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Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

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SSAPSAP (NYSE symbol: SAP) is a German acronym for Systeme,Anwendungen, und Produkete in der Datenverarbeitung (“Systems,Applications, <strong>and</strong> Products in Data Processing”). Fiveformer IBM engineers in Germany founded the company in1972.Although unfamiliar to the American public, unlike IBM<strong>and</strong> Micros<strong>of</strong>t, SAP is the world’s largest business s<strong>of</strong>twarecompany, <strong>and</strong> fourth-largest s<strong>of</strong>tware provider in general(behind Micros<strong>of</strong>t, IBM, <strong>and</strong> Oracle). The company operatesworldwide through three geographical divisions.Applications <strong>and</strong> ProductsSAP specializes in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),enhancing a corporation’s ability to manage its key assets<strong>and</strong> needs <strong>and</strong> to plan for the future. This s<strong>of</strong>tware consists<strong>of</strong> three tiers: the database, an application server, <strong>and</strong> theclient. Early versions <strong>of</strong> this s<strong>of</strong>tware were designed to runon mainframes. Other major products include:• SAP NetWeaver, which integrates all other SAP modulesusing modern open-st<strong>and</strong>ard Web technologies(see service-oriented architecture)• Customer Relationship Manager (see crm)• Supply Chain Management (see supply chain management)• Supplier Relationship Management• Human Resource Management System• Product Lifestyle Management• Exchange Infrastructure• Enterprise Portal• SAP Knowledge WarehouseChallengesSAP has recognized for some time that while its base <strong>of</strong>large Fortune 500 companies has given it steady income,changing trends in business have been limiting the s<strong>of</strong>twaregiant’s growth. In particular, the trend has beentoward smaller, simpler, more scalable applications thatcan be integrated with modern Web services. In September2007 SAP announced SAP Business ByDesign, a flexible set<strong>of</strong> enterprise management services that are delivered overthe Web. However, it remains to be seen how well SAP willbe able to compete with more agile companies such as Net-Suite <strong>and</strong> Salesforce.com, <strong>and</strong> whether the company will beable to upgrade its existing large company user base withoutdisaffecting it.SAP’s major competitor in the United States is Oracle(see Oracle), which has sued SAP in 2007 for unfairlydownloading <strong>and</strong> using patches <strong>and</strong> support materials fromOracle <strong>and</strong> using them to support former Oracle customers.SAP <strong>and</strong> Oracle have generally had quite different growthstrategies: SAP grows by exp<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> extending its ownproducts, while Oracle has grown mainly through acquiringother companies. However, in October 2007 SAP acquiredBusiness Objects, a leader in “business intelligence” systems,for $6.8 billion. This may signal SAP’s willingness toengage in further strategic acquisitions.415

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