SAPOverview

WhatisSAP? SAP(Systems,Applications,ProductsinDataProcessing),isheadquarteredinWalldorf, Germany.Theyprovidebusinesssoftwaredesignedtohelpcompaniesexecuteandoptimize businessandITstrategies.SAPdefinesbusinesssoftwareascomprisingenterpriseresource planning(ERP)andrelatedapplicationssuchassupplychainmanagement(SCM),customer relationshipmanagement(CRM),productlifecyclemanagement,andsupplierrelationship management(SRM). 1 SAPcurrentlyhas:

Morethan51,000employeesinover50countriesdeveloping,marketing,andselling applicationsandservices 82,000customersofallsizesacross25industriesandinover120countries ListingsontheFrankfurtandNewYorkstockexchanges

SAPoperatesinthreegeographicregions:EMEA(representingEurope,MiddleEast,andAfrica), Americas,andAsiaPacificJapan(APJ,representingJapan,Australia,andpartsofAsia).2 HistoryofSAP In1972,SAPwasfoundedby5formerIBMemployeesinMannheim,Germanywiththevisionto todevelopstandardapplicationsoftwareforrealtimebusinessprocessing.Afterthefirst year,theycreatedthefirstfinancialaccountingsoftwareapplication,whichcametobeknown asthe"R/1system.""R"standsforrealtimedataprocessing.Bytheendofthe1970s,R/1 evolvedintoSAPR/2.TheprogramminglanguageABAP(AdvancedBusinessApplication Programming)wasalsoaderivativeofR/2,originallyservingasthereportlanguageforthe system. 3 Inthe1980s,SAPR/2wasupdatedtohandledifferentlanguagesandcurrenciessubsequently, thisleadtoSAPsinternationalexpansionintoAustria,Denmark,Sweden,Italy,andtheUnited States. Bythe1990s,SAPR/3wasintroducedtothemarket.ABAPwasanimportantfoundationofthe systemasitwasusedtodeveloptheR/3platform.Theclientserverconcept,uniform appearanceofgraphicalinterfaces,consistentuseofrelationaldatabases,andtheabilitytorun oncomputersfromdifferentvendorsbecomesincreasinglypopular. ABAPcontinuestoserveasadevelopmentfoundationforSAP,allowingcustomerstocreate customreportsandinterfacesfortheirownsystems.NetWeaver,introducedin2004bySAP,is theirmostrecentdevelopmentplatform.ItsupportsbothABAPandJava. 4
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SAP,http://www.linkedin.com/companies/sap(June2009) AboutSAP,http://sapsustainabilityreport.com/aboutSAP.html(June2009) 3 SAPFANS,http://www.sapfans.com/?page_id=3 4 SAP,https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/nw2004

Currently,SAPsclientbasereachesouttomorethan12millionuserseachday.SAPisnowalso theworld'sthirdlargestindependentsoftwarevendor. 5 LatestProducts SAPprovidesarangeofbusinesssoftwareandenterpriseapplicationstoempowereveryaspect ofthebusiness. SAPBusinessSuitesoftwareprovidesbestindustrypracticeswithindustryspecific applications,aswellasthecoreapplicationsoftheSAPBusinessSuite: SAPCustomerRelationshipManagement SAPERP(enterpriseresourceplanning) SAPProductLifecycleManagement SAPSupplyChainManagement SAPSupplierRelationshipManagement 6 InadditiontotheirBusinessSuitesoftware,theyprovideavarietyofsolutions,includingSAP BusinessObjectsabusinessintelligenceplatform,SAPManufacturing,andSAPServiceand AssetManagementsolution,whichsupportsservicemanagement,servicepartsmanagement, andenterpriseassetmanagement. FutureofSAP SAPisfocusingonthefollowinggrowthgoalsthrough2010:

Doublethesizeoftheaddressablemarketforbusinesssoftwareandservicesto$75 billion Increasecustomerbaseto100,000 Derive50percentofrevenuefromnewproductsby2010

Theyarecommittedtogrowingorganically,innovatingwithpartnersandacquiringcompanies thataddspecifictechnologiesandcapabilitiestoSAPssoftwaresolutionofferings. 7

5 6

HistoryofSAP,http://www.sapfans.com/sapfans/saphist.htm(June2009) SAPBusinessSuite,http://www.sap.com/solutions/businesssuite/index.epx(June2009) 7 AboutSAP,http://sapsustainabilityreport.com/aboutSAP.html(June2009)