SAP stands for System Application and Product for data processing. In German language it stands for "Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung".

What is SAP?

SAP, started in 1972 by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany, states that it is the world's largest inter-enterprise software company and the world's fourth-largest independent software supplier

The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. Gradually, the applications have been assembled and today many corporations, including IBM and Microsoft, are using SAP products to run their own businesses.

SAP is the largest Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution software provider. Sap’s products focus on ERP, which it helped to pioneer. The company's main product is SAP R/3;the "R" stands for real time data processing and the number 3 relates to a three-tier application architecture: database, application server and client SAPgui.It provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents ,Other major product offerings include Advanced Planner and Optimizer (APO),Business Information Warehouse(BW),Customer Relationship Management(CRM),Supplier Relationship Management(SRM), Human Resource Management Systems(HRMS),Product Lifecycle Management(PLM), Exchange Infrastructure(XI) and Knowledge Warehouse(KW).

The R/3 system runs on a number of platforms including Windows 2000 and uses the client/server model. The latest version of R/3 includes a comprehensive Internet-enabled package

SAP has recently recast its product offerings under a comprehensive Web interface, called mySAP.com, and added new e-business applications, including customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).

Reportedly, there are over 91,500 SAP installations at more than 28,000 companies. SAP products are used by over 12 million people in more than 120 countries

SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. The R/3 system runs on a number of platforms including Windows 2000 and uses the client/server model. The latest version of R/3 includes a comprehensive Internet-enabled package.
SAP has recently recast its product offerings under a comprehensive Web interface, called mySAP.com,
Other major offerings include APO (Advanced Planner and Optimizer), BW (Business Information Warehouse), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), SRM (Supplier Relationship Management), Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) and KW (Knowledge Warehouse). The company also offers a new technology platform, named SAP Net Weaver. While its original products are mostly used by larger companies, SAP is now also offering products for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) with SAP Business One and SAP All in One. And added new e-business applications, including customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).