Systems Applications and Products (in the world of data processing), otherwise known as SAP, is a widely used type of software developed by a German corporation. SAP has become the cornerstone of business technology all around the world, having been on the market for roughly half a century.
Initially founded in 1972 by a team of five engineers (all of whom had previously worked for IBM), SAP started its journey with the primary goal of streamlining and digitising business processes for large organisations.
Nowadays, SAP has become one of the mostly broadly used enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions in the world. So much so that it has clients in all types of industries, from retail and manufacturing to healthcare and government.
Companies that offer human resources software solutions in the UK include:
What Does SAP Do?
In most companies, each department will have its own software that’ll allow them to manage all operations, from things like inventory management to HR records and sales reports. With everybody managing and tracking things separately, however, companies end up with data silos that are separated from each other. Often, this leads to a lack of inter-departmental communication.
This is exactly the problem that SAP is able to solve. By means of integrating all of these core business functions into a single, unified system, businesses are able to enjoy far smoother and more efficient data flow between different departments.
Ultimately, SAP brings everything together under one digital umbrella, encouraging collaboration and making decision-making and real-time insights way more effective.
SAP’s Products
SAP’s flagship product is SAP ERP. Known for its modular approach, companies are able to select specific modules that are particularly relevant to their business needs, whether that’s Human Resources (HR), Finance (FI) or anything else.
This option for customisation is helpful in that it allows companies to create a system that is tailored without requiring extras that are unnecessary.
For example, in the case of a retail company, the business may decide to focus on modules that help with customer relations and inventory. These modules are able to communicate with each other easily and efficiently, creating a well-rounded view of the business.
But, SAP isn’t only about ERP. These days, with the tech industry having shifted towards cloud-based solutions and artificial intelligence (AI), SAP has adapted accordingly by expanding its offerings.
For instance, they now offer SAP HANA which is a high-performance analytics appliance that gives business the ability to process big data in real time. Thus, they have access to complex and vital analytics that they can use to make important decisions quickly.
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Implementing SAP Software Solutions
Implementing SAP software solutions, on the other hand, can be a bit more complicated. So much so, in fact, that plenty of companies end up partnering with SAP-certified consultants in order to help them properly and efficiently deal with the setup, customisation and training processes.
The implementation process is different for each specific case – for some, it can take a few months while for others, it may take over a year.
The initial investment in SAP is often seen as fairly pricey, but the long-term benefits that businesses tend to enjoy include things like improved productivity, more advanced data-driven insights and streamlined operations, making it worth it if the company in question is considering its future.
