SAP solutions are pivotal in guiding organizations through digital transformation to enhance revenue growth, boost customer loyalty and perfect operational efficiency. The solutions integrate diverse business processes into a single system, helping companies increase productivity and efficiency.

Based out of Walldorf, Germany, SAP caters its services to a broad spectrum of industries, from oil and gas production entities to sports franchises and firms centered on products or services. The company’s portfolio includes specialized offerings tailored to specific business needs, which enable enterprises to leverage cutting-edge technology to maintain competitive market standings. For instance, the SAP Customer Data Cloud focuses on managing consumer identities effectively, while the SAP Business Technology Platform facilitates seamless application development alongside integration tasks.

SAP’s product suite includes revolutionary ERP solutions like SAP ERP, along with newer iterations such as S/4HANA. Both solutions connect core business processes and provide real-time insights, helping businesses quickly adapt to changing economic conditions. With advanced tools like SAP HANA’s fast data processing and SAP Fiori’s intuitive interfaces, these innovations demonstrate how powerful SAP can be in transforming business operations.

In 1972, five ex-IBM employees embarked on a venture to innovate real-time business processes through software solutions. SAP’s original emphasis was financial accounting, but its services quickly expanded into other enterprise operations domains. The company launched its inaugural product, the single-tier architecture-based SAP R/1, in 1973. It was succeeded by the multi-language and real-time processing capabilities of SAP R/2 during the late 1970s. By the decade’s end, prominent German corporations — 50% of the country’s top 100 — had adopted SAP’s offerings.

SAP reached a critical juncture with the release of SAP R/3 in 1992. It delivered a three-layered structural design that included separate presentation, application and database levels leading to enhanced adaptability and scalability, which supported international growth for businesses. In 1998, the organization rebranded as SAP SE and introduced novel technologies such as the innovative data management system SAP HANA in 2010 and user-centric interface solution SAP Fiori in 2013.

Nearly two decades after becoming a global leader in ERP, SAP launched S4/HANA. This solution leveraged advanced computing power to seamlessly combine operational and analytic processes. As a result, organizations were able to streamline workflows and stay ahead of trends through increased efficiency and data-informed decision-making.

Core Business Processes Supported by SAP

SAP facilitates the optimization of core business processes so organizations can improve workflow and increase effectiveness. Central to SAP ERP are modules dedicated to financial management, allowing companies to handle their monetary matters efficiently.

The Finance Module encompasses several sub-modules, such as:

• Financial Accounting
• Controlling
• Investment Management
• Asset Management
• Treasury Management

These subsystems offer a robust set of capabilities for managing and analyzing financial data and transactions.

The area of human capital management is also significantly enhanced by SAP’s offerings. From hiring new staff through retirement, Recruit-to-Retire processes ensure effective workforce administration while driving greater levels of employee satisfaction throughout their tenure.

When it comes to supply chain management, SAP delivers tools aimed at:

• Predicting inventory requirements
• Producing goods
• Executing order delivery
• Collaborating efficiently with suppliers and partners

These integrated functionalities allow businesses to refine their supply chain operations while meeting customer expectations. Customer relationship management (CRM) represents another focal point within SAP’s portfolio. These solutions are tailored for overseeing customer relations across multiple platforms, including marketing outreach programs, sales operations, service inquiries and e-commerce activities. This collection of workstreams simplifies the entire cycle of customer engagement.

Furthermore, SAP facilitates the systematic management of the sourcing and procurement processes within the Source-to-Pay sequence, which includes activities such as handling strategic requisitions and operational purchases. As a result, organizations are able to maintain operational fluidity and quickly adapt to changing environments.

SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA are SAP’s premier ERP solutions. They are designed to consolidate core business processes and deliver insights in real time. These systems enable companies to respond swiftly to evolving market dynamics and employ intelligent technologies within vital operations.

Let’s take a closer look at these distinct ERP offerings and their respective attributes and advantages.

SAP ERP

SAP ERP is an integrated business suite from SAP that combines key functions such as finance, manufacturing, human resources, supply chain services and procurement systems. It uses advanced intelligent technologies to help businesses rapidly adapt to changes while providing scalability and flexibility. As a legacy system, SAP ERP remains relevant by offering consistent updates and the convenience of accessibility on any device.

However, there are plans to gradually discontinue SAP ERP’s services. Support will remain available until 2027, with periodic updates and extended maintenance until 2030. For SAP ECC, which is part of this system, standard support ends 2027, with optional extensions until 2030.

As companies adopt newer technologies, older systems such as SAP ERP are being phased out. SAP HANA is quickly becoming the preferred choice as it provides cost-effective, innovative solutions to drive growth strategies for businesses.

SAP S/4HANA

Introduced in 2015, SAP S/4Hana’s modern ERP suite integrates multiple business functions in a single platform. A core feature of the suite is its in-memory computing, which delivers real-time access to data and analytics. It leverages AI for predictive analytics and smart automation to streamline operations and reduce manual, tedious work. Its tools include finance, asset management, supply chain, manufacturing and research and development (R&D) to support a variety of corporate needs. The all-in-one solution is designed to increase organizational efficiency and productivity.

The SAP Business Technology Platform supports industry-specific solutions tailored to the needs of various industries such as automotive, retail and the public sector. Through these customized applications, companies can take full advantage of SAP’s capabilities, aligning them with their unique business needs. In industrial manufacturing, for example, these solutions drive product design collaboration, ensure regulatory compliance and extend product life cycles.

Companies that use SAP’s cloud ERP solutions can benefit from:

• Adoption of established best practices within industrial manufacturing
• Greater organizational agility
• Scaling capabilities according to business growth
• Improved workforce productivity
• Sustainable fulfillment of consumer demand

These tools help businesses refine their processes by reducing manual errors and strengthening resilience

The SAP Cloud Platform supports various service models such as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS with secure, scalable and adaptable cloud-based ERP systems. By adopting SAP’s cloud solutions, businesses can significantly reduce costs by shifting from capital expenses to operating expenses. With over forty years of ERP system expertise, SAP keeps its cloud ERPs cutting-edge with automatic updates to ensure organizations stay competitive.

Leveraging real-time data processing through SAP HANA, SAP also enables easy application development, contract management and integration via the SAP Business Technology Platform. Solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors for HR management address multiple business needs. SAPCloud Integration boosts efficiency and informs smarter business operations by improving data and process linkages.

Advanced Technologies in SAP

SAP uses cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to revolutionize business processes and enhance decision-making. For example, SAP S/4HANACloud uses AI for intelligent automation in conjunction with real-time analytics capabilities. SAP Data Intelligence uses AI and machine learning to analyze information from various sources. These tools allow companies to glean valuable insights from their data.

Through its Intelligent Enterprise program, SAP uses IoT by merging sensor technology with AI for real-time tracking and predictive maintenance via its platform SAP Leonardo. It streamlines repetitive tasks through RPA. Additionally, Conversational AI allows businesses to create chatbots that automate customer service and sales interactions. By leveraging these advanced technologies, businesses can increase productivity and maintain their edge in an increasingly digital marketplace.

SAP Customer Experience Suite

The SAP Customer Experience (CX) Suite enhances customer engagement by combining functions of marketing, sales, service and commerce. It goes beyond traditional CRM approaches focused only on sales. This suite provides a more inclusive approach to building better customer relationships.

The suite includes five key modules:

1. SAP Marketing Cloud
2. SAP Commerce Cloud
3. SAP Sales Cloud
4. SAP Service Cloud
5. SAP Customer Data Cloud

Each module plays a vital role in creating exceptional customer experiences. SAP Marketing Cloud helps companies understand their customers through segmentation, profiling and targeted campaigns while automating marketing efforts. SAP Commerce enables companies to create sophisticated online stores with comprehensive product catalogs and handles pricing strategies, promotions and self-service options for consumers.

SAP Sales Cloud supports sales teams by streamlining the entire sales process, from identifying leads to tracking outcomes. By integrating these tools, enterprises can deliver personalized and consistent experiences across multiple touchpoints, improving efficiency and ensuring cohesive interactions.

Data Management and Analytics

SAP’s data management and analytics portfolio helps organizations make data-informed decisions. At its core is the SAP Business Warehouse (BW), which provides robust warehousing functionality and reporting capabilities through features such as:

• Data extraction, transformation and loading (ETL)
• Data staging
• Managing metadata
• Architectural modeling
• Tools for queries and reports

Through these features, companies can combine disparate datasets into a single system, making it easier to uncover valuable insights. SAP HANA enhances these capabilities by processing large volumes of data quickly. It also supports both analytic tasks and transactional workloads. By incorporating AI into SAP Analytics Cloud, businesses can perform predictive analysis and access powerful business intelligence (BI) tools, leading to smarter decision-making and enhanced collaboration.

SAP Integration Suite

The SAP Integration Suite offers a robust collection of services and tools for:

• Seamless data integration
• Application connectivity>
• Process unification
• Efficient API management

This suite helps organizations merge different applications, systems and databases to create an integrated IT landscape. With robust API management, businesses can create, oversee and manage APIs securely, fueling innovation and expansion.

It also connects with external non-SAP systems using various methods, such as:

• Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs)
• Electronic Data Interchanges (EDIs)
• Intermediate Documents (IDocs)
• Application Link Enabling (ALE)

These features ensure smooth integration and effective communication between systems, helping companies stay agile.

Understanding SAP Modules

Each SAP ERP module is tailored for specific business operations. Functional modules offer user interfaces for essential activities such as processing orders, managing customer relationships and overseeing human resources. For example, the Human Resources Management (HR) module handles processes related to employees, including hiring and payroll management. SAP SuccessFactors employs AI to automate various HR processes and tasks, such as recruiting talent and assessing performance. Depending on their requirements, customers can opt for cloud-based HR services with SAP SuccessFactors or an on-premise solution with SAP ERP HCM.

Technical modules focus on maintaining a stable back-end environment, ensuring the entire system runs smoothly. Some key features of technical modules comprise:

• Financial Accounting (FI): Manages financial transactions
• Controlling (CO): Oversees business operation planning and analysis
• Sales & Distribution (SD): Controls sales activities along with invoicing
• Production Planning (PP): Directs manufacturing scheduling

Specialized modular solutions like Quality Management (QM) Warehouse Management System (WM) help uphold standards and streamline operations. With a wide range of functional and technical modules, SAP allows organizations to customize their software to fit their industry-specific needs.
 

By automating and integrating key processes, reducing errors and improving collaboration between business and IT teams, SAP optimizes business operations. For instance, SAP Business Process Management (BPM) allows for quick process updates as business needs change and organizations need to adapt swiftly to new market dynamics. By reducing manual data entry, SAP decreases errors and enhances operational efficiency.

Real-time data access through SAP helps businesses respond swiftly to market changes and customer needs. Built-in reporting and analytics tools enable businesses to monitor performance and make data-driven decisions with real-time insights, enhancing overall productivity. Additionally, the SAP Fiori user interface enhances the user experience with a clear and adaptable interface.

Successful examples include a supermarket chain that leveraged SAP to support its expansion and a U.S. truck manufacturer manufacturing company that improved production order tracking and simplified finance reports.

Recognized and supported by SAP, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) for SAP Applications is the premier Linux platform tailored for running SAP solutions. With over two decades of joint software development with SAP,SUSE provides a reliable open source environment that improves business efficiency through performance tuning and the automated recovery of SAP services.

Implementing SAP solutions on SUSE’s robust platform can help minimize service interruptions due to the automatic detection of system issues and quick recovery processes. This significantly mitigates downtime associated with essential SAP systems.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server includes extensive security measures to protect sensitive data within SAP systems from potential breaches while ensuring continued access to secure analytics. It simplifies administrative tasks by lowering the burden on IT teams with easy-to-follow configuration guides. Businesses using mixed-environment infrastructure benefit from efficient management options with SUSE, allowing them to stay productive and secure during updates or patches.

Why Choose SUSE 

With over 20 years of collaboration with SAP, SUSE is the leading trusted open source provider of SAP solutions. This strong partnership has allowed SUSE to create a platform specifically designed to meet the needs of SAP software, minimizing service disruptions and simplifying IT administration with advanced automation and easy-to-use configuration tools.

Some key features include:

• Proactive error detection: Quickly identifies issues and uses automated failover protocols to ensure smooth recovery, keeping operations running smoothly. 
• Enhanced security: Strengthens SAP systems to protect against unauthorized access. 
• Faster roll-out: Streamlines the deployment and transfer of new SAP services. 

These features help businesses improve efficiency and strengthen security in managing their SAP systems. By providing centralized control over updates from a single point of contact, SUSE enables companies to maximize their investment in SAP services.

What is SAP?

SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing. It is a leading provider of ERP software that helps organizations advance digital transformation, drive revenue growth and improve operational efficiency.

What are the main ERP solutions offered by SAP?

SAP offers two primary ERP solutions: the traditional SAP ERP and the modern SAP S/4HANA, which features intelligent automation and real-time analytics capabilities.

How does SAP support core business processes?

Through its comprehensive suite of modules and tools, SAP enhances key business processes, including finance, human capital management, customer relationship management, procurement, supplier management and supply chain management.

What are the benefits of using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications?

Using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications can improve business productivity, simplify IT management and reduce the risk of service outages.

Why should businesses choose SUSE for their SAP solutions?

Businesses should choose SUSE as their open source platform for SAP solutions because of its reliability. SUSE offers benefits like enhanced security, streamlined deployment and easy managing, ensuring efficient operations companies can depend on.