whatisSAP.docx
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whatisSAP.docx
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whatisSAP
Chapter1:
WhatIsSAP?
Overview
TuesdayMorning,13July.ItwasstilldarkwhenJoeMastersontookthefreewayexitforRTC,thecompanywherehe'dspentthelastfifteenyearsofhislife.HavingstartedasastockclerkandworkedhiswayuptodirectorofManufacturingOperations,hefeltlikeheknewtheplacebackwardsandforwards--andalsofeltutterlyunpreparedforthechangesthatwerebeginningtotakeplacethere.'Sagoodthingthere'snotrafficatthishour,hethoughtashemadehiswayupthestill-quietbusinessstreet.TheSupersizecoffeehe'dsquashedintothecar'scupholderwasjustbeginningtocutthroughtheblurry-eyedfuzzleftfromhisfitfulhalf-night'ssleep.
Hestartedtomapoutplansfortheupcomingmeeting--imaginehavingtocomeinbeforedawnjusttogettogetherwithoneofmyownpeople!
--buthisminddriftedrapidlyoffthetopic.Therewasjustsomuchtolearnandmanage,andithadalllookedlikesuchagood,straightforwardideatohimatfirst--thoughnottoeverybody.
Wehadsomehotmeetingsbackthen,Joelaughedtohimself.PaulBengrow,VPofSales,hadevenbangedhisfistonthetableonedayanddeclared,"Isayweforgetchange!
Whatgoodwillitdous?
MysalesmenarehappyandtheCustomerServicerepsarefinallywelltrainedonourcurrentsystem."Hestoodbackandfoldedhisarmsoverthe"TeamRTC"golfingshirtneatlytuckedintohismatchingcottonDockers.Hissmuglookandstancechallengedtherestofthegroup.Paul'sstubbornmethodsmighthavehadanimpact,butthatday,HarlanWilson--RTC'sCEO--waspresent.
"Thankyouforyourcontribution,Paul,"Harlansaidcalmly."ButIthinkthereisaclearconsensusthatoursystemsarefunctionalinSalesalone,perhapsunfairly.Tom?
"
TomShredlow,thedirectorofFinance,hadbeenshakinghisheadandaddingcolumnsofnumbers."Huh?
"Helookedupatthegroup."Oh,yes,yes,yes.Paul,youjustdon'tknowhowbackloggedwegetineveryareaofFinance--Purchasing,AccountsReceivable,AccountsPayable."
Paulrolledhiseyes,yawned,andsatbackdown.
ButTomcontinued,"Sure,youcantakeordersasfastasyoulike.ButbythetimePurchasingreceivesthereports,ourinventoryisalreadyspent."
"I'vebeenmeaningtohaveawordwithyouaboutthat,"Paulinterrupted.
Tomignoredhim."It'saviciouscycle.OrderEntrycan'tupdatetheinformationanyfasterthantheyaredoingitnow.Bythetimewebuyparts,thecustomerhasalreadybeenbilledbuthasn'treceivedproduct.We'realwaysbeingblamed,butwe'reinthemiddle,"hisvoicecrackedwiththestrain."WehavetohaveOrderEntrypeopletotakethedatafromSalesandenteritintoPurchasingandfromPurchasingtoManufacturingandbackfromManufacturingtoAccounting.Itjustmakesnosense.CustomerServicescreamsatus,Salescomplains,andJoetellsmewe'reresponsibleforhisinventoryemployeesquittingbecausecustomerscallandyellatthemfornothavingtheproducttoship.It'sjustnotfair."Tomendedhiscontributionandimmediatelydroppedhisheadandreturnedtohiscalculations.
"Iunderstandyourposition,"Joehadsaid.
"Oh,youunderstandeveryone!
"Paulsnapped."Isn'tthereanopeninginHumanResourcesforhim?
"hewinkedatHarlan.ButPaulgotnolaughs.
"We'vereviewedalltheenterprisesystems,"Joehadcontinued."ButIthinkwe'llgetnowherebytryingtointegrateonebadsystemwithanother...exceptfortheexceptionalsalessystem,"headdedbeforePaulcouldobject."We'vegrownbeyondthedaysofpatchesandBand-Aids.Ithinkweneedtojuststartoverfromthegroundfloor.TheintegrationofSAPmakessensetome.Andnowthatwehavesuppliersinelevencountries,withthereal-timedata,Ithinkmanufacturingisgoingtohaveanedgeinproductionlikewe'veneverknownbefore.Andthatmeansmaybethenwe'llbeatourcompetitorsinsomethingotherthangolf!
"helookedatPaul,butthe"sportster"wouldn'tacknowledgehiscomment.
Paulknewhehadsomethingtoworryabout.Butitalllookedsosimpletotherestofusupfront,Joethought,pullingintoRTC'sundergroundlot.Ahwell,onethingaboutworkingthesehours,there'salwaysaparkingplacerightbytheelevatorwhenIrollin.
EvolutionofSAP
Inthischapter,you’lllearnsomeofthehistoryofSAP--howtheproductandthecompanyfirstbegan,howitevolved,andwhereitistoday.Manycompanies--large,midsized,andsmallalike--facethesamechaoticmassof“Band-Aid”solutionsastheRTCCompany,andfromitsearliestdaysSAPhasofferedanappealingalternativetohome-grownsoftware.Overtheyears,thatalternativehasgrownmoreandmorecomprehensiveandadaptable,andmoreandmorecompanieshavetakentheplungeorareconsideringdoingso.
HowSAPBegan
In1972,fiveIBMemployeesinMannheim,Germany,noticedsimilaritiesinthewayvariousdepartmentswantedtheirsoftwareupgraded.Sotheybeganworkonaprojecttoidentifybestbusinesspracticesandcreateasinglepackagethatwouldsystematicallyfollowthesepracticesinallareasofbusiness.IBMwasn’twillingtofundtheproject,sothese(now)ex-IBMemployeeswentoffontheirownandbegantoputtheprogramtogether.
Althoughthenewcompanyactuallyturnedaprofitinitsfirstyear,SAPasweknowittookalongtimetodevelop.TheFinanceModule,or"FI,"isallthegrouphadtooffertheirfirstcustomer.Next,theybuiltinmasterdataandmorefinancialinformation.Witheachadditionandeachclient,theywereabletotestwhatworkedbestandwhatdidn't.
Fromthestart,SAPbuiltitsproductasthebusinessprocessversionofthesearchfortheHolyGrail.Throughtesting,thedeveloperscontinuedtoidentifybestbusinesspracticesandincorporatethemintothesoftware.UnliketheHolyGrail--whichis,aslegendhasit,asingletangibleitem--businesspracticesandtechnologychangeandinfluenceeachother.Thesearchstillhasnotended.Today,SAPcontinuestoaddnewbusinesspracticesandmodifyandupdatetheoldones.
Figure1-1showshowSAPmodulesarecurrentlydividedtohandleallaspectsofbusiness.ThesemodulesformthefocusofeachSAPimplementationwiththeirownteamsofcompanyandconsultantpersonnel,sothroughoutthebookyou'llseereferencestoworkonMMorFIandtherest.
Figure1-1 TheprimarymodulesofSAP
HowSAPHasEvolved
TheevolutionofSAPisahistorywithsomeastonishingfinancialgainscomparedtothoseofmostentrepreneurialstart-upcompanies.Herearesomehighlights:
▪
In1972,SAPopensforbusinesswithfiveemployees.
▪
In1977,thecompanyboasts25employeesandrevenuesclosetoDM4million.ThecompanyofficiallytakesthenameSAPandincorporateswithprivatelyheldstock.
▪
In1978,theuseofthemainframemakesSAPaviableenterprisesystem.VersionR/2isreleasedandimplementedforthefirsttimeoutsideGermany.RevenuestopofftheyearatDM10million.
▪
Bytheendof1980,SAPisGermany'smostusedenterprisesystemandcontinuesexpandingintointernationalmarkets.
▪
In1985,Swissdevelopmentteamsbeginproducingmanufacturingmodulestoaddtothesoftware.RevenuestopDM100million.
▪
In1987,with850companiesusingSAPandrevenuesatDM245million,workbeginsonanewdesigntochangetheparadigmofenterprisesoftware.
▪
In1988,SAPbecomesapubliclytradedcompanywithDowChemicalasitsonethousandthcustomer.(NotethatSAP'sgrowthandsuccessisobvioustothispoint,butthesoftwareisstillasecondarysystemwithincorporations.Itisnotthefocalpointofthecompanies’informationprocessing,beinglimitedbymainframetechnology.SAPdevelopersarestillstrugglingforsomethingbiggerandbetter.)
▪
In1992,withthereleaseofR/3--thatis,oftheSAPsystemredeployedwithclient/serverarchitecture--thespeedwithwhichbusinessprocessesareabletointegrateonacorporatebasisincreasesremarkably.WiththedatabaseoftheSAPsystemresidingononeserver,theapplicationsthatprocessthedataonanother,andtheuserinteractionatyetanotherseparateserver,dataandprocessesflowataspeedthathasthepotentialtogiveacompanyasignificantedgeoverthecompetition.Therestistrulyhistory.
In1999,SAP-AGemployedaworkforceofover13,000andhadofficesin50countriesworldwide.Bearinmindthatalmostallofthisworkforceisbuildingupthesoftware--nothelpingpeopleinstallandimplementit.Asyou'llseeinlaterchapters,SAPusesapartnershipstructureforthemajorityoftheactualSAPimplementationworkforce.Infact,ifyoulookatcompanyrevenues,youmightbesurprisedtolearnthatthebulkofrevenueisfromsoftwaresales,withamere21percentfromconsultingand10percentfromprojectteamtraining(seeFigure1-2).
Figure1-2 FromSAP’s1998AnnualReport,showingthecompanydistributionofrevenues
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