SAP:-Introduction..

What is SAP?
SAP is the leading Enterprise Information and Management Package worldwide. Use of this package makes it possible to track and manage, in real-time, sales, production, finance accounting and human resources in an enterprise.


SAP the company was founded in Germany in 1972 by five ex-IBM engineers. In case you’re 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.

SAP Application Modules
SAP has several layers. The Basis System is the heart of the data operations and should be not evident to higher level or managerial users. Other customizing and implementation tools exist also. The heart of the system from a manager's viewpoint are the application modules. These modules may not all be implemented in a typical company but they are all related and are listed below:

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FI Financial Accounting--designed for automated management and external reporting of general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable and other sub-ledger accounts with a user defined chart of accounts. As entries are made relating to sales production and payments journal entries are automatically posted. This connection means that the "books" are designed to reflect the real situation.
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CO Controlling--represents the company's flow of cost and revenue. It is a management instrument for organizational decisions. It too is automatically updated as events occur.
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AM Asset Management--designed to manage and supervise individual aspects of fixed assets including purchase and sale of assets, depreciation and investment management.
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PS Project System--is designed to support the planning, control and monitoring of long-term, highly complex projects with defined goals.
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WF Workflow--links the integrated SAP application modules with cross-application technologies, tools and services
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IS Industry Solutions--combine the SAP application modules and additional industry-specific functionality. Special techniques have been developed for industries such as banking, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, etc.
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HR Human Resources--is a complete integrated system for supporting the planning and control of personnel activities.
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PM Plant Maintenance--In a complex manufacturing process maintenance means more than sweeping the floors. Equipment must be services and rebuilt. These tasks affect the production plans.
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MM Materials Management--supports the procurement and inventory functions occurring in day-to-day business operations such as purchasing, inventory management, reorder point processing, etc.
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QM Quality Management--is a quality control and information system supporting quality planning, inspection, and control for manufacturing and procurement.
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PP Production Planning--is used to plan and control the manufacturing activities of a company. This module includes; bills of material, routings, work centers, sales and operations planning, master production scheduling, material requirements planning, shop floor control, production orders, product costing, etc.
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SD Sales and Distribution--helps to optimize all the tasks and activities carried out in sales, delivery and billing. Key elements are; pre-sales support, inquiry processing, quotation processing, sales order processing, delivery processing, billing and sales information system
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SAP:SAP Customer Relationship Management:

What is SAP?
SAP, started in 1972 by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany, states that it is the world's largest inter-enterprise software company and the world's fourth-largest independent software supplier, overall.
The original name for SAP was German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, German for "Systems Applications and Products." The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. Gradually, the applications have been assembled and today many corporations, including IBM and Microsoft, are using SAP products to run their own businesses.
SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. The R/3 system runs on a number of platforms including Windows 2000 and uses the client/server model. The latest version of R/3 includes a comprehensive Internet-enabled package.
SAP has recently recast its product offerings under a comprehensive Web interface, called mySAP.com, and added new e-business applications, including customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).
As of January 2007, SAP, a publicly traded company, had over 38,4000 employees in over 50 countries, and more than 36,200 customers around the world. SAP is turning its attention to small- and-medium sized businesses (SMB). A recent R/3 version was provided for IBM's AS/400 platform.
SAP Customer Relationship Management:

Features & Functions

SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) includes features and functions to support core business processes in the following areas:
Marketing – Analyze, plan, develop, and execute all marketing activities through all customer interaction points. This central marketing platform empowers marketers with complete business insights – enabling you to make intelligent business decisions and to drive end-to-end marketing processes. Quickly deploy marketing functionality in an on-demand model and transition to SAP CRM as business needs evolve.
Sales – Maintain focus on productive activity to acquire, grow, and retain profitable relationships with functionality for sales planning and forecasting, territories, accounts, contacts, activities, opportunities, quotations, orders, product configuration, pricing, billing, and contracts. Quickly deploy sales management functionality in an on-demand model and transition to SAP CRM as business needs evolve.
Service – Drive service revenue and profitability with support for service sales and marketing; service contract management; field service; e-service; workforce management; and channel service. Call centers, field service, and e-service provide various flexible delivery options. Quickly deploy service functionality in an on-demand model and transition to SAP CRM as business needs evolve.
Partner channel management – Attain a more profitable and loyal indirect channel by managing partner relationships and empowering channel partners. Improve processes for partner recruitment, partner management, communications, channel marketing, channel forecasting, collaborative selling, partner order management, channel service, and analytics for partners and channel managers.
Interaction center – Maximize customer loyalty, reduce costs, and boost revenue by transforming your interaction center into a strategic delivery channel for marketing, sales, and service efforts across all contact channels. Activities such as telemarketing, telesales, customer service, HR and IT help desk, and interaction center management are supported.
Web channel – Increase sales and reduce transaction costs by turning the Internet into a valuable sales, marketing, and service channel for businesses and consumers. Increase profitability and reach new markets with functionality for e-marketing, e-commerce, e-service, and Web channel analytics. Deploy these capabilities directly against SAP ERP or with SAP CRM as a fully integrated customer channel.
Business communications management – Manage inbound and outbound contacts across multiple locations and communications channels effectively and efficiently. By integrating multichannel communications with your customer-facing business processes, you can provide your customers and partners with a smooth, consistent experience across all avenues of contact, including voice, text messaging, Web contacts, and e-mail.

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