Modules

Automate Project Monitoring and Multi dimensional and flexible reporting

Standardization of business processes

Make Planning, Scheduling, Tracking and Management easier leaving more

time for you to perform value-added work

Ability to provide clear cut job roles with authorizations

Enabling integration with e-commerce

Cost Savings on overheads such as Stationery, File Storage, etc

Why SAP R/3 has been successful

Multi-Lingual

Secure Information

Multi-Currency

Best business Practice

Enterprise-Wide

Real time processing with an integrated suite of client/server applications

Phases of SAP Implementation project

Phase 1 Project Preparation,

Phase 2 Business Blueprint,

Phase 3 Realization,

Phase 4 Final Preparation,

33

SAP Modules

Phase 5 Go-Live and support

SAP HCM Modules Complete HR Solution

SAP is one of the leaders in enterprise applications and has the largest market share
in Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP solution. SAP stands for Systems,
Applications and Products in data processing and provides end-to-end solutions for
financials, manufacturing, human resource planning, logistics, distribution, and so
on. SAPs application software comprises of different modules, and it is based on the
concepts of specialization and integration. Each of the modules or products inside
the SAP family meets a particular need of an organization and is integrated with the
other modules. SAP Beginners Training course will give you an overview of the
different SAP modules, an introduction to the basics of an SAP system, how to
navigate through an SAP system, work with master data and multiple sessions,
understand the icons used in SAP, and illustrate how to customize a layout.

34

SAP Modules

SAP HCM An Overview

SAP HCM or Human Capital Management offers a complete and integrated set of
solutions to help an organization effectively manage its people. HCM provides the
Human Resource (HR) department with solutions that are comprehensive, engaging
and flexible. The different sections or sub modules of HCM help in talent hiring,
aligning employee goals with business objectives, identifying and cultivating
employee skills, and measuring and rewarding employee performances. It helps to
automate all the core HR processes, resulting in increased efficiency and cost
reductions for a company in the arena of human resource management. SAP HCM
also helps when a company has to outsource its HR processes and ensures that
minimum risk and costs are involved. SAP System is divided into two types of
modules Functional modules and Technical modules. HCM is part of the Functional
modules.
SAP HCM manages all functions from hiring an employee to its final termination in
organization. It consist various sub components such as Personnel Management,
Organizational Management (OM), Time Management and Payroll. SAP HR/ HCM
module is integrated with other modules such as Financial Accounting (FI) and
Controlling (CO), Production Planning, Materials Management , and so on.
HCM broadly manages the following areas:

Organizational Management

Personnel Administration

Recruitment Management

Personnel Cost Management

Planning Budget

Payroll Benefits Compensation

35

SAP Modules

Management Personnel

Development Training & Event Management

Travel Management

SAP HCM Modules Categories within HCM

Most of HCM services fall into two broad categories or focus areas Personnel
Administration (PA) and Personal Planning and Development (PD). Each of these sub
modules handles companys different human resource functions. The integration of
these two categories results in an efficient, well-oiled Human Resource machine,
which when further integrated with the other business processes creates a
competitive edge for the firms business.
Personnel Administration (PA)
The PA module of HCM helps you to handle employee payroll calculations, manage
employee benefits, assess eligibility to plans and benefits, enroll employees into
benefit

plans, and track costs

and compensation. In times

of increasing

decentralization and globalization of workforce, an efficient and transparent

administration of personnel data is a decisive advantage. You can manage all
modern personnel administration tasks with this application component. Personnel
Administration relieves you from the daily routine administrative activities involved
in an HR process which are costly and time consuming. This efficient solution thus
supports you to concentrate on planning activities. This application component is
especially suitable for international corporations as under it country specific
versions of HR related data can be created in accordance with the HR features of
the specific country.
You can store all types of information about an employee in Human Resources
Infotypes. They enable structured data entry and data maintenance, and enable you
to store data for specific periods. Basic personnel procedures within master data
administration, such as hiring employees, performing organizational reassignments,
36

SAP Modules

and entering the data required for employees who leave the enterprise, are all
executed through separate functions.
The Workflow Management feature accelerates processing of information in
personnel administration by coordinating and monitoring the flow of business
processes step by step. SAP Business Workflow, for example, automates the
subsequent activities of new recruits in Personnel Administration.
Employee Self-Service (ESS) allows employees to create, display, and change their
own data on the companys internal monitoring system. Employees themselves can
update their own data, thus reducing the time-consuming and expensive activities
performed by the Human Resource Department.
Reporting plays an essential role in human resource data. Under PA, numerous
standard reports are available so that data handling and reporting in your company
becomes a seamless process.
Talent Management (TM)
SAP Talent Management is one of the latest addition and up gradation to the Human
Resource Module. It offers a holistic approach to talent management and handles
the entire gamut of Talent Management including processes such as, recruiting,
career management, succession management, enterprise learning, employee
performance management, and compensation management. This solution helps to
find the skill and knowledge gaps by comparing the employee profiles to actual
positions. It also helps to identify the high potential employees. It is a great tool to
strategize and draw out development and training plans to meet organizational
needs and align the workforce with the skill requirements.

What Is SAP Software: Keeping Corporations Running Around The Globe

SAP software represents the terms Systems Applications and Products in Data
Processing. It is related to ERP, which is Enterprise Resource Planning. SAP is also
37

SAP Modules

the name of the company. The firm is widely recognized as the global leader in
enterprise applications in the form of software and services related to software. In
terms of market capitalization, SAP would be the third-largest independent software
maker in the world. Here are some statistics regarding the company:
- Over 230,000 clients in almost 190 countries.
- Over 65,000 employees in 130 countries.
- More than 41 years in existence.
- Revenues every year top 16 billion.
- Stock symbol is SAP.
SAP software is comprised of a number of modules that integrate together. They
cover almost every part of managing a large business.
ERP Leader
SAP software is the leader in ERP. By 2010, SAP was installed in more than 140,000
locations around the globe, in over 25 business verticals, and more than 76,000
clients in 121 countries.
SAP software is important because it manages the complex business units of large
enterprise. Raw material, inventory, production, marketing and sales can all be
managed from a single point. Manufacturing companies face many challenges in
coordinating all of their business units. They have a plethora of data that needs to
be integrated and evaluated by managers in different locations around the world.
Effective communication and sharing of data is critical. In addition, outside
companies like vendors and suppliers, not to mention prospects and customers,
need constant and immediate information. SAP software is specifically designed to
tackle these major challengesit centralizes all of the resources needed for the
organization

including

payroll,

human
38

resources,

customer

relationship

SAP Modules

management, sales, material handling and supply chain. For major international
manufacturers, SAP software is the go-to solution.
One of the most popular uses of SAP software is cloud services. Analytics, business
applications, collaboration tools, platforms, and virtualization management are
several of the functions SAP handles in the cloud. On the mobile front, SAP is used
for mobile apps, platforms, commerce solutions, device management, mobility and
services. In short, SAP is in every aspect of enterprise software, and leads the
industry through constant innovation, commitment to excellence and dedication to
customer service.

Organization of an Enterprise in the SAP System

This section describes the organization of an enterprise in the SAP system. It also
demonstrates how Purchasing is integrated into this structure.
Definition:

Organizational Levels

The structure of an enterprise is represented in the SAP R/3 System by the following
organizational levels:

Client
A

grouping

or

combination

of

legal,

organizational,

administrative units with a common purpose.

Example: a corporate group.

Company code

39

business

and/or

SAP Modules

This level represents an independent accounting unit within a client. Each

company code has its own balance sheet and its own profit and loss
statement.
Example: a subsidiary company, member of a corporate group.

Plant
Operational unit within a company code.
Example: production facility, branch office.

Purchasing organization
An organizational unit responsible for procuring materials or services for one
or more plants and for negotiating general conditions of purchase with
vendors. The purchasing organization assumes legal responsibility for all
external purchase transactions.

Purchasing group
The purchasing organization is further subdivided into purchasing groups
(buyer groups), which are responsible for day-to-day buying activities. A
purchasing group can also act for several purchasing organizations.

Structure

Assignments of Organizational Levels "Plant", "Purchasing Organization",

and "Company Code"

Plant - purchasing organization/company code

In the SAP system, a plant must be assigned to one or more purchasing

organizations.
40

SAP Modules

Furthermore, a plant must always be assigned to a company code.

Purchasing organization company code

A purchasing organization can (but need not) be assigned to a company code.
If you do not assign a company code to a purchasing organization, the latter
can

engage

in

procurement

operations

for

every

company

code.

A prerequisite for this is that the plant for which procurement is carried out is
assigned to the purchasing organization.

41

SAP Modules

Organization of Purchasing

Centralized/Distributed Purchasing
You can organize your purchasing function in the following ways:

Centralized purchasing, with just one purchasing organization

Distributed purchasing, with a number of different purchasing organizations

each responsible for different plants

The following graphic illustrates the different ways of organizing your purchasing
function in the SAP System:

42

SAP Modules

For more information on the organizational structure of an enterprise's purchasing

function, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) for the Enterprise Structure
(sectionMaintaining a Purchasing Organization).

Reference Purchasing Organization

Depending on the way your system is set up, either a central purchasing
department can exist side by side with, but separate from, local purchasing
departments, or local purchasing departments can make use of contracts and
conditions created by the central purchasing department. The latter situation can be
replicated in the SAP System with the aid of Reference Purchasing Organizations.
You can either assign a reference purchasing organization to a company code or not
assign it to any company codes. As a rule, no plants are assigned to the purchasing
organization. However, if you wish, you can assign one, two, or several plants to it.
An example of reference purchasing organizations can be found in the section
Example: Working with Reference Purchasing Organizations.

Advantages of a Reference Purchasing Organization

A reference purchasing organization can negotiate a comprehensive contract that
can be used by other purchasing organizations.
The purchasing organizations responsible for procurement in the individual plants
can issue release orders against this Centrally Agreed Contract, thus availing themselves of its
more favorable terms and conditions.

43

SAP Modules

Centrally Agreed Contract.

SAP Application Link Enabling (ALE) allows individual companies belonging to

a group but working with separate SAP systems to make joint use of contracts.
In such cases, the latter are referred to as "distributed contracts".
For more information on this topic, refer to the section

Distributed Contracts.
Working with a reference purchasing organization saves time and effort in
maintaining data because purchasing organization data for vendor master
records and purchasing info records only has to be created by the reference
purchasing organization. Other purchasing organizations that are linked to the
latter via Customizing can use this data without having to maintain data
themselves.

Inter-Company-Code Stock Transfer

You can set up your system in such a way that one purchasing organization procures
material for a plant from a vendor (plant) that belongs to another company code
within the same client (corporate group). This is an instance of an inter-companycode stock transfer with an SD delivery and a billing document.
Many companies are realizing that SAP solutions have become extremely important
to their businesses. This realization is arising from the fact that many Fortune 500
companies use SAP systems extensively internally for their daily operations and
reporting.

So what exactly does SAP stand for? It is an acronym for Systems, Applications and
Products

in

data

44

processing.

SAP Modules

Over time, many companies start to discover deficiencies in their information

systems architecture. Most legacy business systems were made up of islands of
automation separate systems that handled some core business needs. There may
have been systems to handle the General Ledger, another to handle the sales
processes, a separate system to manage the manufacturing or production
processes, etc. Data had to be exchanged between these sub-systems in order to
generate the reports that various levels of management needed to run their
operations. When there were errors or inconsistencies between these sub-systems,
these flowed on into the consolidation process and skewed the management
reports.

SAP ERP systems Business Suite / R/3 and Business One are fully integrated
business real-time systems. They enable transactions to be processed end-to-end
and eliminate data inconsistencies between sub-systems. Many companies replace
their old business systems with the best-of-breed ERP package developed by SAP.

The benefits of using SAP for your business are numerous. SAP delivers systems
that are modern and highly efficient. Their support infrastructure is unparalleled in
the software industry.

In addition, SAP has developed industry-specific ERP solutions that address the
needs of over 28 industrial sectors. SAP is present in more than 120 countries
worldwide. SAP has managed to build up a client base of more than 12 million users
worldwide. Those numbers are estimated to grow as more and more enterprises
jump on the SAP ERP bandwagon.

The main business benefit of using SAP is that you get a comprehensive set of
integrated, cross-functional business processes. Here are some other benefits of
using SAP:
45

SAP Modules

Align Strategies and Operations

Prior to the implementation of an SAP system, a thorough analysis of the current
environment is done. This is usually referred to as the As-Is analysis. All issues are
identified for rectification during the project. The short, medium and long-term
strategies of the business are identified, clarified and prioritized. All internal
workflows are aligned to enable the eventual effective use of the SAP system. In the
next major step, the future state of the business information system is specified.
This is referred to as the To-Be state. It is the responsibility of the project team and
possibly consultants to bridge the gaps between the As-Is and To-Be states to
build

workable

project

plan.

Enhance Productivity and Insight

The productivity enhancements arising from an SAP implementation can be
tremendous. Data is only entered once. There are no sub-systems to consolidate
and verify. Data can be forwarded to others within the organization by efficient
workflows using internal messages, emails, SMS alerts or other means. Operations
can be authorized and passed along for the next person to process. Employees can
process many transactions on their from various access terminals. This can include
leave applications and submission of expense claims. The overall reporting and
analytics environment is enhanced to a level that facilitates operation management.

Minimize Costs by Increasing Flexibility

In order to improve process standardization, efficiency and adaptability, SAP relies
on enterprise services architecture. SAP extends its business eco-system by
extrapolating transactions, information, and collaborative functions.
Reduce Risk
Solve complex business challenges today with SAP, your trusted partner for longterm growth, with over 30 years of experience working with organizations of all
46

SAP Modules

sizes

in

more

countries

than

any

other

vendor.

Improve Financial Management and Corporate Governance

Financial and management accounting functionalities combined with business
analytics offers the SAP user deep visibility into their organizations. Furthermore
SAP increases profitability, improves financial control, and manages risk.

Optimize IT Spending
SAP integrates and optimizes business processes as well as eliminates high
integration costs and the need to purchase third-party software. Use of SAP
incrementally

improves

cash

flow

and

reduces

costly

borrowing.

Gain Higher ROI Faster

A business can deploy SAP by using rapid-implementation techniques which cost
less than half what traditional approaches cost. It is also possible in certain cases for
companies to reduce implementation time and costs by leveraging on preset
defaults

and

prepackaged

versions

available

for

specific

industries.

Why Is There a Need for SAP in Nepal?

In the Nepalese context, Spice Nepal Pvt. Ltd recently adopted SAP; paving the way
for other local companies. The British Council, World Bank, Dabur Nepal are among
other foreign companies who use SAP in Nepal. Nepal is a growing region for SAP.
Furthermore, soon Nepals business environment will be liberalized which will then
open the market for foreign investments. Multinational companies (MNCs) will set up
operations here. These MNCs will bring their best business practices with them and
SAP is used by almost 7 out of 10 companies. Now the question arises are we ready
for these opportunities? So, if you would like to position yourself for a rewarding SAP
career, be sure to check out our free counseling at Blue Ocean Systems (BOS)
www.bos.com.np. BOS is the first and only authorized SAP training center in Nepal.
47

SAP Modules

48

SAP Modules

SAP BUSINESS WORKFLOW:

Top 10 reasons for using sap business
WORKFLOW ENGINE
SAP is the best-in-class ERP system. Thats why you chose it. Thats why your
organization
made a significant investment of time and resources to implement it to manage
your
critical financial business processes. It is your system of record.
Despite this, many accounts payable organizations look at vendors whose solutions
go
outside of the SAP system for workflow to enhance their processes even though
they
could accomplish what they want and more with vendor solutions that take
advantage
of the SAP system they already use.
Based on many years working with SAP customers to provide the most efficient and
flexible improvements to their business processes, weve gained insight as to what
works
best in the SAP environment and what is the most cost-efficient.
Top 10. Weve compiled the reasons weve heard over two decades from SAP
customers
as to why the best practice solutions for Accounts Payable automation and
optimization
in SAP is one that leverages your SAP system. Here are the Top 10 Reasons:

System of Record.

Your SAP system is your corporate system of record. Doesnt it make sense to have
a single system for processing, approving and posting documents? With the
49

SAP Modules

posting workflows that leverage the SAP workflow engine, you can get a
comprehensive view of all unsettled liabilities (invoices in workflow,
PO invoices with GR and no IR and blocked invoices) from one place. With
proprietary, non-SAP software, you have to sift through multiple systems, or
constantly synchronize it with SAP. As an example, lets look at Accrual reports.
Gathering accrual reports for non-posted invoices is difficult enough without having
to consolidate information from multiple systems. Since the GR liabilities are already
accrued in SAP, why go to another system for non-PO invoices?
2. Why pay twice? If your company is running SAP business processes,
your
organization owns SAP Business Workflow.
As an SAP ERP user, you already own SAP Business Workflow Engine which is one
of the best independent workflow engines on its own. Purchasing solutions that
include proprietary workflow duplicates functionality and can complicate your
processing environment. A solution that utilizes the SAP Workflow engine inherently
takes advantage of the information in the SAP system, including vendor master,
material master, cost center ownership and purchasing organization structure as
well as PO and Goods Receipt information. You can build custom interfaces to access
the data with outside software or you could save your time and money.
3. Avoid duplicate backups.
Your SAP system is backed up regularly and monitored. High Availability and
Disaster Recovery plans are in place. Adding external software duplicates those
operational tasks.
4. Keep your data synchronized
An external workflow may require regular refreshes of exported SAP data and/or
high frequency RFC calls. This often results in trouble. Refreshing exported SAP data
creates duplicate data and can cause synchronization issues. Frequent RFC calls
may overwhelm your SAP system and affect other critical processes.
50

SAP Modules

5. Inherent data validation and verification

A solution based on the SAP Business Workflow engine has inherent, immediate
access to live data for validation and verification. Likewise, your SAP system is
already configured with business rules data, and these rules are leveraged with an
SAP workflow. A simple example when to enforce tax code entry during coding of a
non-PO invoice. Additionally, an external system may require duplication of those
business rules, again presenting a potentially dangerous loophole.

51

SAP Modules

6. Security Red Flag. Information security and access control is crucial.

Your business community is already licensed with the level of SAP access you
determined.
With an external system you will be required to create and maintain a second set of
user data, and with that, you may open security and audit loopholes.
7. Ease of use.
Change Management and training on a new user interface falls in the category of
another distraction to the business. Typically, adding additional external workflow
requires your knowledge workers to have multiple application windows open. Often
the proprietary providers claim that SAPGUI interface is clumsy for high-level
approvers. We agree but with an SAP platform-based solution, you are not limited
to SAPGUI. With the latest advancements in SAP UI technologies you can tailor the
UI that matches best to the recipient, ranging from browser, e-mail or smartphones.
8. Compatibility.
Workflows within the SAP system and certified by SAP will remain compatible with
future SAP releases, Enhancement Packs and Service Packs. External workflows may
require significant changes that cause upgrade delays and business disruption.
As an example, with non-SAP applications, your outside software tries to
emulate SAP posting transactions such as FB60/MIRO. This interface has to be
constantly kept up-to-date with those transactional interfaces in the SAP system
and with SAP patches, upgrades and internal configuration changes.
9. The power of the platform ability to manage invoices for a
heterogeneous
ERP landscape.
Proprietary solution providers often use the argument that an SAP-centric solution is
only good if you only have one ERP, or even just one SAP system. This could not be
further from the truth. A solution built on the SAP platform can not only manage
invoices for the local SAP ERP system, but remote SAP ERP, and even non-SAP ERP
52

SAP Modules

systems. This is due to the availability of a wide array of EAI capabilities such as
Web services, IDOC, RPC, RFC, etc., that already exist in the guts of the SAP
application platform. An SAP-centric solution can simply tap in to those existing
communication channels and remotely post invoices or validate master data in
other ERP systems. We have several use cases where the organizations have used
the SAP platform hosted workflow solution to capture, track and process invoices for
a variety of remote SAP and non-SAP systems.
10. Lowest Total Cost of Ownership.
An external workflow system requires more hardware, storage, database licensing
and more IT and operations resources. Youve already invested in having those in
place for your SAP application. By leveraging what you already own, you save
money year after year. Additionally, an SAP-centric solutions ABAP source code is
visible to your IT organization whereas a proprietary providers compiled code is a
black box. This often results in a permanent dependency on that vendor or at
minimum, new skill sets for IT. When you use SAP applications, you have a powerful
platform for managing the flow of work for key business processes like Accounts
Payable, Accounts Receivable, Order Management, Human Resources and more. The
smartest solution is often a platform that brings out the best in the system you
already are using.
Its safe, cost-effective and doesnt add to your infrastructure.

Human Resources
Identify and Access HR Documents Fast, Easily and Effectively
SAP ERP HCM gives organizations in all industries the tools needed to manage their
most important asset: people. The solution helps executives, human resources
professionals and line-of-business leaders to forecast, plan and hire, as well as
cultivate the skills of and train their workforce.

53

SAP Modules

But like it or not, managing the process of people is both labor and paper intensive.
For most businesses it has become increasingly important to have visibility into the
workforce and a clear succession plan ensuring a company never misses an
opportunity. The requirements include quick identification of and access to all data
and records.
By automating Human Resources, you can ensure that HR, managers and
executives have the information they need to make sound business decisions.
Automation of core HR processes focuses on streamlining administrative tasks,
increasing efficiency and supporting compliance within changing global and local
environments. The results can be significant, allowing you to pay more attention to
strategic tasks, cost reduction and improved efficiency and productivity.
Dolphin delivers a rich environment to create solutions specific for any SAP Human
Resources workflow. Developed with the SAP Business Workflow Engine TM, our
solution takes a document-centric view. No matter how you want to design your HR
workflow process, Dolphin makes it easy for Human Resources to be in command of
how you track, manage and control the many documents that make up the
employee record database.
SAP was founded in 1972 in Walldorf, Germany. 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 a new standards for providing business information
management solutions.
SAP product are consider excellent but not perfect.

The main problems with

software product is that it can never be perfect.

The main advantage of using SAP as your company ERP system is that SAP have a
very high level of integration among its individual applications which guarantee
consistency of data throughout the system and the company itself.
54

SAP Modules

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 contains transport that have
passed all the tests.
SAP is a 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.
This is what makes ERP system and SAP in particular so flexible. The table
driven customization are driving the program functionality instead of those old
fashioned

hard-coded

programs.

Therefore,

new

and

changed

business

requirements can be quickly implemented and tested in the system.

Many other business application software have seen this table driven customization
advantage and are now changing their application software based on this table
customizing concept.
In order to minimized your upgrading costs, the standard programs and tables
should not be changed as far as possible.

The main purpose of using a

standard business application software like SAP is to reduced the amount of time
and money spend on developing and testing all the programs. Therefore, most
companies will try to utilized the available tools provided by SAP.

55

SAP Modules

What is Client? What is the difference between Customization and

Configuration?
The difference between cutomizing and configuration is:
- CONFIGURATION: we will configure the system to meet the needs of your business
by using the existing data.
- CUSTOMIZING: we will customise or adapt the system to your business
requirements, which is the process of mapping SAP to your business process.
- CLIENT: A client is a unique one in organizational structure, can have one or more
company codes. Each company code is its own legal entity in finance.
Configuration vs. Customization
When considering enterprise software of any type, it is important to understand the
difference between configuration and customization. The crux of the difference is
complexity. Configuration uses the inherent flexibility of the enterprise software to
add

fields,

change

field

names,

modify

drop-down

lists,

or

add

buttons.

Configurations are made using powerful built-in tool sets. Customization involves
code changes to create functionality that is not available through configuration.
Customization can be costly and can complicate future upgrades to the software
because the code changes may not easily migrate to the new version. Wherever
possible, governments should avoid customization by using configuration to meet
their

goals. Governments

also should

understand their

vendor's

particular

terminology with regard to this issue since words like "modifications" or "extensions"
often mean different things to different vendors.
What is SAP R3?
We know that SAP R/3 is software, it particular it is client-server software. This
means that the groups/layers

that make up a R/3 System are designed to run

simultaneously across several separate computer systems.

56

SAP Modules

When you install Microsoft Excel on your PC, each component of Excel (printing
components, graphing components, word processing components, and etc.) is
stored, managed, and processed via the hardware of your PC.

When a company

installs SAPs software each component (or "layer in R/3s case) is stored,
managed, and processed via the hardware of separate and specialized computer
systems. Each of the various layers is capable of calling upon the specialty of any of
the other installed layers in order to complete a given task.
Those components/layers that are requesting services are called clients, those
components/layers that are providing services are called servers. Thus the term client/server

57

SAP Modules

What is meant by SAP ECC?

SAP is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) module, ECC is the version of SAP, like
4.6, 4.6c and 4.7 in that series new version is ECC-6. Its known as Enterprise core
component.

Why do companies use SAP??

There are many reasons a company selects and implements SAP some are good
and some are bad. The good ones include replacing an out-dated and inefficient IT
Architecture (including the CIOs nemesis the burning platform), enabling
business process change, and to gain competitive advantage. The bad ones are too
numerous to go into here but would include the why are we the only semiconductor
company without SAP question. More on the good reasons follows:
1. Replacing an out-dated and inefficient IT Architecture: In the beginning,
computer systems were developed by individual departments to satisfy the
requirements of that particular department. When someone finally realized
that benefits could be had by linking these systems together, interface
heaven was born. There are some companies today with literally thousands of
interfaces, each of which needs to be maintained (assuming of course that
there is someone around who understands how they work!). Sweeping them
away and replacing them with an integrated system such as SAP can save
much money in support. Of course, if you have a burning platform as well the
question becomes even easier.
2. Enabling business process change From the start, SAP was built on a
foundation of process best practices. Although it sounds absurd, it is probably
easier (and less expensive) to change your companies processes to adapt to
SAP than the other way around. Many companies have reported good success
from combining a SAP implementation with a BPR project.
58

SAP Modules

3. Competitive advantage The CFO types around have heard this old saying
from the CIO types for many years now. The question still has to be asked
can you gain competitive advantage from implementing SAP? The answer, of
course, depends on the company. It seems to us, however, that:

being able to accurately provide delivery promise dates for manufactured

products (and meet them) doesnt hurt and

being able to consolidate purchase decisions from around the globe and use

that leverage when negotiating with vendors has gotta help and
being able to place kiosks in stores where individual customers can enter their
product specifications and then feed this data directly into its production
planning process is pretty neat etc etc

Information relating to SAP:

3rd SAP is the 3rd largest software company in the world

30,000 Total number of people employed by SAP
5,400 Number of programmers employed by SAP
$7.024 billion FY03 Revenue
$1.077 million FY03 Net Income
12,000 Number of companies using SAP
79,800 Number of SAP installations
12,000,000 Number of people using SAP
120,000,000 Total number of people in the 12,000 companies who are using

SAP
28 Number of languages supported by SAP
46 Number of country-specific versions of SAP
22 Number of industry-specific versions of SAP
1,000 Number of pre-defined best practices contained in the SAP system
10,000 Number of tables requiring configuration in a full SAP

implementation
55,000 Number of SAP experienced consultants worldwide
28 Number of years ago SAP was started
5 Number of people who started SAP

59

SAP Modules

5 Reasons Why You Should Use SAP Business Objects Universes

In meeting with organizations who are new to SAP Business Objects or who are
legacy Crystal Reports users, we are often asked the question Why should I use a
Business Objects Universe?. To organizations who have worked with universes for
a period of time, the advantages and value proposition are clear.

But for

organizations who are new to universes, it can often be a challenge to quantify the
value of the semantic layer.
In this post I hope to outline a few of the reasons why we recommend implementing
universes, even if youre not using an SAP Business Objects tool that specifically
requires them.

Integrated security
One of the most common ways that security is implemented into an SAP
BusinessObjects Universe is to dynamically restrict data being returned by a query.
In this example, only sales belonging to the user that ran the report or viewed the
dashboard would be shown. You can also use this technique to segregate data by
60

SAP Modules

customer, regional manager, product division, warehouse, etc to give everyone a

personalized view of their information. But thats just the beginning.

You can also use the built-in universe security to restrict access to particular objects
(such as salary or SSN), control the types of queries a user can run, change the
database connection depending on the user, and even dynamically map to other
tables. Leveraging the universe model gives you complete security over your
environment, and the best part is you only have to apply the security once and it
takes affect whether the user is refreshing a canned report, viewing a dashboard or
creating their own ad hoc report.

Single version of the truth

Weve all been there. Youre at a meeting discussing sales numbers and three
people give three different answers on what last months sales were. The Sales
Manager defines it as bookings made. The Warehouse Team counts only orders that
were physically shipped out the door. And Finance, well they pull a bunch of
different information into their spreadsheet and come up with a third version. They
may all be correct, but theyre also all wrong.
Building a universe layer forces you to come together and define the terminology
that you use, perhaps in the case above creating separate sales and shipments
measures to satisfy everyones reporting requirements. When reporting through the
universe, everyone in the organization will benefit by having access to the same
information, defined in the same way, using the same calculations.

61

SAP Modules

Build once and reuse

Some of the clients we meet with, particularly those that have been using Crystal
Reports for some time, are resistant to using universes because it would be easier
to just hardcode the SQL or our data structure is too complex. Sure, it may be
easier the first time to hardcode a SQL query into a report, but what about the
second, fifth or tenth time you have to do that? And as for the data being too
complex, with few exceptions if you can define it in SQL you can build it into a
universe. This ability to define the universe semantic layer one time and leverage
it across the entire SAP BusinessObjects toolset is huge.

Maintenance/change management
Perhaps one of the most overlooked benefits of utilizing the universe layer is around
maintenance and change management. With the universe model all of your logic is
in one place, making maintenance straightforward. Plus, if the data model for any
of your upstream systems changes, you can in most cases modify the universe to
reflect those changes without having to touch any of your downstream reports,
dashboards or analytics. Just imagine if you had 2,000 reports written against
hardcoded SQL sitting on top of a data model that has now changed radically in a
new release. Ive seen it happen, and it wasnt pretty.

Intuitive interface for developers and end-users

This is what its all about: providing end-users and developers alike with a drag and
drop interface where they could build reports using business terminology rather
than

SQL

code.

Which

is

more

intuitive

SUM(DB_AdvWorksDW.dbo.FactResellerSales.SalesAmount)
Sales?

to
or

an
Sum

end-user:
of

Reseller

Now imagine this simple example using CASE statements, datatype

62

SAP Modules

conversions, etc and youll understand the true power of the SAP BusinessObjects
universe.
In using the universe layer, report authors and developers can reference information
in common business terminology, and be shielded by all the technical complexity
and transformations that are happening behind the scenes.
Why Does Microsoft HQ Use SAP Instead of Microsoft Dynamics ERP? Email | Print 48
inShare Normally, if you heard that a business software company wasn't using its
own business software as part of its business strategy, that would be a strong vote
for the competition. But in the case of Microsoft, it's actually a precautionary tale to
avoid SAP like the plague. Here's why. The Microsoft team in charge of Dynamics
does eat its own dog food, and runs Microsoft Dynamics ERP. But further up the
chain, atMicrosoft HQ, the software giant is still using SAP. But they aren't happy
about it. The question came up during a Microsoft Q&A session at the Seattle AXUG
conference. Why would Microsoft headquarters be using SAP rather than its own
Dynamics offering? The answer is that Microsoft would have to undergo a major
overhaul, too expensive and impractical to implement at this point in time. While
SAP can be very powerful at the enterprise level, it is also clunky, and isn't all things
to all people. Its out-of-box ability to be customized is limited, and Microsoft has only
been able to make it work for them by introducing dozens, possibly hundreds, of
customized applications. The internally produced applications were a necessity,
because SAP is too rigid to be customized without hard-coded solutions. Replacing
SAP would require replacing dozens and dozens of applications, recreating them
from scratch. It wouldn't just be costly, it would likely disrupt the flow of business
and result in harmful downtime. Microsoft is the perfect example of a business that
doesn't stay with SAP because they like it, but because they don't have any other
options. Clearly the software giant could improve its image if it were to use its own
CRM software, so staying with SAP is clear proof that it really is their only choice.
Whenever Microsoft creates a new unit, they use Microsoft Dynamics, but it looks
like HQ is stuck with SAP for the foreseeable future. Orginal Source: Jason Carter of
PartnerCompete.com

Why

Microsoft
63

Will

Not

Replace

Its

Internal

SAP

SAP Modules

Implementation With Dynamics By ERP Software Blog Editors, Find a Local Microsoft
Dynamics ERP Partner

COMPANIES USING SAP

Why do companies prefer to use SAP? Companies all over the world choose SAP to
transform their business because its the global leader when it comes to enterprise
applications. SAP added capabilities to meet each companys demands and needs.
Companies using SAP do realize that they must be able to compete, they need to
innovate and continue to improve their products and services and thats what SAP
focuses on. SAP flexibility and adaptability is one of its greatest advantages. SAP
continually develops its system to make sure that they accommodate new
demands.

SAP HISTORY
SAP the company was founded in Germany in 1972 by five ex-IBM engineers. In
case youre ever asked, SAP stands for Systeme, Andwendungen, Produkte in der
Datenverarbeitung which translated to English means Systems, Applications,
Products in Data Processing. So now you know! Being incorporated in Germany, the
full name of the parent company is SAP AG. It is located in Walldorf, Germany which
is close to the beautiful town of Heidelberg. SAP has subsidiaries in over 50
countries around the world from Argentina to Venezuela (and pretty much
everything in between). SAP America (with responsibility for North America, South
America and Australia go figure!) is located just outside Philadelphia, PA.
The original five founders have been so successful that they have multiplied many
times over such that SAP AG is now the third largest software maker in the world,
with over 17,500 customers (including more than half of the worlds 500 top
companies). SAP employs over 27,000 people worldwide today, and had revenues of
$7.34 billion and Net Income of $581 million in FY01. SAP is listed in Germany
64

SAP Modules

(where it is one of the 30 stocks which make up the DAX) and on the NYSE
(ticker:SAP).
There are now 44,500 installations of SAP, in 120 countries, with more then 10
million users!
So what made this company so successful? Back in 1979 SAP released SAP R/2
(which runs on mainframes) into the German market. SAP R/2 was the first
integrated, enterprise wide package and was an immediate success. For years SAP
stayed within the German borders until it had penetrated practically every large
German company. Looking for more growth, SAP expanded into the remainder of
Europe during the 80s. Towards the end of the 80s, client-server architecture
became popular and SAP responded with the release of SAP R/3 (in 1992). This
turned out to be a killer app for SAP, especially in the North American region into
which SAP expanded in 1988.
The success of SAP R/3 in North America has been nothing short of stunning. Within
a 5 year period, the North American market went from virtually zero to 44% of total
SAP worldwide sales. SAP America alone employs more than 3,000 people and has
added the names of many of the Fortune 500 to its customer list (8 of the top 10
semiconductor companies, 7 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies etc). SAP
today is available in 46 country-specific versions, incorporating 28 languages
including Kanji and other double-byte character languages. SAP also comes in 21
industry-specific versions.
SAP R/3 is delivered to a customer with selected standard process turned on, and
many many other optional processes and features turned off. At the heart of SAP
R/3 are about 10,000 tables which control the way the processes are executed.
Configuration is the process of adjusting the settings of these tables to get SAP to
run the way you want it to. Think of a radio with 10,000 dials to tune and youll get
the picture. Functionality included is truly enterprise wide including: Financial
Accounting (e.g. general ledger, accounts receivable etc), Management Accounting
(e.g. cost centers, profitability analysis etc), Sales, Distribution, Manufacturing,
65

SAP Modules

Production Planning, Purchasing, Human Resources, Payroll etc etc etc. For a full
description of the modules included in SAP, see the related articles. All of these
modules are tightly integrated which as you will find out is a huge blessing but
brings with it special challenges.
SAP are maintaining and increasing their dominance over their competitors through
a combination of:
- embracing the internet with mySAP.com (a confusing name we believe) to head off
i2 etc
- extending their solutions with CRM to head off Siebel
- adding functionality to their industry solutions

About SAP: Helping the world run better

SAP is at the center of todays technology revolution, developing innovations that
not only help businesses run like never before, but also improve the lives of people
everywhere.
As the market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all
sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to
storefront, desktop to mobile device SAP empowers people and organizations to
work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay
ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 253,500
customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

What it takes to Implement

There is a defining moment in the journey of all companies on the road to SAP
nirvana. This moment comes just after the company has concluded that it wants

66

SAP Modules

SAP, it needs SAP, its gotta have SAP then comes the question so what does it
take to implement it?
This is the question which separates those who are ready from the wannabees.
Before being accused of being too negative, let me remind you that at the heart of
every good business decision lies a cost benefit analysis. If this cannot be complete
with a positive outcome, the initiative (whatever it is) should probably not be
launched. Same goes for a SAP implementation.
Implementing SAP is expensive. No doubt about it. But the potential rewards can
dwarf the costs (and have for many existing customers already). One customer
reportedly made enough savings on the procurement of a single raw material to pay
for the entire enterprise-wide SAP implementation! Of course these are hard to
substantiate, but visit SAPs website and take a look at the customer testimonials.
SAP sells its R/3 product on a price per user basis. The actual price is negotiated
between SAP and the customer and therefore depends on numerous factors which
include number of users and modules (and other factors which are present in any
negotiation). You should check with SAP, but for a ballpark planning number you
could do worse than starting with $4000 per user. There is also an annual support
cost of about 10% which includes periodic upgrades. Again, check with SAP.
Then there is the implementation cost. Yowser. It is about now that you need to get
the business case out again and remind yourself why you need to do this. The major
drivers of the total implementation cost are the Timeframe, Resource Requirements
and Hardware.

Timeframe

The absolute quickest implementation we have ever heard of is 45 days but

this was for a tiny company with very few users and no changes to the delivered
SAP processes. At the other end of the scale you get the multi-nationals who are
implementing SAP over 5 to 10 years. These are not necessarily failures many
67

SAP Modules

of them are planned as successive global deployments (which seem to roll

around the globe forever). Of course the really expensive ones are those we
dont hear about! For the most part, you should be able to get your (single
instance) project completed in a 9 to 18 month period.

People

The smallest of SAP implementations can get done on a part-time basis without
outside help. The largest swallow up hundreds of people (sometimes over a
thousand) and include whole armies of consultants. This adds up fast. Again, get
that business case out. The types of people you will need run the range from
heavy duty techies to project managers.

Hardware

The smallest of SAP implementations probably use only three instances (boxes)
one for the production system, one for test, and one for development. The
largest implementations have well over 100 instances, especially if they involve
multiple parallel projects (otherwise known as a program).

SAP: DRIVEN BY INNOVATION

Transforming the IT industry with constant innovation and the pioneering
spirit of our founders
At SAP, innovation is more than developing software it's developing breakthrough
technologies and best practices that shape IT trends.
Discover how SAP focuses on innovation internally and how it works with leading
universities, partners, and customers worldwide to deliver innovation that can help
companies of all sizes and industries run better.
About SAP
SAP is the worlds leading provider of business software*. More than 46,100
customers in more than 120 countries run SAP applicationsfrom distinct
68

SAP Modules

solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite offerings
for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver platform to drive
innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes
around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration
and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP
solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25
industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public
sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several
exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol
SAP.
SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and
related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship
management,

product

life-cycle

management

and

supplier

relationship

management.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forwardlooking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, forecast,
intend, may, plan, project, predict, should and will and similar
expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations
The factors that could affect SAPs future financial results are discussed more fully in
SAPs filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including
SAPs most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of their dates.

69

SAP Modules

STRATEGY AND BUSINESS MODEL

Vision, Mission, and Strategy
SAPs continued growth over four decades is attributable to our focus on innovation,
a broad portfolio, and our ability to stay close to our customers and understand their
ever-changing needs.
Our Vision and Mission
SAPs vision is to help the world run better and improve peoples lives. Our mission
is to help every customer become a best-run business. We do this by delivering
technology innovations that address the challenges of today and tomorrow without
disrupting our customers business operations. For example, enterprise mobility is
transforming usage of IT; in-memory technology is simplifying the IT architecture in
the enterprise and driving high-value applications; and cloud delivery of IT solutions
is simplifying the consumption of technology. We offer solutions that drive business
outcomes and enable our customers to run better. We help our customers derive
value from their SAP solutions in a cost-effective and predictable way, with our
professional services, support, and cloud delivery.
Our Goals for Sustained Business Success
SAP has strong ambitions for sustainable business success, both for our company
and for our customers. We believe the most important indicators to measure this
success comprise both financial and non-financial indicators: revenue, margin,
customer loyalty, and employee engagement.
Revenue
We aim to achieve at least 22 billion total revenue by 2017. SAP still aims to
achieve at least 20 billion total revenue by 2015 (2013: 16.9 billion non-IFRS total
revenue). An important part to achieving this is our continued focus on innovations,
as we expect to become the cloud company with 3.0 to 3.5 billion total revenue

70

SAP Modules

from our cloud business by 2017. In 2014, we expect to increase non-IFRS software
and software-related services (SSRS) growth by 6% to 8% at constant currencies.
Margin
We aim for 35% non-IFRS operating margin (2013: 32.6%). In order to capture
growth opportunities in the cloud, we expect to reach this goal in 2017 instead of
2015, as previously stated. In 2014, we expect between 5.8 billion to 6.0 billion
non-IFRS operating profit at constant currencies.
Customer Loyalty
We use the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure customer loyalty. In 2014, we are
aiming for an increase in NPS by four percentage points (2013: 12.1%).
Employee Engagement
We use the employee engagement index to measure motivation and loyalty of our
employees, how proud they are of our company, and how strongly they identify with
SAP. We are committed to achieving a score of 82% in 2015 (2013: 77%). Despite
the slight drop in employee engagement in 2013 compared to 2012, we expect to
see an incremental increase in our industry-leading score in 2014.
These four goals affirm our commitment to innovation and sustainability, and will
help us deliver on our vision and mission.
In addition to the primary KPIs, which directly measure our performance with regard
to our four company objectives, SAP manages a large set of secondary performance
indicators, which influence the primary KPIs in a variety of ways. Our integrated
report seeks to clarify some of those relationships, for example the link between our
energy consumption and our margin.
Our main indicators are presented with more detail throughout the report. For more
information on strategic goals, see the Internal Management System; Report on
Expected Developments; Customers; and Employees and Social Investment
sections.
71

SAP Modules

Our Strategy: Simplify Everything with the SAP Cloud powered by HANA
Organizations around the world are now entering a new era of business model
innovation, made possible by the convergence of cloud, mobile, social, and inmemory technologies.
However, businesses often contend with layers of IT complexity that have been built
up over the decades. This complexity is the result of several factors, including the
proliferation of hardware and custom applications. In addition, investments in
innovations often take a long time to implement or to realize business value. Due to
the complexity of the current consumption model, customers are not able to
respond fast enough to changing market conditions. We believe that simplicity is the
key: By solving the challenge of business complexity, we can help unlock our
customers innovation potential. We are committed to leading this simplification.
In todays technology industry, the biggest winners have grown by offering
simplicity and ease of consumption over a cloud model, which has translated to
massive user adoption and market success.
In 2014, SAP will focus on helping its customers simplify everything, so they can do
anything.
With the SAP HANA platform, we have an opportunity to simplify our product
portfolio and IT landscape for our customers. SAP HANA can radically simplify
enterprise applications as it collapses the entire IT stack. With SAP HANA Cloud
Platform, we have the ability to take our core on-premise applications to the cloud
and offer a choice of cloud deployments to our customers.
With SAP Cloud powered by SAP HANA, we will focus our simplification on three
areas simplifying our consumption model, simplifying our portfolio, and simplifying
user experience.

Simplify software consumption by moving our entire portfolio to the

cloud: We are transitioning our consumption model to SAP Cloud powered by
SAP HANA where we can deliver end-to-end solutions and drive business
72

SAP Modules

outcomes for the customers. We will offer our entire portfolio of solutions
applications, analytics, and platform through SAP Cloud powered by SAP
HANA. We will move our core SAP Business Suite software to the cloud as a
managed service, delivered by both SAP and our partners. We will also
accelerate our investments in line-of-business public cloud solutions across
SuccessFactors, Ariba, and our cloud portfolio, all running on SAP HANA. We
will deliver a true, integrated cloud to our customers. As we are committed to
offering flexibility and choice, we will continue to offer an on-premise
deployment model to our customers.

Simplify our products with SAP HANA as the common platform: We will
standardize every SAP product (including SuccessFactors and Ariba) on the
common SAP HANA platform, and deliver integration across our portfolio. This
will drive a simplified suite experience for our customers and partners. Our
partners and ecosystem can either extend our solutions or build end-to-end
applications based on the SAP HANA platform.

Simplify the user experience: We will simplify the user experience (UX) by
offering a mobile first approach based on SAP Fiori applications, which offer
a simple and easy-to-use experience for broadly used SAP software functions
that work seamlessly across devices. We will build applications that show
empathy with the user and dramatically improve the experience of our
customers customers and our customers employees.

In addition to simplifying our business model, we will focus on end-to-end delivery of

industry-specific solutions that can drive business value and outcomes. We will
continue to build an open ecosystem and our partner network to deliver SAP Cloud
powered by SAP HANA on their cloud infrastructure. Our ecosystem will play a vital
role in building new solutions on the SAP HANA platform and delivering value to our
customers.
With our focus on simplification, we aim to better innovate and grow.
73

SAP Modules

Today SAP only receives a small percentage of each customers overall IT spend. By
investing in innovations and shifting our customers to a cloud business model, we
will be able to help reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) on IT. This enables
customers to reinvest the TCO savings in new innovations and SAP could capture a
higher share of customer IT spend.
Additionally, SAP will drive innovation and top-line growth across the following
dimensions:

Drive the Big Data agenda for our customers with our real-time in-memory
SAP HANA platform and predictive analytics solutions

Establish SAP HANA as a standard enterprise business platform and monetize

through partners and ecosystem

Focus on the customers customer by extending to business-to-business-toconsumer (B2B2C) through our portfolio of omnichannel and CRM solutions

Drive accelerated growth in selected industries such as banking, insurance,

retail, public sector, and healthcare

Emerging markets will continue to be a growth driver, with high double-digit

growth in software and cloud revenues expected through 2017. In addition to
our investments in China, Russia, and the Middle East, we are expanding our
investments in Africa.

We will stay committed to our customers success and evolve our execution to drive
further value creation for our customers. We strive to provide our customers a
significant competitive advantage and to help make their growth more sustainable
financially, ecologically, and socially.

Products

A-Z Products
74

SAP Modules

75

SAP Modules

Explore SAP Products

Products for small and midsize businesses

From terabytes to petabytes no problem

Business Applications

Business Suite

CRM

Enterprise Asset Management

Enterprise Resource Planning

Financial Management

Human Capital Management

Procurement

Product Lifecycle Management

Supply Chain Management

Sustainability

Database &Technology

Application Foundation, Security

Business Process Management and Integration

76

SAP Modules

Cloud Computing

Content and Collaboration

Database

Data Management

Data Warehousing

Enterprise Info Management

In-Memory Computing (SAP HANA)

Mobile

Analytics

Applied Analytics

Business Intelligence

Data Warehousing

Enterprise Performance Management

Governance, Risk, Compliance

Predictive Analytics

Applications

Business Networks

Cloud

77

SAP Modules

Infrastructure

Platform

Social Collaboration

Mobile

Mobile Apps

Mobile Commerce

Managed Mobility

Mobile Platform

Mobile Secure

Mobile Services

Engage your customer like never before

Aligning your organization around your customers is now more important than ever.
Your Marketing, Sales and Customer Service teams are the front line to the
customer. They need to harness your end-to-end enterprise, along with deep
customer insight and personalized engagement in order to stand-out from the
competition and deliver a relevant experience at every step of the customer
journey. Equip your marketing, sales and customer service teams with SAP cloud
solutions to win with todays empowered customers.

Put business applications to work

Drive innovation across your business with integrated business software
Innovate without disruption by relying on business applications that help you take
advantage of technology advancements including mobile, in-memory technology,
78

SAP Modules

cloud, and more. Empower employees with a user experience designed for different
needs and skills, from casual users to experts. And leverage best practices built into
SAP Business Suite solutions that support integrated business processes, across
your organization.
Why choose our business applications?

Maintain your current software and upgrade without disruption using our
common foundation

Adopt technologies quickly, with less risk

Get support across 25 industries and 11 lines of business

Speed decision making with immediate access to the right information

Extend your processes to your business network customers, suppliers, and

partners

Leverage the right mix of secure, high-performance cloud, hosted, and onpremise technology

Overview

Take service to the next level with customer service software and
technology from SAP
Give your service reps instant access to real-time, 360-degree customer profiles
including social media content and sentiment with our customer service software.
Collaborate with your team to solve customer issues faster, deliver consistent
customer care across all interaction channels, and analyze Big Data to identify new
revenue opportunities.

Deliver consistent, high-quality customer support across all channels,

including social media
79

SAP Modules

Equip your field service engineers with mobile apps to increase productivity
and data quality

Package services with products to increase share-of-wallet and counter

competitive deals

Meet SLAs while keeping costs low by optimizing resource management

scheduling

Boost collaboration across your enterprise to solve complex customer service

cases

Extract service trends, buzz, and sentiment from social media

SAP BCM Receives Frost & Sullivan Award

Frost & Sullivan has researched how best-in-class companies worldwide manage
growth, innovation and leadership. Based on these findings, Frost & Sullivan is proud
to present the 2012 North American Customer Value Enhancement Award in Contact
Center Systems to SAP BCM.

80

SAP Modules

PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS OF SAP OVER THE WEB

A 2011 Compuware survey found that 44 percent of SAP customers are dissatisfied
with the response time of the German IT company's web portal. SAP provides a
variety of network and Internet services, but problems with network infrastructure,
bandwidth use and server size can reduce SAP software's Web performance. Half
the respondents in the survey say they plan to invest in a dedicated performance
management system to improve SAP.
Bandwidth
When SAP sends large numbers of data packets across a wide-area network (WAN),
the data congests the system, resulting in dropped data, slower transmissions and
poorer Web application performance. A study by Citrix Systems finds that adding
bandwidth won't improve things, but reducing the pressure on the system from Web
traffic will. Using data compression to send data more efficiently and caching
frequently used data so that it's instantly available to Web browsers both improve
performance.
Servers
If the servers handling SAP applications have too many queries to answer, this drags
down performance. Adding application servers improves response time, as does
adding memory on the existing servers. Adjusting the profile parameters for server
queries -- the parameters define what data the server returns -- and increasing the
buffer, a server data cache, also improve performance. Adjusting the system can be
difficult, as SAP sometimes runs on multiple servers, each of which has different
requirements and protocols for making changes.
Related Reading: How to Define the Problems in Job Satisfaction & Performance
Appraisals
Infrastructure
SAP software needs a stable infrastructure to work, according to Compuware.
Everything from the platform to the connectors has to run with peak efficiency to
81

SAP Modules

avoid performance problems. That's partly because companies that use SAP employ
it for many purposes besides the Web portal, so SAP has to draw on a variety of
resources to do its job. Problems in one part of the IT infrastructure can slow
performance in others, even if they'd normally be unrelated.
Fine Tuning
Optimizing the system to speed up transmission time and reduce latency -- the lag
between sending and receiving -- is a good way to improve SAP performance. Citrix
claims this improves SAP response time by 50 percent, even in a test where the
bandwidth was 97 percent occupied by simulated traffic. Centralizing applications in
a data center and only sending the output users absolutely need over the Web is an
effective way to cut down traffic and reduce congestion.

Where am I? >

Home >

News >

Software > Applications

90% OF SAP USERS EXPERIENCING MONTHLY PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS

SAP users say they have performance issues

Nine out of 10 SAP users experience monthly performance issues with their system,
according to research carried out at last months Sapphire user group conference in
Florida.
And more than half (57 per cent) said they have three or more performance
problems with SAP each month, suggests the survey of 695 SAP professionals
carried out for supplier Precise.

82

SAP Modules

Further reading

UK firms lukewarm on ERP upgrades

The worst problems are taking place for SAPs business intelligence (BI) and
enterprise resource planning (ERP) users, according to those polled. Some 63 per
cent of SAP BI customers report performance issues, as do 59 per cent of ERP users.
Nearly four in 10 of the respondents who had problems (39 per cent) also said they
had unresolved performance issues with BI and ERP again the main culprits,
according to 44 per cent and 42 per cent of users, respectively.
The survey suggests that customer satisfaction and loss of productivity are the
major knock-on effects of the performance problems they experience.
When asked, 62 per cent of respondents said they were not satisfied with the
current approach to resolving performance issues with their SAP system.
The research clearly shows a surprising number of SAP deployments suffer from
performance issues, said Diane Hagglund, senior research analyst for Dimensional
Research, the firm that carried out the survey.
The respondents told us they have no clear way to diagnose where those problems
originate and as a result are spending days, and even weeks, chasing the root cause
of performance degradation.
Mark Kremer, chief executive of Precise, said: SAP performance impacts business
performance as SAP is a mission-critical application for many of our customers.
Almost half of SAP customers (43 percent) are dissatisfied with the systems
response times across all components, according to a global survey.
Organisations said this presented serious potential financial risk to their businesses,
according to a survey commissioned by testing and performance management
vendor Compuware and conducted by PAC Consulting.
83

SAP Modules

Interviews with senior managers at 588 companies in the UK, US, France, Germany,
Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, found forty four percent were also not
satisfied with response times on the SAP web portal.

Rental firm Acityabode aims to house better reports with new ERP

SAP announces HANA analytics platform for cloud

SAP users demand pricing and licence clarity

Figures differed slightly between large and small businesses for web portal response
times. Among large companies with over 2,000 users, a third were not satisfied with
response times compared with 48 percent in smaller firms.
The survey was not simply measuring satiasfaction with the SAP applications,
however. There are a range of issues that can have an adverse affect on SAP
performance, analysts said, including the age of the deployment not detailed in the
survey and the technology infrastructure on which it runs. With SAP drawing on so
much other software as well as network and server infrastructure, problems in other
areas can have a significant negative impact.
The Compuware study states: SAP software can only do the job it is designed for if
the overall IT infrastructure is stable and reliable. In order to ensure that SAP
technology runs effectively, everything from computing platforms to database and
network connections must be running with maximum efficiency.
Businesses running SAP often use the system as the backbone of their operations,
and expressed serious concerns over the potential financial risks of SAP technical
issues.
Nearly all businesses 96 percent warned that they faced financial risks if their
SAP systems experienced performance problems. Over half said there was a high
risk of such an event causing damage.

84

SAP Modules

In general, most companies are unhappy with their ERP environments, said Ray
Wang, chief executive at Constellation Research Group. Slow performance, rigidity
of user experience, and high cost to manage often lead the list of complaints. The
age of the system would likely make a big difference, he said, particularly with "the
agility to make changes".
Anecdotally, I hear lots of people of complaining about their ERP systems, agreed
Georgie Lawrie, VP at analyst house Forrester. Its certainly an issue for them.
SAP offered its own performance tuning service, called MaxAttention, he noted. This
is used by companies to address some of the issues raised in the survey.
David Bradshaw, research manager at analyst house IDC, said he was not
surprised that so many people were disappointed in the performance of what is
often a large system.
People use systems like SAP for so much, in such complex environments, he said.
Its also often highly customised. There are many other systems in place and other
factors that can have an impact on SAP performance.
Of the companies surveyed, a quarter used SAP for finance or human resources, a
fifth

for

supply

chain

management,

18

percent

for

customer

relationship

management and 14 percent for supplier relationship management. Other areas

included e-commerce, where SAP was used by 14 percent of respondents, and
business intelligence, by nine percent.
In the UK, two thirds ran SAP in-house, with the remainder using hosted or
outsourced SAP.
But companies responses also indicated concerns around their abilities to measure
system problems and remedies quickly.
Some forty percent of businesses said they couldn't detect issues in real time, and
instead relied on user feedback.
85

SAP Modules

Additionally, only fifty one percent said they could perform SAP troubleshooting
based on rapid root cause analysis. Around half were unable to predict future SAP
performance and capacity.
Compuware advised businesses to use systems such as its Vantage software to
measure SAP performance. Vantage measures SAP performance across operations
from the front end to the data centre, it said.

Register

Subscribe to Newsletters

Half of the respondents said they planned to invest in a dedicated performance

management system for SAP.
Only with proactive performance monitoring can problems be detected early
enough to provide companies with the chance to take action, the report said,
before issues disrupt business processes.
Tim Noble, Managing Director, SAP UK & Ireland said, We are committed to working
closely with our customers and addressing any concerns they have to ensure SAP
solutions are efficient and providing benefits.
Noble noted that the success of any technology implementation depends not only
on the software but the entire infrastructure. This is why we created SAP Value
Engineering, which is designed to really help customers achieve the most from their
investments, he added.
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3266124/half-of-sap-usersdissatisfied-with-system-performance/

86

SAP Modules

LIST OF IT & NON-IT COMPANIES USING SAP IN INDIA - SAP IN INDIA

IT & NON -IT - List of SAP Using Companies / List of companies that use SAP in India
/ List of Companies that use SAP in India and Worldwide / SAP Consulting Companies

SAP(Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing) is the largest ERP

solution provider on earth. About 70 % of Forbes 500 companies and thousands of
other

companies

are

having

ERP

provided

by

SAP.

Almost all major Service Sector and Manufacturing companies have already
implemented SAP creating a plethora of jobs for SAP trained professionals. These
companies require SAP support consultant for supporting SAP. A lot of small and
medium scale companies / industrial houses plan to implement SAP soon. These
organizations require Technical SAP Consultants and Functional SAP consultants.

A large number of end user jobs are also available in the market. SAP Professionals
are highly rewarded and career growth path is comparatively better than rest of the
IT

professionals.

Mostly all the big companies in India either running on SAP implemented ERP
solution or going to implement SAP. Some of the names with their official website
are

given

Automotive

Apollo Tyres , India

Hero India-Hero MotoCorp Ltd.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India

87

below-

SAP Modules

MRF, India

Tata Motors, India

Bajat Auto, India

TVS Motors, India

Ford ,India

Oil and Gas

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) India

Bharat Oman Refineries Limited (BORL) , India

Indian Oil, India

BPCL,India

Consumer Products

Hindustan Unilever , India

BIG BAZZAR,India

Future Group, India

Videocon, India

Onida, India

Sony, India

Coca cola, India

88

SAP Modules

Pepsi, India

Britannia Industries, India

Samsung, India

TITAN, India

Nestle, India

Engineering, Construction & Operations

GMR Group , India

Hindustan Construction Company , India

Okaya Power Group

Jyoti Structures Ltd.

Healthcare

Wockhardt, India

Industrial Machinery & Components

Jindal Steel,India

Tata Steel, India

Essar Steel, India

Jindal Group, India

89

SAP Modules

Bhusan Steel, India

Telecommunications

Reliance Infocomm Limited , India

Utility

Suzlon Power , India

Chemicals

Tata Chemicals, India

LG Polymers ,India

Dulux Paints, India

Nerolac Paints, India

Asian Paints, India

Sudarshan Chemical

Nagarjuna Fertilizers

Marico Industries

Rallies India

VBC Ferro Alloys

Medi Corp Group

90

SAP Modules

Neuland Laboratories Limited

Sterling Auxiliaries Pvt. Ltd.

Ambuja cements Ltd.

Pharma-Medical

Dabar, India

Glenmark Pharma , India

Emcure Pharma, India

Zandu , India

Nicholas Piramal

Alembic Pharma

Government Sector

GAIL, India

BHEL,India

BSNL,India

BPCL

IPCL

ONGC
91

SAP Modules

Others Companies using SAP

Taco
Tata Toyo
TTL
SUBROS
Bajaj Tempo
BSES
ISPAT
Nestle
Times of India
Hindustan Times
Finolex Cables
Kirloskar
CEAT
BOSCH
Reliance Retail
Force Motors Ltd.
Malayala Manorama

LIST OF IT (SOFTWARE) COMPANIES USING SAP IN INDIA:

India all big IT companies names are associated with SAP Implementation. Some of
the names are given below

TCS

IBM India

Accenture India

HCL Technologies Ltd.

NIIT Limited

CGI
92

SAP Modules

Hewlett-Packard (HP) India

ITC Infotech

Mindtree Consulting

L&T Infotech

Siemens Information systems Limited

Mahindra-Satyam

Wipro Infotech

Capgemini India

Deloitte

Fujistu

SAPLABS India

Atos Origin

Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.

Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.

93

SAP Modules

List of companies using SAP ERP .

Mitsui Chemicals India Pvt Ltd

Zydus Biologics (Zydus Cadila is an innovative global pharmaceutical company

that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of healthcare
products. The groups operations range from API to formulations, animal health
products and cosmece

Sysmex (Sysmex is a market leader in the field of clinical laboratory testing and
health information technology - supplying laboratories, hospitals and healthcare
organisations worldwide. In the core field of haematology, Sysmex is the global
mark

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd (SAP Ace Award Winner 2013 for
Budgeting, Planning and Consolidation)

Luminous Power Technologies Pvt Ltd ( Best ACE award 2013 winner for Using
SAP Solutions in an Innovative way)

First Energy Pvt Ltd (SAP ACE Award 2013 winner for Using SAP Business One )

Portea Medical (Portea Medical is a home healthcare company that focuses on

post-hospitalization

care

by

providing

high

quality

MBBS-level

doctors,

physiotherapists, nurses, nutritionists, counselors, and trained attendants for

home. Presence in Bangalore

Control Print Limited (is a leading Company in the field of Product Identification
94

SAP Modules

(Coding & Marking), having wide product range that includes Industrial Ink-jet
Printers (CIJ, LCP, HR etc.), Thermal Ink Coders, Thermal Transfer Overprinters,
Digital Pri

Schenker India Pvt. Ltd (A Leading Freight Forwarding and Logistics MNC)

Indo Count Industries Limited (the third largest bed linen manufacturer and
exporter from India and the fourth largest supplier of bed linen into the USA. We
have implemented SAP across all locations)

ISGEC Heavy Engineering Limited

Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd () is the world leader in serving science.
Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and
safer. With revenues of $13 billion, we have approximately 39,000 employees
and serve custom

Biosystems Diagnostics Pvt Ltd (. is a subsidiary of Biosystems (BarcelonaSpain), a company committed to offer effective, reliable analytical systems to
the clinical Laboratories around the world, having at India a joint venture since
1994, has shown pos

ThyssenKrupp Industries India Ltd

Khanna Paper Mills Ltd (has emerged as a leader of the Indian Paper Industry by
promoting the recycling of waste paper as the feedstock)

UTC Aerospace Systems

95

SAP Modules

Saint-Gobain Weber (SAP Business One specifically built for the Indian Small
Enterprises (SE) segment launched in India in early 2006 saw outstanding
market acceptance with over 263 new wins. Key Customers for SAP Business
One include Pidilite Industr

NTL Electronics India ltd (NTL Electronics India Ltd., (NTL) head quartered in
Noida, the modern industrial town in Delhis National Capital Region, is today,
Indias most respected manufacturer of electronic products for the lighting
industry.

96

SAP Modules

SAP CRM DRAWBACKS

The drawbacks are more related to what construction comments. But this
applies to any software implementation. It depends on what you want and
what you have now. If you work with other SAP products have an easy
integration, also you have to see what functionality you want because you
could need others products to work with crm like bi. Finally sap offers cloud
products like SAP CRM on demand too.
Its also depends on implementation, if organization is already using other SAP
products (and not enforcing to use after implementing CRM), then a better
suggestion is to go with SAP because it best supports with other products of
SAP.
If the organization is in initial stages of implementation (or more often
changes keep on coming), then its better to go with free CRMs (like: vTiger,
Sugar etc), which can be integrated with other applications too ...
it sure does help to have SAP suite of products but SAP claims that their out of
box functionality will almost integrate with any application whether it's back
end or display media as Cesar G stated it almost applies to any software
implementation effort. Did any of you face any issues while setting up the SAP
CRM environment? would you mind sharing your challenges here on this
portal?
In a SAP CRM implementation most of the issues are focused to explain
customers the benefits of CRM and show them the differences between SAP
ECC and SAP CRM because they are well integrated but one is focused on
Commercial processes and the other for Operational or logistic processes.
Most all the time customer want to have in CRM some of same functionalities
of SAP ECC increaing costs, complexity and maintenance, hence your need
extra resources to accomplish such specific requirements. If that happens with
SAP appl. imagine with non-SAP products, you need extra effort in costs,

97

SAP Modules

resources, time, design and others to integrate them and of course taking a
risk that the solution is not to be well integrated.
for the discussion let's assume if it's a new implementation of the CRM and all
the data is available, have any of you experienced any hiccups during install
and configuration of the SAP CRM product? Are there any known bugs that can
delay the time to implement? how is SAP consider from customization
perspective? i know SAP have lot to offer with out of box but in some cases
there are non supportive technologies that require customization and can be
painful.
the configuration is easy with the best practices. The problem could come
when you begin to load data from sap ecc, if you only follow the steps in the
configuration without the necesary knowledge you could have problems in the
future. If you are going to use complex pricing determintation you could need
programe in java, because the pricing engine use that tecnology. I could follow
with problems that I had, but with the knowledge you can avoid them. Now we
applied rapid deployment solutions and we can implement the standar
scenarios in nine days in medium-small size companies. All depends of tour
requirements. One advice, last release are better and stable.

The Disadvantages of CRM Systems

A customer relationship management (CRM) application is one that small to large

businesses use to keep track of customer contact information, addresses, orders
and shipping information. A CRM can be pre-packaged or custom created by a
software development company. The complexity of the software depends on the
business rules and size of the company. Although CRM applications have their
advantages, they also have some disadvantages.
98

SAP Modules

Record Loss
o

Some CRM applications use remote Internet connections to save

customer records. Salesforce is a popular CRM application provided
through an Internet connection on the company's domain. The
disadvantage of this type of CRM is that the company does not have
control of the data, and if the remote CRM system has an outage, the
company is unable to retrieve records. If the company chooses a small
CRM application that is not stable, it can mean several thousands of
dollars in lost revenue. When using a remote CRM application hosted by
another company, use local backups to avoid record loss.

Overhead
o

If the company decides on a local CRM application, there are overhead

costs

associated with

running

the software.

If

the software is

proprietary, the company needs to pay software developers, system

administrators and maintenance people to keep the software running.
It's also important to keep backups of the information, which adds an
expense to running a personalized CRM application. There may also be
system downtime. Having a local personalized or proprietary CRM
system also requires the owner to do system upgrades and security
patches to ensure the integrity of the system.
Training
o

If the company is small, training issues may be a small disadvantage.

Large corporations need to roll out training schedules for all their
employees. For large-scale CRMs, this can mean hiring professionals to
train employees in groups. Training takes away time for productivity, so
it is a disadvantage for brand-new CRM systems. The CRM training is
also different for managers compared to regular staff, because most
CRMs have specialized functions for managers and executives. These
extra functions are also required learning. The training requirements can
be as short as a few hours or can take up to several days.
99

SAP Modules

100

SAP Modules

SAP ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Many businesses purchase enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to manage

various business processes within the organization -- including accounting, human
resources and purchasing -- in one integrated system. SAP -- an acronym for a
German phrase meaning system analysis and program development -- is a
computer program that some businesses use for their ERP system; it includes
features for nearly all business operations.

Flexibility
o

One advantage of SAP is its flexibility. SAP allows companies to create

their own rules within the SAP structure. These rules set the parameters
for acceptable and unacceptable transactions. For example, the system
will not allow a journal entry to process if it doesn't balance. Companies
determine which employees access each area in the SAP environment.
Only qualified personnel receive access to personnel data, such as wage
rates. SAP also has the flexibility to integrate its data with a variety of
databases. Users can download information into spreadsheets for
further analysis.

Features
o

SAP allows businesses to manage financial transactions, product life

cycles and supply chain activities. The software has various analytical
features, such as evaluating performance, reporting and decision
making.

SAP

can

analyze

data

from

any

source

and

conduct

collaborative decision making. These features allow SAP to meet the

needs of many complex businesses and government organizations.
101

SAP Modules
o

Sponsored Links
ERP India

High Cost
o

A disadvantage of SAP is the high cost of purchasing and implementing

this program. The company must purchase the software and hardware
necessary to run the programs company-wide. Costs include labor costs
of

internal

information

technology

(IT)

employees

or

external

consultants overseeing the process. Once the company implements the

software, employees need to be trained. This involves training each
employee in the functions they have access to. Ongoing costs include
software maintenance and periodic upgrades.

Complexity
o

Another disadvantage of SAP is the complexity built into the software.

Most companies implement one feature or function of the software at a
time, allowing employees to gain familiarity with the software before
moving forward. The complete implementation process may take
several years.

102

SAP Modules

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT FROM IBM AND SAP

Executive summary

Business view

Technical details

Executive summary

The goal - Take your sales to the next level

Customer information, at the marketing, sales and service levels, is crucial to your
overall business value. If customers arent happy, sales will lag and business will be
lost. The customer relationship management (CRM) solution from IBM and SAP helps
you understand and utilize your consumers demands, converting prospects into
first-time

buyers

and

first-time

buyers

into

long-term

customers.

The advantage - Customer experience is key

Using an integrated database as a single repository for customer information, this

CRM solution delivers administrative functionality that is easy-to-use, simple-tocustomize, and quick to roll out. The solution features can include:

CRM business transformation outsourcing

CRM technology hosting

Sales productivity tools

103

SAP Modules

Contact center optimization

Marketing and customer intelligence

The benefits - Act quickly. Grow strategically.

The CRM solution from IBM and SAP can help you respond more accurately to your
customers needs, learn their habits and increase customer interaction. This
information can help your business:

Perform daily tasks and operations more efficiently and with greater visibility
into your business, including functions such as:
o Planning and monitoring accurate marketing campaigns
o Coordinating budgets
o Performing customer segmentation
o Identifying decision makers
o Tracking sales
o Managing contracts
o Reacting quickly to market changes

Facilitate better business decisions through flexible management reports on

virtually every aspect of your customer relationships.

104

SAP Modules

Collaborate on critical information with your business partners for sales

forecasts, order flow and delivery schedules, streamlining your supply chain
and working toward total customer satisfaction.

Business view

The goal - Deliver service without compromise

Customers are the driving force behind business innovation, and companies are
looking to customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to help add value to
all levels of their enterprise. The CRM solution from IBM and SAP helps to optimize
and integrate your internal and external informationfrom sales forecasts to
marketing campaignshelping you become a more customer-driven enterprise.
The advantage - The longest standing and strongest alliance

The IBM and SAP alliance has combined SAP's powerful enterprise software with
IBM's global infrastructure tools to create a unified, open-standard platform for over
30 years. Together, we can help you implement a comprehensive solution,
leveraging existing systems and providing a low total cost of ownership.

IBM has implemented SAP for its own internal operations, resulting in a total
cost of ownership reduction of almost US$11B.

IBM has 8,200 certified consultants worldwide and 300 experienced and
trained SAP CRM consultants.

IBM has SAP professionals in 75 countries with over 20 solution development

sites and demonstration centers around the world. IBM is the only systems

105

SAP Modules

integrator to win the SAP Award of Excellence every year in every country it
has been offered.

The benefits - Reap the rewards of loyalty

The CRM solution from IBM and SAP can help your company address customer
interaction through all four phases of the customer interaction lifecycle.

Customer engagement

Business transactions

Order fulfillment

Customer service

To address these key business issues, the solution offers:

Efficient and effective marketing processes, including accurate customer

segmentation.

Full-featured customer service, support and service operations through an

uninterrupted flow of customer information, interactions and transactions.

Analytical capabilities that allow you to measure, predict, plan and optimize
customer behavior and value.

Near real-time availability checks, contract management, billing management,

fulfillment visibility and order tracking.

106

SAP Modules

Through implementation of our CRM solution, you can have the ability to:

Execute targeted marketing campaigns, increase sales and deliver prompt

customer service through near real-time information gathering.

Serve customers through a variety of different channels including phone, fax,

Web, wireless devices or face-to-face interaction, providing a consistent,
personalized experience.

Speed time to resolution by providing consolidated, operational insights that

decision makers can utilize to make better informed decisions.

The approach - A solution implementation

IBM and SAP have everything you need to implement a successful CRM solution.
Together, we've helped many businesses realize their CRM goals, including an
Austrian coffee company that needed an integrated call center solution.

The company chose the SAP CRM with Customer Interaction Center (CIC) and, after
a quick three-month implementation, started seeing results. Running on IBM
hardware, the application quickly provided call center agents with all relevant
information for order entry, permitted the processing of credit notes and delivered
quantity issues and notifications of deliveries and defective goods. Along with that,
the system also displayed targeted, weekly offers for the customer profile and
created a call list on a daily basis, helping ensure customers were contacted
regularly.

The financial advantage - Eliminate to streamline

107

SAP Modules

The CRM solution from IBM and SAP can help you manage and cultivate profitable
customer relationships, allowing for a faster return on your overall investment. We
can help you:

Achieve higher sales and profits through stronger ties with your customers.

Increase revenue through efficient customer acquisition, improved direct

marketing response rates, and enhanced cross- and up-selling.

Automate processes and streamline your entire value chain, reducing overall
costs.

Technical details

The issues - Cost effective, immediate integration

When looking for a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, you need to
make sure its compatible with your existing infrastructure. A lengthy network
disruption could mean a huge loss of business. The CRM solution from IBM and SAP
features an open standards-based infrastructure that can integrate with your
current systems, helping to keep implementation costs to a minimum and offering
low total cost of ownership.

The benchmark - We do IT
108

SAP Modules

IBM and SAP can provide your company with some of the best in IT innovation and
expertise the industry has to offer.

IBM Global Business Services has been an SAP Global Strategic Alliance
Partner since 1989 and was SAPs first global alliance partner.

IBM delivered SAPs first Global Mobile Sales implementation and was the first
to implement Mobile Workplace and was the first to implement 3.0, 3.1 and
4.0 capabilities, with 5.0 projects in the pipeline.

The CRM solution from IBM and SAP delivers:

Functionality

throughout

the

customer

engagement

cycle,

including

marketing, sales, service, analytics, field applications, interaction centers, ecommerce, and channel partners.

An open, flexible framework that supports both SAP and non-SAP systems and
industry standards such as HTML, XML and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
to help ensure flexibility and interoperability.

Leading, award-winning hardware, software and services to help ensure your

new solution functions as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The components - Design your new CRM blueprint

IBM and SAP can help you deliver a customer-centric, relationship-based CRM
solution with the best in applications and technology that both have to offer.

109

SAP Modules

As part of the mySAP Business Suite, mySAP Customer Relationship Management

features:

End-to-end integration of customer-centric business processes.

Portal technology to provide broad access to information across departments.

Multichannel collaboration along the entire value chain.

An end-to-end customer relationship management solution can also include

powerful hardware, software, middleware and services.

IBM System servers:

o Intel-based IBM System x for Linux and IBM System p for UNIX
o IBM System i platform for midrange server needs
o IBM System z platform for mainframe server needs

IBM

DB2

Universal

Databasea

Web-ready,

relational

database

management system optimized for SAP

o IBM DB2 Intelligent Miner for Dataone of the only data mining
solutions

certified

for

SAP

WebSphere MQ
o IBM Lotus Domino
o IBM Tivoli software

110

NetWeaver

Business

IntelligenceIBM

SAP Modules

Also included is IBM Global Business Services consulting, implementation and

financing services that can help with everything from the design to the actual
implementation

of

your

new

solution.

The implementation - A solution implementation

Together we have helped many clients build a complete, end-to-end CRM solution,
including an Austrian coffee company. The company needed an integrate call center
and chose the SAP Customer Relationship Management solution because of its
intuitive interface and its support of the B2B and e-procurement centers, from the
fully-integrated call center through to electronic support for the mobile sales team.
The IBM and SAP CRM installation included:

SAP CRM

IBM DB2

WebSphere MQ

IBM System i

IBM System x

The cost of ownership - Flexible, open architecture

The CRM solution from IBM and SAP can help you cut overall IT costs and implement
an integrated, cost-effective IT infrastructure, featuring an open standards based
technology framework. Our solution is designed to:

Ensure flexibility, interoperability and inexpensive implementation.

111

SAP Modules

Provide architecture that can be tailored to your companys individual needs

for greater IT cost savings.

Achieve rapid integration by leveraging existing IT systems and keeping

acquisition costs at a minimum.

112

SAP Modules

BENEFITS OF SAP CRM

Benefits of SAP CRM

Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) offers deep analysis and insight to
anticipate consumer needs and create profitable, lasting customer relationship. In
other words, consumer interaction plays an essential role in determining the
success of your business. Read on and learn the importance of implementing SAP
CRM software in your business.

Flexibility

SAP CRM software creates unique consumer experience and enables you to
address various business processes in order to improve a wide range of sales,
service sand marketing situations. In simple terms, SAP CRM software improves
functionality and easily adapts to enhance consumer experience. It is a great
way to retain loyal customers and attract potential customers as well.

Improves customer interaction

Implementing SAP CRM software also improves consistency and allows relevant
interaction between you and consumers. It enables companies to improve their
interaction with consumers and ensure each interaction remains relevant and
consistent, with up to date data about the context, history, profitability, and
value of each client.

Loyalty and profitability

If you wish to build a profitable and loyal relationship with consumers, it is

important to understand their needs. Implementing SAP CRM software is a sure
way of interacting with every customer in a personal level. While there is an

113

SAP Modules

influx of consumer related software, none can help you improve customer loyalty,
profitability, and value like SAP CRM.

Easy to use

Another benefit to implementing this software in your company is its ease of

use. You can use it right away since it has interactive web features. With the
features provided, improving sales effectiveness and efficiency is only a
matter of time, not to mention that you will enjoy superior service and
consumer loyalty. Implementing SAP CRM software in your business is costly
since you have to train your staff how to use the tools to improve sale
efficiency.

The Benefits of CRM Systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to all interactions between a

business and its clients. A typical CRM system uses software to speed up processes
and to increase accountability.
The use of CRM systems is connected to numerous advantages for companies. To
benefit from all of the possibilities, however, a business will have to select the best
customer relationship management system for its needs.

114

SAP Modules

What are Customer Relationship Management Systems?

CRM deals with aspects of the work with clients, whether these involve sales
procedures or service-related issues.
CRM software is most often used to control lead information, marketing campaigns
and market participation. The data that is collected can later on be analyzed to
come up with innovative solutions to the most common customer-related problems.
The CRM allows a company to identify its target customers, to optimize sales
management, streamline information exchange between different departments,
improve company relationships with customers through personalization, identify
customer needs and analyze distribution patterns.
CRM software programs can be web-based or they can come in the form of software
that needs to be installed on the hardware used by the company employees. Both of
115

SAP Modules

these options have their advantages. Open source CRM solutions have also
appeared on the market, gaining more and more popularity every day.

Benefits of Using a CRM

CRM systems provides a number of important advantages for both small and large
companies.

Decrease cost of customer acquisition. Data enables companies to

correctly identify their target audience and to focus all of the marketing efforts
on that particular group of people.

Increase sales. Analyzes current customer service practices and can be used
to pinpoint shortcomings and areas that need improvement. Better customer
service will ultimately result in a higher sales volume.

116

SAP Modules

Increase efficiencies. Employees can access important information quickly

and process and can be automated.

Better and more accurate data. Analytics and reporting allows the sales,
marketing and customer service teams to work together and introduce
improvements.

Data security. Not only does a CRM manage your data but security allows
you to control who has access to certain data and features.

117

SAP Modules

CONCLUSION

SAP ERP HCM solution offers a complete solution to manage workforce and
automate all core HR processes.

SAP has also designed several other modules that focus on different areas of a
business.

As SAP continues to be the most popular enterprise business system and as

more and more companies are using SAP as a business software tool to
optimize their businesses, SAP professionals or consultants are in great
demand in the job market.

Several SAP online training courses such as Learn SAP Course Online
Beginner Training, and SAP Architect are available to help you gain expertise
in SAPs ERP software and program.

118

SAP Modules

REFERENCES

WEBSITES:

http://www.benefitsofcrm.com/
http://www.ibm.com/solutions/sap/us/en/solution/M113330H14511J37.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_8306440_sap-advantages-disadvantages.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_6178037_disadvantages-crm-systems.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_6178037_disadvantages-crm-systems.html
http://www.sapinfoblog.com/2011/06/list-of-sap-using-companies-in-

india_3190.html
http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2012/11/why-does-microsoft-hq-use-sap-

instead-of-microsoft-dynamics-erp/ | ERP Software Blog

http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2012/11/why-does-microsoft-hq-use-sap-

instead-of-microsoft-dynamics-erp/
http://www.fasttrackph.com/our-clients-companies-using-sap/
http://sapforums.wordpress.com/about/
http://global.sap.com/corporate-en/index.epx

119