SAP (an acronym for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is one of the widely used Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools for complete optimization of business operations at a global level. The system was founded in 1972 by the German IBM employees and has gradually grown up to become a world leader offering functionalities for diverse business areas such as marketing, sales, accounting, and even logistics.
Offering its products and services to over 400,000 customers in 180-plus countries, SAP products are used by a wide range of industries and business processes – from leading oil and gas production firms, sports teams to product-and service-based companies. SAP’s product offerings are huge and can be categorized as follows:
Major units
- SAP S/4HANA (Enterprise Resource Planning on-premises and cloud)
- SAP Business By Design (SME Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning)
- SAP Business One (B1 on HANA) (Small Enterprise Resource Planning)
- SAP CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
- SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
- SAP PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)
- SAP SCM (Supply Chain Management)
- SAP SRM (Supplier Relationship Management)
Business software
- SAP Advanced Data Migration (ADP)
- SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer
- SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)
- SAP Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP)
- SAP Apparel and Footwear Solution (AFS)
- SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW)
- SAP Business By Design (ByD)
- SAP Business Explorer (Bex)
- SAP BusinessObjects Lumira
- SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence (Webi)
- SAP Business One
- SAP Business Partner Screening
- SAP Business Intelligence (BI)
- SAP Business Workflow
- SAP Catalog Content Management
- SAP Cloud for Customer (C4C)
- SAP Cost Center Accounting (CCA)
- SAP Convergent Charging (CC)
- SAP Converged Cloud
- SAP Design Studio
- SAP PRD2(P2)
- SAP Enterprise Buyer Professional (EBP)
- SAP Enterprise Learning
- SAP Portal (EP)
- SAP Exchange Infrastructure (XI) (From release 7.0 onwards, SAP XI has been renamed as SAP Process Integration (SAP PI))
- SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)
- SAP FICO
- SAP BPC (Business Planning and Consolidation, formerly OutlookSoft)
- SAP GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance)
- SAP EHSM (Environment Health & Safety Management)
- Enterprise Central Component (ECC)
- SAP ERP
- SAP HANA
- SAP Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)
- SAP SuccessFactors
- SAP Litmos Training Cloud
- SAP Information Design Tool (IDT)
- SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP)
- SAP Internet Transaction Server (ITS)
- SAP Incentive and Commission Management (ICM)
- SAP IT Operations Analytics (ITOA)
- SAP Jam
- SAP Knowledge Warehouse (KW)
- SAP Manufacturing
- SAP Marketing Cloud
- SAP Materials Management (MM)
- SAP Master Data Management (MDM)
- SAP Plant Maintenance (PM)
- SAP Production Planning (PP)
- SAP Product Lifecycle Costing (PLC)
- SAP Profitability and Cost Management (PCM)
- SAP Project System (PS)
- SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS)
- SAP Service and Asset Management
- SAP Supply Network Collaboration (SNC)
- SAP Solutions for mobile business
- SAP Sales and Distribution (SD)
- SAP Solution Composer
- SAP Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM)
- SAP Test Data Migration Server (TDMS)
- SAP Training and Event Management (TEM)
- SAP NetWeaver Application Server (Web AS)
- SAP xApps
- SAP Sales Cloud
- SAP Supply Chain Performance Management (SCPM)
- SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM)
- SAP Sustainability Performance Management (SUPM)
- SAP S/4HANA
- SAP Master Data Governance (MDG)
- SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Industry software
- SAP for Retail
- SAP for Utilities (ISU)
- SAP for Public Sector (IS PSCD)
- SAP for Oil & Gas (IS Oil & Gas)
- SAP for Media (ISM)
- SAP for Telecommunications (IST)
- SAP for Healthcare (ISH)
- SAP Banking (SAP Banking)
- SAP for Insurance (SAP for Insurance)
- SAP Financial Services Network (FSN)
- SAP Shipping Services Network (SSN)
- Engineering Construction & Operations (EC&O)
- SAP IS Airlines & Defense
- SAP for Discrete Industries and Mill Products (IS DIMP)
Platforms and frameworks
- SAP Business Technology Platform
- SAP Enterprise Services Architecture
- SAP NetWeaver Platform
- SAP Business Connector
- SAP HANA
- SAP IQ
- SAP AppGyver
Legacy platforms
- SAP R/2
- SAP R/3
Benefits of Using SAP For Businesses
SAP can benefit businesses in several ways such as controlling finances and tax payments, monitoring costs, serving as a human resource management tool, planning tasks, controlling product quality, creating business reports, analyzing business performance, managing sales, and tracking the production of items, to name a few. Apart from these, the system is known to benefit in various other ways. Some of these are as mentioned below:
- Offers Innovative Technology
SAP is focused at keeping your business safe and equipped with the right tools for the future. Its future-proof cloud ERP solutions empowers the next generation of the business.
- Improves Cost
SAP ERP software uses real-time data that enables management to control operations and avoid any delays in their production. This, in turn, helps in reducing the overall management and operations cost.
- Improves Data Management
SAP ERP enables the data sharing within the organization without any manual efforts. It also allows its users to generate synchronized reports on essential data and company metrics. This, in turn, helps in improving the company’s overall functioning and decision-making.
- Avoids Duplicity
Since, data is recorded on a single platform, the chances of data duplication are minimized with SAP ERP. This, in turn, helps in improving the data quality and enables the creation of right pictures to be used.
- Improves Transparency
The SAP ERP system helps in attaining a higher level of transparency in business operations. This is enabled by screening every marginal task from an inventory product level, purchase, billing, or delivery.
- Bridges the Gap Between Supplier & Customer
The software helps in bridging the gap between suppliers and customers by integrating value chain members in the process. This, in turn, helps in improving the design and development of the new products being developed. The availability of up-to-date data related to product purchase, customer segmentation, and orders helps in carrying out the marketing campaigns targeting specific market segments.
- Enables Better Forecasting
SAP ERP provides real-time reports of data duplication, purchases made, changes in inventory and other business operations that are carried out on a regular basis. This enables real-time risk-assessment and in turn, allows managers to make better forecasts.
Apart from these, SAP also allows for better effortless scaling, enhanced data security, and many more. Implementing SAP correctly in your organization would allow you to make its best use and take your business to new heights. Take the step today!