As mentioned before SAP is an acronym for "System Application & Products" which creates a common centerlised database for all the applications running in an organization. The application has been assembled in such a versatile way that it handles all the functional department within an organisation. Today major companies including Microsoft and IBM are using SAP's Products to run their own businesses.

R/2, which ran on a Mainframe architecture, was the first SAP version. Sap's products are generally focused on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Sap's applications are built around R/3 system which provide the functionality to manage product operations, cost accounting, assets, materials and personnel. The R/3 system of SAP runs on majority of platforms including windows 2000 and it uses the client/sever model.

SAP provides majority of enterprise applications that includes:

1. SAP Knowledge Warehouse (KW)

2. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

3. Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)

4. Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

5. Supply Chain Management (SCM)

6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

7. Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO)

8. Business Information Warehouse (BW)

SAP NetWeaver is the latest technology introduced by SAP. SAP's products are mainly focussed on large organizations which mainly comprises of Fortune 500 companies and its a number one choice for ERP system worldwide. SAP has software solutions called SAP Business One (SAP B1) and SAP all in one which are mainly created for small and mid sized organizations. SAP products are used by millions people worldwide and in more than 120 countries and is constantly increasing. SAP had over 38, 4000 employees in over 50 countries, and more than 36,200 customers around the world as on Jan 2007.

SAP solutions have become integral to the foundation of international businesses, as almost half of the world's Fortune1000 companies have implemented ERP solutions from SAP. SAP being the acronym for Systems, Applications, and Products in Data processing. This proprietary enterprise resource planning software helps automate the transactions of an enterprise. Presently SAP has the expertise to implement ERP solutions in more than twenty-five industry verticals. SAP R/3 platform was developed using the ABAP or the Advanced Business Application programming language.

Inspite of stiff competition from Oracle, Baan, JD Edwards and more recently Microsoft; SAP has managed to retain market share and stay ahead of competition. Its core offering the SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning software helps integrate accounting, order entry, manufacturing and similar such functions on to a single framework. SAP has gained immense popularity because it helps organizations migrate several different information systems on to a single framework. SAP ERP solutions provide a reliable means to integrate all these information systems thereby improving process efficiency and operational productivity. SAP ERP solutions have become so popular that it presently has more than 43000 customers in 85 countries.

The advantage of SAP solutions is that they are scalable and can be customized according to the evolving business requirements of an enterprise. SAP Solutions can be easily integrated with future applications giving users a significant competitive advantage in the market. SAP R/3 solutions run on several database Oracle, ADABAS, Informix , DB2/400, Microsoft SQL Server 6.0.With its latest offering my SAP; the company plans to attain a stranglehold grip in the enterprise software market. It plans to drive future growth by migrating existing ERP customers to mySAP. mySAP has helped the company gain significant market share through e- business applications like mySap Customer Relationship Management, mySAP Supply Chain Management, and mySAP Product Lifecycle Management.

SAP has a very bright future in the emerging markets of Asia and Africa as even small and medium enterprises have realized that implementing SAP not only helps manage day to day operations efficiently; it also sharpens business insight by providing real time access to timely information. It can be the source of a sustainable competitive advantage in these days of cutthroat competition.