An overview of SAP

SAP AG is a German company which provides end to end solution for several business application including manufacturing, logistics, accounting, sales & distribution etc. It is one of the largest software companies stands for Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing. SAP has developed several independent products for various industries but they are best known for their ERP software, SAP BW, SAP Business Objects and SAP HANA.

SAP has various modules available in the market and are divided into three main groups

1. Functional modules
2. Technical modules
3. Industry specific modules

Functional Module:  It consists of pre-populated functional packages that take care of almost all the functions in place in an organization. Each module takes care on its own task and is linked to other module wherever applicable. For instance, a billing transaction of sales will pass through inventory management for goods sold and accounting for account receivable. SAP has typically focused on best practice methodologies for driving its software processes. Following are some key functional modules which are widely used in most of the organization.

1. SAP CRM Module: SAP CRM is a part of SAP business suite which helps to implement customized business processes that can be integrated to other SAP and non-SAP systems. SAP CRM helps an organization to stay connected to their customers and achieve customer expectations with the types of services and products they needs.
2. SAP FI Module: SAP Financial module enables organization to track all financial data of multiple companies in different languages, currencies in one centralized location.
3. SAP HR Module: Human Resources component enable companies to process employee related data according to business requirements in most effective manner.  The HR module uses a system where data grouped together called info types and represent complete employee information in required formats.

Technical Modules: Technical module is more of programming and coding stuff. Using technical module one can customize existing functional module of SAP as per the workflow of the organization if required.

1. ABAP Module: ABAP stands for Advanced Business Application Programming and is a high-level programming language used for developing application for SAP R/3 System. Using ABAP user can create own customized functional modules and function groups as per the requirement using Function Builder in the ABAP Workbench.
2. BI Module: This module helps in data analysis to get some information out of it. This will helps organization to boost business performance by helping management executives to make more informed decisions.
3. Basis Module: Basis is a set of middleware programs and tools from SAP and is used to manage large corporations. SAP provides the underlying base (thus the name) that enables applications (such as FI, CO, and SD, for example) to be interoperable and portable across operating systems and database products.

Industry Modules: This module provides customized tailored solutions for midsized enterprises. Over the years, SAP has created twenty-eight industry-specific products offering customers a mass of expertise, along with information technology (IT) solutions particular to their respective industries. Following are some of the popular industry specific modules which are used worldwide.

1. Aerospace & Defense – Air and military industries
2. SAP IS Automotive – Automobile manufacturing industries
3. SAP IS Banking – Banking, and Market Risk Management
4. SAP IS Chemicals – Chemical industries
5. SAP IS Consumer Products – Consumer product industries
6. SAP IS Healthcare – Hospitals and healthcare institutions
7. SAP IS Insurance – Insurance companies and Currency Markets
8. SAP IS Media – Communication and Publishing industries
9. SAP IS Oil & Gas – Oil and Gas Industries
10. SAP IS Telecommunications – Telecommunication operators

Apart from above we have discussed, SAP AG has many modules and sub modules that provide end to end solutions for various business enterprises. SAP AG is continues to create new modules and solutions for emerging business environments all the time.

About Author:

Harish Mani is senior consultant and is important part of Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. think Tank. He in Systems Plus actively contributes to technology and information security. He can be contacted at: harish.m@spluspl.com