What is SAP? An in Depth Definition of SAP ERP System

Terminology related to SAP R/3

ABAP/4 – Advanced Business Application Programming. SAP R/3 programming language.

ABAP Dictionary – central information base for developers, containing application-specific data.

ABAP Workbench – a set of tools for tailoring R/3 applications to individual requirements and for extending applications. It includes quality assurance and optimization tools. ABAP applications can be ported to a wide range of different platforms. It can also be used to develop software independent of SAP standard software.

Accelerated HR - a focused and customized configuration of SAP HR designed for a quick, cost effective implementation. By concentrating on the most essential aspects of SAP HR, Accelerated HR meets the immediate needs of most companies, including Human Resources Administration, Payroll, and Benefits Administration functionality.

Accelerated SAP – ASAP – methodology and tools to ease implementation of R/3.

ALE – Application Link Enabling – allows cooperative processing within a network of loosely coupled application systems (non-SAP, R/2 and R/3). ALE is based on an exchange of messages controlled by business processes and performed using consistent data; applications are integrated using asynchronous communications mechanisms.

APO - Advanced Planner & Optimizer. This is a key component of SAP’s New Dimension products. It is a complete suite of supply chain planner applications that enhance the flow of information and provide decision support through forecasting, planning and optimization.

ASAP – Accelerated SAP. A methodology focusing on system implementation.

BAPI – Business Application Programming Interface – methods providing direct communication between applications from different suppliers (e.g. COM or CORBA). BAPIs link SAP business objects and represent open business management interfaces.

Basis System – software that enables distribution of resources and system components. Basis software provides the runtime environment for the R/3 System applications and ensures that the applications are optimally embedded in the system environment.

BFA - Business Framework Architecture – independent business management components, integration technology, and open interfaces, combining to create a flexible, standards-oriented environment in which the R/3 System and software from external providers can cooperate in a dynamic way. Business Framework Architecture consists of: business components (e.g. HR), business objects (e.g. employees) and BAPIs.

BOM - Bill of Material

BOR – Business Object Repository – administers and maintains business objects (e.g. BAPIs).

Business Components - configurable software modules that collaborate via standard interfaces. The SAP Logistics module is an example of a Business Component.

Business Engineer - The Business Engineer lets you install and customize R/3 quickly and smoothly, at minimum cost and with maximum reliability. Fully integrated into the R/3 System, the Business Engineer supports you in analyzing, designing and configuring your business processes. It accesses the R/3 Reference Model and it includes: Process Models, Business Process Scenarios, Procedure Model, Implementation Guide.

Business Explorer – SAP Business Information Warehouse front end.

Business Explorer Analyzer – Micorsoft Excel front end to Business Explorer.

Business Information Warehouse – (SAP BW) provides decision-support functionality extending the mySAP.com Internet business strategy. It is a data warehouse including R/3 data and external data.

Business Navigator - provides a graphical view of business processes. It is part of the R/3 Basis and is used to access the R/3 Reference Model. Business Navigator also provides direct access to other parts of the SAP R/3 System such as Customizing, the Data Model, and business application transactions.

Business Objects - An SAP Business Object such as a "customer order," a "vendor," or an "employee," is used in SAP’s business processes.

Business Scenario – offers the specific knowledge, functions, and services that one or more users may need to succeed in a business task. mySAP.com provides a host of e­business solutions, including purchasing, collaborative planning, employee self service, direct customer servicing, and inter­business knowledge management. Business Scenarios will provide access to all R/3 and SAP New Dimension functionality. At present, several SAP Web­enabled Business Scenarios are being developed. In addition, role­based business scenarios soon will be available to help you leverage SAP applications and other data sources in ways that support all major roles in your enterprise. Business Scenarios will be delivered to customers on a role­by­role basis, so that customers can choose SAP functionality for the jobs they need. It is important to note that a Business Scenario can contain many roles, and these roles may differ from company to company. For example, a business­to­business Internet selling scenario might have a purchaser role, a seller role, and an approver role. The buyer would get only the purchaser role (unless he were also engaged in selling), and the seller would only get the seller role. Scenarios are role­based because users typically participate in business solutions as a member of a team, performing one specifically defined role. (In some cases a Business Scenario could have only one participant and therefore only one role.)

BW – Business Warehouse. The Business Warehouse provides management reporting, including non-SAP data sources into reports. This independent data warehouse solution summarizes data from R/3 applications and external sources to provide executive information for supporting decision making and planning. Reports cover a wide range of information requirements, automated data staging, and standard R/3 business process models.

CCMS – Computing Center Management System – allows continuous monitoring of the R/3 System at the operating system, network, database, and application level.

CRM – Customer Relationship Management.

Digital Signatures – required to sign documents.

EDI – Electronic Data Interchange.

EPC – Event Driven Process Chain (a Reference Model view).

Enterprise Data Model – is the result of configuring R/3 to meet the needs of the enterprise.

GSS-API – Generic Security Services API – used as part of SAP SNC.

HAHTsite – from HAHT Software Inc, an SAP partner, a platform for extending R/3 to the Web, inlcuding an application server and an integrated development environment.

IDES - Internet (formerly International) Demonstration and Education System; a database with model companies used for training in R/3.

IDES TS – IDES Training System.

IDOC – Intermediate Document for exchange of information between systems. An IDOC is the data container for an exchange between SAP Systems or between SAP systems and external systems.

Organizational Architect – tool that allows the user to build the structure of their distributed applications.

IMG – Implementation Guide -a detailed, on-line methodology designed to assist in the configuration of the SAP R/3 System

INSM – Integrated Network and System Management – for large users, and optionally allows SNMP-MIB for integration of the R/3 System.

ITS – Internet Transaction Server (also known as the SAP Web Basis).

Knowledge Warehouse – (previously the InfoDB) provides a network of information resources for transferring knowledge and enhancing employee performance. The Knowledge Warehouse provides unstructured information, the Business Information Warehouse provides structured data.

LUW - Business transactions are processed as Logical Units of Work.

MAPI - MAPI is an acronym for Messaging Application Programming Interface. It is a standardized set of C functions placed into a code library known as a Dynamic Link Library (DLL). The functions were originally designed by Microsoft, but they have received support of many third party vendors. Having a standard library of messaging functions allows Windows application developers to take advantage of the Windows messaging subsystem, supported by default with Microsoft Mail or Microsoft Exchange. By writing to the generic MAPI interface, any Windows application can become "mail-enabled". Since MAPI standardizes the way messages are handled by mail-enabled applications, each such application does not have to include vendor-specific code for each target messaging system. The MAPI library is also available to Visual Basic application writers through a Basic-to-C translation layer.

MPS - Master Production Schedule

mySAP.com - an open collaborative business environment of personalized solutions on demand. It is a comprehensive basket of offerings that includes Internet­enabled applications, such as the Web­enabled core components of SAP R/3 , new enterprise and collaborative business scenarios, the personalized Workplace as enterprise portal, the Marketplace as a global e­business hub, and services like application hosting. mySAP.com goes a lot further than any one product or system. It is a real­time, collaborative, business solution environment. mySAP.com integrates seamlessly with existing R/3 functions, users of mySAP.com need not have R/3 installed, and R/3 can be used without mySAP.com. In essence if you have R/3 installed, then mySAP.com would sit on top of your applications. From Release 4.6 on, R/3 will be a mySAP.com component. mySAP.com can interoperate with R/3 from Release 3.1 on. Earlier R/3 releases can be connected on a project basis. Key elements of mySAP.com ­ the mySAP.com Workplace, collaborative Commerce Business Scenarios, the mySAP.com Marketplace, and Web­Based Application hosting, among others ­ will become available for customers in the third quarter of 1999. Industry­specific components will be provided on a continuous schedule over the following months till the end of first quarter of 2000. Other individual components of mySAP.com will follow their own availability and release cycles.

mySAP.com Marketplace - can be a confusing concept to new audiences because it is actually two things. It is the infrastructure that supports many of our collaborative Business Scenarios, allowing many buyers and sellers to come together to exchange goods, services, and information. It is also the name we currently are using to describe the Web portal that SAP hosts at www.mySAP.com. In 1999, the Marketplace features 20 communities of interest, 16 of which are focused on specific industries and 4 of which focus on topics that cross industry boundaries. More communities are being added all the time. Anyone can access and use the Marketplace via www.mySAP.com. Buyers as well as sellers can leverage the Marketplace without the need for any SAP software. If, however, the buyer does use the SAP procurement solution, the transaction between the buy and the sell sides takes place as a one­step transaction. That is, all necessary updates of the participating administrative systems are executed simultaneously, avoiding delays and error­prone manual steps between the Web front­ends and the back­end systems. mySAP supports transactions not only within the enterprise but also across enterprises. In addition, the mySAP.com Marketplace allows customers to leverage their existing ERP investments, whether those involve SAP or not.

mySAP.com Workplace – the personal, corporate portal by which business scenario customers access their personal business solutions environment. It is a customizable, Web­enabled doorway into R/3, offering additional functions and services beyond the core R/3 functions. In addition, it provides integration with other ERP solutions and non­ERP information sources including financial market data, news tickers, and industry­specific content. mySAP.com provides users with the ability to customize their desktop interfaces in ways that address their specific needs.

NC – Network Computers – Java-based SAPGUI allows NCs to be used as R/3 clients.

New Dimensions – see SAP New Dimention

OLTP – On-Line Transaction Processing

OSS – Online Service System.

PCT – Private Communication Technology security package from Microsoft.

PKCS#7 – industry standard format for signed or encrypted documents.

QMIS - Quality Management Information System.

R/2 System – for mainframe systems, providing integrated handling of all business routines in accounting, logistics, and human resources management.

R/3 Basis System (middleware) - The central SAP R/3 Basis System guarantees all application modules are integrated and platform-independent, since the SAP R/3 System is a modular, standard software system supporting all of a company’s business transactions. It includes: Client/server architecture, Application architecture, and System communication .

R/3 Information Database - SAP’s central information repository for the administration of all types of information.

R/3 Procedure Model - . a procedural guide for structuring an SAP implementation, to guide you through the different project phases step by step (from project generation to going live) in configuring R/3. A wide range of tried-and-true, graphically portrayed business scenarios and processes are stored in the R/3 Reference Model. From this wealth of experience you choose the best possible processes for your company.

R/3 Reference Model - a graphical description of best practice business processes – a tool that is provided to support configuration activities; it contains the knowledge base of the standard business functions available in R/3.

R/3 System – for client/server architectures, distributed applications among multiple computer levels, providing integrated handling of all business routines in accounting, logistics, and human resources management. R/3 is a multilayer Internet architecture with an open three-tier approach: presentation, application, and database layers.

R/3 Technology Infrastructure – middleware within the the R/3 System that enables application programs, the operating system, and the communications network to work together smoothly. It hides details of the technical implementation from users.

R/3-MIB – includes interfaces for controlling and monitoring applications and for alarm handling.

RAID – Redundant had disk capacity – supported by SAP.

SAP - Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing

SAP Automation API – used in developing business processes that are independent of specific applications (– user interfaces, different GUIs, browsers?? etc.)

SAP Business Workflow – links information with active control of business processes; offers a MAPI compatible interface (e.g. for mail front-ends MS Outlook, Lotus CC:Mail, MS Exchange).

SAP BW - Business Information Warehouse.

SAP Internet Business Framework – provides a proven, open application server infrastructure for effectively and efficiently managing workflow. The Internet Business Framework supports the XML standard and provides a basis for context­rich Internet communication that can cross company firewalls. The Internet Business Framework allows customers to integrate SAP R/3 Releases 3.1H and higher. The Internet Business Framework uncouples the integration technology from the development language and runtime. This means that the software module that calls a certain service need not be written in the same language as the software module that provides the service. Rather, the software providing the service can be implemented in virtually any language (COM+ and EJB­compatible languages or ABAP Objects). SAP is already exploiting this flexibility. For example, SAP business solutions are implemented in Microsoft Excel, Sun Java, Microsoft C++ and Visual Basic, UNIX C++, and ABAP Objects all tied together via the Internet Business Framework.

SAP New Dimension – A suite of products beyond R/3. THis includes: Customer Relationship Management, Advanced Planner and Optimizer (supply chain management), Strategic Enterprise Management, Business to Business Procurement, Business Information Warehouse, Knowledge Management.

SAP R/3 – Enterprise Business Software.

SAPGUI – provides for organization-defined and user-defined menus, frequently used transactions in a personal directory.

SAPnet – Web Frontend/R3 Frontend – SAP’s online information and communication service (requires a password).

SAPoffice – provides an integrated communication service in R/3. Supports e-mail standard X.400 and MAPI interface. Templates in SAPoffice are used for general project documentation

SAPscript – R/3 integrated word processing tool.

SEM – Strategic Enterprise Management.

Session Manager – allows user customization for frequent transactions, manage parallel sessions in the same or different R/3 systems.

SET – Secure Electronic Transactions standard for Internet applications; integrated into R/3. SET is based on PCT from Microsoft and SSL from Netscape. These packages handle client authentication, server authentication, confidentiality, connection reliability and secure payment.

SNC – Secure Network Communications interface – R/3 can be integrated with any network security product that itself supports the GSS-API (e.g. Kerberos from MIT, SecuDE from GMD).

SNMP-MIB – Simple Network Mangement Protocol – Management Information Base) - for integration of the R/3 System.

SOP – Sales and Operations Planning.

SSF – Secure Store & Forward – allows R/3 data and documents to be encrypted and signed with digital signatures.

SSL – Secure Socket Layer security package from Netscape.

Supply Chain Cockpit – part of SAP Advanced Planner & Optimizer.

UPS – Uninterruptible Power Supply.

valueSAP – an SAP AG service to review and improve their customer’s ERP solutions and mix of productrs.

Web Reporting – allows reports and report hierarchies to be displayed as HTML documents in a Web browser.

WFMC – Workflow Management Coalition – workflow standards, between applications.

Workbench Organizer – records and documents all ABAP work, coordinates program changes.

Workflow (WF) – a module that links the integrated SAP R/3 application modules by managing the sequence of work activities and the invocation of appropriate human and/or IT resources with the various activity steps.

Workflow Client Application API - allows client programs from external suppliers to be integrated into the workflow.

Workflow Wizards – used to produce an executable workflow definition quickly and safely.

X.509 – industry standard for asymmetric encryption.