SAP for MGT 472

In 1972, 5 former IBM system analysts formed a company to create and market software that would integrate a company’s major business processes. They wanted it to be interactive and real-time, which were uncommon features in those days. They called their company “SAP”, which are initials for German words sometimes translated as “systems, applications, and programming.” SAP has become to enterprise software as Xerox is to copiers.

SAP initially had mainframe software called R/1. That gave way to R/2, which added multi-language and multi-currency capabilities. Heads really began to turn with the release of a client/server (R/3) version, which had a graphical user interface. It did indeed integrate all major business functions: accounting, manufacturing, distribution, human resources, order entry, etc., and groupware functions were included to improve management productivity. In 1999, the company created MYSAP, fully Internet-enabled ERP solutions with B2B e-commerce, hosted applications (i.e., cloud computing), and more. Current (2010) applications are based on the SAP NetWeaver® platform and include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and related software solutions such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Product Lifecycle Management, and Supplier Relationship Management.

Other interesting facts:

SAP is indeed interactive (meaning a manager can quickly receive information he/she asks for) and real time (a manager in New York can see up-to-the-minute status on an order being processed at a factory in China).
it is capable of simultaneous use of multiple languages, currencies, and accounting practices.
SAP is very attractive for companies that engage in acquisitions and divestures because it is relatively easy to add or remove a division under SAP.
to implement SAP, hardware and (especially) network costs are relatively high due to the need for connectivity.
as of mid-2009, SAP is reported to have about one-third of the global markets for ERP, CRM, and SCM software.
2009 SAP total revenue was about 10.7 billion euros (over $14 billion), yielding a net income of about 1.75 billion euros ($2.4 billion).
SAP has over 95,000 customers in 120 countries including most of the Fortune 500 (including IBM and Microsoft!). It is used by at least two big companies in the Nacogdoches area.

Information for this web page came from www.sap.com and various other sources.

Note: our server is Unix-based, so all url's are case sensitive.

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wfisher@sfasu.edu

Last updated April 5, 2010