[FinnPros] - Finance Professionals Network

Friday, July 26, 2013

SAP Offers Fast Track to Innovation Via a Flexible Path to the Cloud

WALLDORF, Germany - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) is taking the next step to make the recently announced unified cloud portfolio vision a reality for customers, putting them in the driver’s seat for their cloud journey. SAP now offers customers and partners a simple, flexible model for extending current on-premise solutions to cloud applications, including offerings from SAP companies Ariba and SuccessFactors.

Based on their existing investments in SAP® software, customers can decide to reallocate elements of their installed on-premise solutions to the respective cloud solutions from SAP, replacing the affected on-premise license and maintenance with a cloud subscription. The transaction assumes an expanded investment with cloud solutions from SAP, given the substantial added value from this new hybrid scenario.

Consume Cloud Innovations at Own Pace
SAP removes barriers and enables customers to drive speed-to-value and unlock opportunities to lower total cost of ownership, taking care that existing investments are protected and exploring new options with innovative cloud solutions from SAP at their own pace. The hybrid solution can be fully integrated offering seamless delivery and support as well as full control over the application landscape, including on-premise and cloud applications. With this integrated approach, customers gain the flexibility, choice and efficiencies needed to innovate for growth across their entire business in the cloud.

Unlock Business Value With Flexibility and Ease
SAP® Rapid Deployment solutions for the SAP® Cloud portfolio support the new cloud extension opportunity. Hybrid deployment scenarios can be quickly implemented based on packaged content and implementation services in the areas of human resources, procurement, and business collaboration, among others. The cloud extension model helps companies of any size create entirely new experiences for their customers, empower employees at scale, optimize the use of resources and unlock value for their business.

Proven support offerings from SAP, including SAP® MaxAttention™ and SAP® ActiveEmbeddedservices, are available to support customers in transitioning without disruption, allowing them to build and run SAP solutions like a factory.

“Enterprises can face significant hurdles deploying and integrating cloud solutions into very complex IT ecosystems, so they are looking for pricing and adoption models that offer the flexibility to drive an extension to the cloud at their own pace," said Elaina Stergiades, research manager, IDC. “Adoption models like this from SAP can help customers streamline their investments in on-premise and cloud solutions, making it easier and more cost-effective to take advantage of these new technologies."

SAP believes that every customer has a different approach to adopt the cloud innovations based on unique business requirements. The new cloud extension model is an optional model that flexibly supports many different entry points for a cloud strategy.

“SAP is delighted to offer this tremendous opportunity to customers, allowing them to redirect existing investments to new innovation areas in the cloud,” said Robert Enslin, president of Global Customer Operations and member of the SAP Global Managing Board of SAP AG. “The unified SAP Cloud portfolio significantly expands our customers’ ability to grow their businesses by offering real-time, secure access to the cloud — all while lowering the cost of entry and through a great user interface. With this new cloud extension option, SAP helps each customer create a unique experience specific to their business requirements.”

This offer is not expected to have any material impact on the company’s full year 2013 outlook for revenue or operating income.

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 197,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of SuccessFactors) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

©2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries. Please seehttp://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark for additional trademark information and notices.

Note to Editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visitwww.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV.

Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

SAP Offers Fast Track to Innovation Via a Flexible Path to the Cloud

Thursday, February 23, 2012

IMPLEMENTERS AND RE-IMPLEMENTERS

IMPLEMENTERS AND RE-IMPLEMENTERS

This post deals with how to implement ERP at a Class A level. Further, it applies to both first-time implementers and to re-implementers, companies whose first implementation resulted in Class C or D results and who now want to get the full bang for their buck. For those of you who’ll be re-implementing, be of good cheer:

Many companies now getting Class A results got there via re-implementation. The steps involved in a re-implementation are vir-tually identical to a first-time implementation; the main difference is that some of the necessary steps may have already been accom-plished satisfactorily.

Many companies today need to re-implement. Some of these are companies who, as we saw earlier, thought they were implement-ing ERP, but actually were only installing enterprise software. Their motivations were largely software-driven: Y2K compliance, legacy systems becoming unworkable, multiple hardware platforms sup-porting too many operational systems, etc. The problem is that, in many cases, the new software was installed but not much else changed.

Many companies’ ERP implementations in the past started out with the best intentions in the world. Company S, for example, wanted to re-engineer and improve processes, to improve the way they managed the business, and to give far better customer service to an increasingly demanding customer base. During the implementa-tion, however, they were overwhelmed by the software. Enterprise software tends to be highly complex, and complexity can make it very difficult to install. As the implementation project took longer

and longer, and cost more and more, top management became more and more impatient. The result: a decision to forget about imple-menting better business processes and just get the software running.

Thus, Company S has new software but is still running the busi-ness in much the same old way, and thus they need to re-implement. If you’re in this category, this book is intended for you every bit as much as for the company implementing for the first time.

THE APPLICABILITY OF ERP

THE APPLICABILITY OF ERP

ERP and its predecessor, MRP II, have been successfully imple-mented in companies with the following characteristics:

• Make-to-stock

• Make-to-order

• Design-to-order

• Complex product

• Simple product

• Multiple plants

• Single plant

• Contract manufacturers

• Manufacturers with distribution networks

• Sell direct to end users

• Sell through distributors

• Businesses heavily regulated by the government

• Conventional manufacturing (fabrication and assembly)

• Process manufacturing

• Repetitive manufacturing

• Job shop

• Flow shop

• Fabrication only (no assembly)

• Assembly only (no fabrication)

• High-speed manufacturing

• Low-speed manufacturing

Within the universe of companies that make things—manufac-turing enterprises—ERP has virtually universal application. This book deals with how to implement ERP in any of the above envi-ronments. Some people struggle with this applicability issue; they sometimes say: “We’re different, we’re unique, it won’t work for us.”

We’ve heard that a lot over the years. What we have never heard is:

“We’re different, we’re unique, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) won’t work for us.” Well, ERP is the logistics analogof GAAP. It’s a defined body of knowledge that contains the standard best practices for managing that part of the business. The main difference between the two is that ERP and its predecessors have been with us for about four decades; double-entry bookkeep-ing and its offshoots have been around for four centuries.

MANUFACTURING RESOURCE PLANNING - MRP

MANUFACTURING RESOURCE PLANNING

A method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufac-turing company. Ideally, it addresses perational planning in units, financial planning in dollars, and has a simulation capabil-ity to answer “what-if” questions. It is made up of a variety of functions, each linked together: business planning, sales and op-erations planning, production planning, master scheduling, mate-rial requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, and the execution support systems for capacity and material. Output from these systems is integrated with financial reports such as the business plan, purchase commitment report, shipping budget, and inventory projections in dollars. Manufacturing resource plan-ning is a direct outgrowth and extension of closed-loop MRP.

The next step in this evolution is called Manufacturing Resource Planning or MRP II (to distinguish it from Material Requirements Planning, MRP). A direct outgrowth and extension of closed-loop MRP, it involves three additional elements:

1. Sales & Operations Planning—a powerful process to balance demand and supply at the volume level, thereby providing top management with far greater control over operational aspects of the business.

2. Financial interface—the ability to translate the operating plan (in pieces, pounds, gallons, or other units) into financial terms (dollars).

3. Simulation—the ability to ask “what-if” questions and to ob-tain actionable answers—in both units and dollars.

This was done only on an aggregate, “rough-cut” basis, but to-day’s advanced planning systems (APS) enable effective simu-lation at very detailed levels.

Now it’s time to define Manufacturing Resource Planning. This definition, and the one to follow, come from APICS—The Educa-tional Society for Resource Management. APICS is the leading pro-fessional society in this field, and its dictionary has set the standard for terminology over the years.

SAP Books 1

SAP Books for Kindle

Kindle is a great reading device from Amazon.com. I see it as an interface to the largest library on the Planet Earth. Within seconds you have access to almost 1 milion books.

If you don't have one yet, you should get one now. I recommend theKindle Wi-Fi - it's only 139 USD.

As a SAP Consultant, I checked if there are any SAP books available for Kindle. I found a lot of interesting books which cost a lot less than the paper edition.

Here is a list of the SAP Books available for Kindle:

Sams Teach Yourself SAP in 24 Hours
Book Description: Sams Teach Yourself SAP in 24 Hours, Second Edition is the perfect tool for learning one of the most sophisticated enterprise solutions available today. Designed to being with the basics, you will become acquainted with the entire SAP system, from navigation to creating your own reports. You'll also cover:

Implementation tools and methodologies
NetWeaver
ECC 5.0
Designing Screens and menus
Reporting
Integration with Microsoft Office
And more

SAP Implementation Unleashed: A Business and Technical Roadmap to Deploying SAP
Book Description: SAP can help you capture better information and deliver it more quickly, allowing you to make better decisions and maximize the business value of everything you do. However, SAP implementations require massive effort, total buy-in, and significant change throughout the organization. In SAP Implementation Unleashed, 10 expert SAP project managers, functional consultants, and technologists guide you through the entire journey, helping you avoid pain and pitfalls and gain all the benefits of SAP.

SAP R/3 for Everyone: Step-by-Step Instructions, Practical Advice, and Other Tips and Tricks for Working with SAP
Book Description: SAP R/3 for Everyone is the nontechnical user's guide to working with SAP R/3, the leading business enterprise software product in the world. Written and road-tested by experienced SAP R/3 users and trainers, this book saves typical SAP R/3 users time and trouble by providing them with the universal skills needed to work with any module of this complex software.
SAP R/3 can be used effectively by anyone who can perform a handful of simple procedures that are employed in nearly every SAP R/3 transaction. The authors explain these procedures in plain English, using illustrations and real-world examples.

SAP® ERP Financials and FICO Handbook
Book Description: This up-to-date quick reference guides the reader through the most popular SAP module. It includes material on SAP ERP Financials, SAP FICO, and SAP R/3. Unlike most books that only provide questions and answers for certification or interview preparation, this book covers fifty common business situations related to ERP Financials/FICO and provides practical solutions for them. In addition, the book begins with over 200 FAQs and certification questions for those who need a quick review of the material. A CD-ROM with FICO templates, short cuts, and color figures from the book is included with the text.

SAP® Business Information Warehouse Reporting
Book Description: Your Hands-On Guide to SAP Business Information Warehouse. Give your company the competitive edge by delivering up-to-date, pertinent business reports to users inside and outside your enterprise. SAP Business Information Warehouse Reporting shows you how to construct Enterprise Data Warehouses, create workbooks and queries, analyze and format results, and supply meaningful reports. Learn how to use the BEx and Web Analyzers, Web Application Designer, Visual Composer, and Information Broadcaster. You will also find out how to forecast future business trends, build enterprise portals and websites, and tune performance. Group data into InfoCubes and DataStore Objects and generate reports using queries and workbooks. Work with the BEx Analyzer, Web Analyzer, and Query Designer. Build queries and reports using the Business Administration Workbench. Add attachments and drill-through using Document Integration and RRI. Format and distribute results using Report Designer and Information Broadcaster. Extend functionality with Enterprise Portal, Data Modeling, and Visual Composer. Deploy charts, maps, diagrams, and unit of measure conversions. Predict trends and possible outcomes using SBC and Integrated Planning. Generate HTML pages using Enterprise Reporting and Web Application Designer. Create BI-based corporate Web and intranet sites using SAP Enterprise Portal.

SAP Project System Handbook (Essential Skills (McGraw Hill))
Book Description: Centralize and Control Enterprise Project Management Plan, execute, and track projects across the entire lifecycle using SAP Project System (PS) and the in-depth information contained in this comprehensive volume. SAP Project System Handbook explains how to configure PS for optimal performance, design structures and networks, create project blueprints, generate cost estimates and materials demands, and use the latest SAP tools. You will find full details on scheduling work, automating and tracking billing and POs, triggering events, and integrating with most other SAP modules. An invaluable reference to PS transaction codes is also included. * Configure and customize SAP Project System * Build PS objects, networks, and Work Breakdown Structures * Use customer and service projects to track sales and billing * Understand Assembly Processing concepts * Create integrated cost, settlement, and resource plans * Develop financial, workforce, and materials management blueprints * Perform resource-related billing using Dynamic Item Processor Profiles * Simulate and automatically generate sales documents, POs, and quotations * Manage corporate investments with IM structures and AUCs * Construct timesaving Project, Network, and Milestone Templates * Extend functionality with the Project Builder, Planning Board, and ProMan

Configuring SAP ERP Sales and Distribution
Book Description: The first and only book to offer detailed explanations of SAP ERP sales and distribution. As the only book to provide in-depth configuration of the Sales and Distribution (SD) module in the latest version of SAP ERP, this valuable resource presents you with step-by-step instruction, conceptual explanations, and plenty of examples. If you're an SD consultant or are in charge of managing an SAP implementation in your enterprise, you'll want this valuable resource at your side.

SAP is one of the leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software products on the market, with over 40,000 implementations
Covers the latest version of SAP ERP-ECC 6.0
Covers common through advanced configurations, so it's helpful no matter what your level of experience with SAP
Explains the conceptual framework behind the configuration process

If your company uses the SD module, keep this indispensable guide on hand

SAP MM - A Complete Reference to SAP MM (Material Management)
Book Decription: This book is for those who are in SAP MM or interested to learn SAP MM. This book is wrote keeping in mind the problems faced by newcomers or end users. It includes screen shot of SAP and Describes each and every aspect like customization paths, implementation etc...

SAP: An Executive's Comprehensive Guide
Book Description: Crucial Help for Getting the Most from Today’s Information Systems Technology Deciding what type of information systems your company will need to stay competitive into the twenty-first century is a highly complex and risky exercise. SAP: An Executive’s Comprehensive Guide provides the information you need to assess your options realistically and make the most informed decisions possible. Written by a team of business, financial, and information systems professionals who have extensive experience with SAP system implementations at Fortune 500 companies, this book:

Explores the strategic role of client/server enterprise computing now and in the next century
Helps you to evaluate your company’s long-term IS requirements
Offers an impartial look at SAP R/3 strengths and weaknesses
Outlines the costs and benefits involved in implementing SAP R/3
Helps you decide whether SAP R/3 is right for your organization
Shows you how to make SAP R/3 an integral part of process redesign
Covers all key technical SAP aspects of concern to IS professionals

SAP Enterprise Structure Concept and Configuration Guide - A Case Study
Book Description: SAP enterprise structure is organizational structure that represents an enterprise in SAP R/3 system. It consists of some organizational units which, for legal reasons or for other specific business-related reasons or purposes, are grouped together. I wrote this e-book to explain in details about the SAP Enterprise Structure (MM and related modules such as FI, Logistics, and SD) Concept and Configuration Guide. Just like other articles on my SAP Study Materials blog, I wrote the e-book in a simple-to-understand way, so you can learn it easily. You don't need to have extensive SAP knowledge and experience to be able to configure the SAP Enterprise Structure, as the e-book start explaining each step with the basic concept behind it. After understanding the concept, the e-book will show the step-by-step configuration with the screen shots.

SAP NetWeaver Portal Technology: The Complete Reference
Book Description: Your Hands-on Guide to SAP NetWeaver Portal Technology Master SAP NetWeaver Portal with the most comprehensive, step-by-step reference available on the entire portal implementation life cycle. Written by SAP architect Rabi Jay, this book provides everything you need to plan, design, install, configure, and administer SAP NetWeaver Portal, including SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java. SAP NetWeaver Portal Technology: The Complete Reference is filled with detailed descriptions, numerous illustrations, and hundreds of expert tips. Design and deploy portals with high availability, scalability, and performance. Implement single sign-on to backend systems and integrate SAP and non-SAP applications. Configure reliable J2EE engine and portal security, and devise a flawless portal backup and restore strategy. Improve performance using portal workload, GC, thread dump, and HTTP analysis. Plan futuristically using PAM, release planning, and maintenance strategy Design global portals using federated portal networks and external-facing portals Implement self-registration and delegated user and content administration Enable authorization using security zones, UME actions, and ACL permissions Manage users centrally using LDAP, UME, and Identity Management Implement user-, type-, and attribute-based authentication Brand your portal using portal desktop rules, themes, and framework pages Configure portal transports, and deploy patches and business packages using JSPM Monitor your portal using CCMS and GRMG Availability Monitoring Manage your portal centrally using NWA and maintain systems using SLD.