A framework for change - SAP moving to convert R/3 client/server system to component architecture - Company Business and Marketing - Brief Article

Software Magazine, Oct, 1996

In an effort to 'reengineer' itself to better address customer concerns about openness and cost, SAP, Wayne, Pa., is moving toward a component architecture for its venerable R/3 client/server system. Key to that effort is SAP's Business Framework, introduced at its Sapphire '96 conference in Philadelphia in August. The Business Framework architecture comprises business components, integration technologies, and Business APIs, or BAPIs.

Within the Business Framework, consultants from both SAP and its Alliance Partners work with customers using SAP's Business Engineering Workbench (BEW) and Accelerated SAP (ASAP) implementation methodologies.

The ASAP methodology, geared toward mid-sized ($200 million to $2.5 billion) companies, provides a "roadmap" of tools and templates for the implementation process. According to Alexander Ott, SAP's VP of global partnerships, the SAP Roadmap should get the process down to no more than nine months for these mid-sized companies.