Archive for May 2013
Introduction to SAP
The big picture: SAP AG
Before reading this i personally recommend to read my previous blog Introduction to ERP
Introduction to SAP – The Company:
SAP AG simply means SAP Inc.
SAP AG is a German multinational software corporation, founded in 1972 by 5 IBM employees (wellenreuther, Hopp, Hector, plattner and Tschira). SAP makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. SAP is headquartered in Germany and regional offices all around the world.
The first releases, called R1 and R2, were mainframe-only applications. SAP started with a set of financial applications and then added logistics, manufacturing, and HR. In the 1980s, they moved to a true 3-tiered client-server solution and by the early 1990s, R/3 was released to the market.
<We shall see about ‘R/3’ later in SAP-software>
SAP system comprises a variety of modules which fulfils all business needs.
(Sources: Wikipedia 
lol)
lol)
Introduction to SAP – The Software:
mySAP is not a single product but is a suite of products from SAP including SAP R/3.
Other products in the mySAP product suite includes,
- SRM (Supplier Relationship Management),
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management),
- PLM (Product Lifecycle Management),
- SCM (Supply Chain Management)
SAP R/3 was officially launched on 6 July 1992. It was renamed SAP ERP and later again renamed ECC (ERP Central Component).
In 2000, SAP renamed their solution mySAP and released the latest version of SAP, ‘ECC’ and the most recent release is ECC 6.0. (ERP Central Computing)
<Heard rumours about ECC 7.0 don’t know whether its true>
SAP ECC 6.0 includes many modules such as HR, Finance, MM covering all enterprise Functions.
SAP's current release strategy is to provide Enhancement Packs with additional functionality instead of releasing new versions of the software.
SAP's Enhancement Pack strategy eliminates major upgrades and allows customers to choose which enhancements to apply to their systems.
SAP NET VIEWER:
SAP first announced NetWeaver in 2003. It’s an open integration and application platform for all SAP applications.
As explained in “The History of SAP” on SAP.com, NetWeaver was an integration platform intended to enable customers to create “applications that support
end-to-end business processes no matter whether they are based on systems from SAP or other providers.”
We can consider SAP NetWeaver as a breadboard,
SAP NetWeaver provides you an application and integration platform, using which you can develop your own application on top of sap NetWeaver use sap NetWeaver for integrating or other non-sap systems  |
SAP NetWeaver Application Server
The SAP NetWeaver Application Server is the central foundation for the entire SAP software stack. It also provides a platform for other NetWeaver components.There are different installation options for SAP NetWeaver AS they are,
- SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP
- SAP NetWeaver As Java
- SAP NetWeaver As ABAP + Java
Concept of 3 Tier Architecture.
Before we discuss about 3 tier architecture, we first need to understand CLIENT and SERVER.
In Hardware: Server means Central server in a network that provides data,memory and resources for the workstations (clients)
In software: Client request’s a service and server provides the service.
3 tier architecture defines Three layers,
a. Presentation layer (SAP GUI, it provides user interface for entering and displaying data)
b. Application layer (Provides interface between presentation layer and database layer)
c. Database layer (A centralized data base that comprises all the data in the SAP system)
Whenever a user submits a request from the presentation layer, the request is processed in application layer by the dispatcher.
And when accessing Database,the application layer process the request and communicates to the data base.
(In ABAP, SQL query can be written in Open SQL to access the application data in the database,The database interface translates open SQL into Corresponding SQL statements for the specific database i.e Native SQL which makes ABAP programs to be Database-independent)
SAP supports a wide range of database,
ADABAS D
DB2/400
DB2/Common Server
DB2/MVS
INFORMIX
ORACLE
MICROSOFT SQL SERVER
(Dispatcher distributes incoming requests to the process).
Ok, now where does the distributed request from dispatcher go to process?
There are number work processes which are responsible to process the request in the application layer,
- D – Dialog work process
Responsible for the execution of dialog steps triggered by an active user.
- U – Update work process
Executes update request
- E – En queue (lock)
Administrates the lock table in the shared memory.
- B - Background work process
Executes program that run without interacting with the user.
- S – Spool work process (print)
Pass sequential data flow to printer.
Apart from work process there are additional services for internal and external communications,
- Message Server (MS)
Handles communication between the distributed dispatcher in the Application server.
- Gateway reader (GW)
Responsible for communication between SAP systems or between SAP systems and external application systems.
- Internet Communication manager (ICM)
Enables communication with SAP system using web protocol such as HTTP.
A standard SAP project system is divided into three environments, Development, Quality and Production.
The development system is where most of the implementation work takes place.
The quality system is where all the final testing is conducted before moving the transports to the production environment.
The production system is where all the daily business activities occur. It is also the client that all the end users use to perform their daily job functions.
To all company, the production system should only contain transports that have passed all the tests.
Introduction to SAP – Modules:
Here are some of the modules used in SAP (please note all modules are not mentioned here).
SAP Modules list is classified into 3 types
1) SAP Functional Modules :
People who study Functional modules are SAP Functional Consultant – They are responsible for customizing SAP as per customer demand. They talk with developers to code custom ABAP programs as per client requirements.
2) SAP Technical Modules and
They are responsible for coding ABAP/Java Programs
3) SAP New Dimensional Modules also known as SAP New Modules.
They are a combination of the Functional and Technical modules.
Functional module.
- 1. SAP FI module : FI stands for Financial Accounting.
- 2. SAP CO module : CO stands for Controlling.
- 3. SAP CRM module : CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.
- 4. SAP HR module : HR stands for Human Resources.
- 5. SAP MM module : MM stands for Materials Management
Technical Module
- 1. SAP ABAP module : ABAP stands for Advanced Business Application Programming.
- 2. SAP Basis module : Basis also known as Basis Admin is typically the administration
- 3. SAP BI module : BI stands for Business Intelligence.
Do you know?
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Next we shall have the introduction to ABAP
