SAP Administration

Dr. Steve B Wu
Northwestern Polytechnic University

IT 589 Special Topic

SAP Administration
Course

Focus

Theory and Exercise using SAP Products

References

Text books

SAP R/3 System Administration: The Official SAP Guide by Sigrid Hagemann,
Liane Will.
Discover SAP by Nancy Muir and Ian Kimbell
SAP in 24 hours by George W. Anderson and Danielle Larocca

Introduction to SAP material via SAP University Alliance Program and

SAP lab

Criteria

and Expectation

Home works, Research, Exam, and Labs

Self research and study

IT 589 SAP Administration

SAP

Introduction

ERP Application Software, Overview, SAP Basic

SAP

ERP Production Introduction

Architecture, Basics, Foundation, and Components

Design, Deployment, Usage, Maintenance, and Administration

SAP

Installation product installation

SAP ERP Product Installation

Labs Exercises

IT 589 SAP Course Requirements

Research

Students must take own research on assigned topics

Study

and Reading

Students must study the subject before the class

Students must read textbook and outlines before the class

SAP

Labs and Homework

Students must do their own SAP labs

Students must allocate enough time (5 hrs per week) for study

IT 589 SAP Course Grading

Minimum

complete all SAP labs

Students must complete all SAP labs to get passing grade (B-)

Classroom

Interactive Discussion

Students must study the subject before the class

Students must take notes and ask questions during the class

Students must re-study the subjects covered in the class

Mid-term

and Final Exams

Students must do well in exams to earn better grades

Students must have minimum scores to pass the grade (B-)

IT 589 Class Research Topic Assignment

ERP Domain, Software, System

What is ERP

What is an ERP Application Software

What is an ERP computer System

SAP

ERP Software

What is SAP ERP Software

What is special (in market share, values, and usage) of SAP ERP
Software

What is Enterprise Resource Planning

ERP

has the following three contexts

Business Problem - the issues related to how to

Operate an enterprise
Manage enterprise resource especially in
planning
Technology Solutions bring technology to business

Computer software solutions for business ERP problems

Software solutions how it works and how it helps

Computer Systems refers to

Set of computer hardware equipments to run software for

business operation

Business Activities for ERP Focus

Vendors
Buy

Enterprise
Make Business
Operation
Sell

Customers

Cost

Gross Margin

Expense Operating Margin

Revenue

Net Margin

What is an ERP System

What

is an ERP system

A system to run software for business ERP tasks

Typically running enterprise business software
applications over the top of enterprise computer
systems
Leverage computer power to manage enterprise
resources and planning activities

Key Components
Software - Business Applications business users see
and use
Hardware - System Infrastructure with computers and
networks to run software

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A Typical ERP System

Incredibly large, extensive software packages used

to manage a firms business processes.

Standard software packages that must be

configured to meet the needs of a company

Database programs with the following functions:

Input
Storage/Retrieval
28,610+ Tables in SAP
Manipulation
Output

ERP Systems Vendors

SAP, the German juggernaut

Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung, or

Systems, Analysis and Products in Data Processing.

Systems, Applications, and Products

Oracle/PeopleSoft/J. D. Edwards

Microsoft Great Plains, aimed at smaller companies

SAP Business One is a competing product

IBM

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ERP Architecture

Central relational database (e.g., Oracle and many

others)

Client/Serverthree-tiered

ERP Components Oriented towards

Common identifiable business modules; such as

Human Resource Management (HR)
Finance Management (FI)
Material Management (MM)

And extra add-ons components: such as

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Supply Chain Management (SCM)
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

Relational Database
Tables:

Defines and links thousands of tables

of information

Advantages

Consistent and accurate data

Common definitions for terms

Shared, but restricted usage (e.g., profiles)

Eliminates data redundancy

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Client/Server Environment
Client

Software/hardware combination that can make a

request for services from a central repository of
resources

Server

Software/hardware combination that can provide

services to a group of clients in a controlled
environment

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Configuration/Customization
The

process of tailoring ERP software by

selecting specific functionality from a list of
those supported by the software, very much like
setting defaults (e.g., Word, Access)

DOES

NOT involve changes to the underlying

software code

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Programming Code Modifications

Changes

to the delivered code

Support

Advanced Business Application

Programming (such as ABAP in SAP)

This

should be done sparingly and carefully as

it can make migration to new versions of the
software much more difficult

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SAP Tracking Principle

Each

business transaction that writes data to

the database creates a uniquely numbered
electronic document

Each

document contains information such as

Responsible person

Date and time of the transaction

Commercial content

Once

created, a document can not be deleted

from the database

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IT 589 Class Research Topic Assignment

Client-Server

Architecture

What is client-server architecture

What are typical functions distributed in client and in servers

What are major software components in client/server software

What are major hardware components to support C/S software

Web

Service Architecture

What are difference in 2-tier, 3- tier, 4-tier, and web centric software
architectures

What are the difference in typical graphic user interface (GUI) and
Web user interfaces (WUI) from user and administrator perspectives

What are pros and cons of GUI vs WUI

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