The SAP R/3 on the Internet [Hardcover]

Mario Perez (Author), Bernd Matzke (Author), Alexander Hildenbrand (Author), Peter Zencke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 1999

The SAP R/3 client/Server system now has a direct interface with the Internet. Every SAP user can now use standard internet business applications or build his own tailored applications. This book provides a concise introduction setting out the case for integrating business functionality on the web, which is at present unique to SAP, as all other solutions integrate data only.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

[AUTHORS] Mario Perez, Alexander Hildenbrand, Bernd Matzke, Peter Zencke Connecting the SAP R/3 System to the Internet sets new standards for communications between enterprises, business partners and customers.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Connecting the SAP R/3 System to the Internet sets new standards for communications between enterprises, business partners and customers. The extensive integration of SAP's R/3 technology and the R/3 Internet solution guarantees that standard business requirements for transaction security, scalability and performance on the Internet are met.

The book first provides an overview of the basic terminology and mechanisms of Internet technology as they apply to the SAP R/3 Internet solution (ALE/WEB). It describes the new possibilities that await a modern enterprise on the Internet and the context in which they appear.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to: -understanding the Internet as a business platform for the R/3 system -introducing the Internet functions of the R/3 system to your company, and -providing a solid foundation for business decisions

The book then presents concrete application scenarios with the ALE/WEB solution and discusses their technological basis in an accessible and easy to understand way. Finally, it describes the exact implementation of these solutions and demonstrates how to: -set up interactive web applications -modify existing applications, and -program new applications

The multiple practical programming examples provided throughout the book will enable you to implement your own Internet projects using the SAP Internet solution to best effect.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (April 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201343037
• ISBN-13: 978-0201343038
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,012,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Systems Analysis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I agree with the Synopsis above, October 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The SAP R/3 on the Internet (Hardcover)

Never having worked with SAP R/3 or ABAP/4 before I think the book was a good introduction to the basic components of connecting SAP to the Web via the ITS. The code examples of how to use HTML together with ABAP also gave me a better understanding of the system. The book gives a good start to build on before digging into the actual technical work.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Textbook at the University of Washington, February 11, 2000

By 

Paul Sheldon Foote (Fullerton, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The SAP R/3 on the Internet (Hardcover)

I am using this book as one of my required textbooks this quarter at the University of Washington. As indicated by the title of the book, the focus of the book is on how current SAP R/3 users can make R/3's functions available over the Internet. The authors have not attempted to explain similar efforts by the other major ERP vendors.

As a professor, my choices of books and of ERP systems have been easy. SAP has provided its R/3 system to more than 70 American universities and to more than 350 universities worldwide. Only recently did J.D. Edwards start a grant program for universities. Anyone may search amazon.com's database and discover that there are very few books available on any aspect of the other ERP systems. The authors of this book should be applauded for writing an excellent book for use in universities.

As a professor, I expect authors to provide a theoretical framework in the first chapter. These authors passed my test by covering basic concepts of the extended supply chain in the first chapter. Systems developers need to understand why they are developing a new system and how to evaluate the success or failure of the new system. The authors have not provided a step-by-step guide for developers and for programmers. Readers will not find a CD-ROM at the back of the book. Instead, the authors have explained what you need to know about SAP R/3 and about the Internet to make them work together.

The authors discussed centralized, loosely coupled, and decentralized systems. A correct representation of the views of the authors about the use of mainframe computers may be found on page 18: "There is one exception: mainframe systems, such as those used in many large enterprises, for example insurance companies. Terminals attached to these systems cannot accept the client software required for the Internet." The authors understand the difference between a mainframe computer and a terminal.

For an opposing view, I require my students to read Andrew White's white paper: "The Value Equation: Value Chain Management, Collaboration and the Internet." This white paper explains why Logility, Inc. has taken a different approach to extended supply chain management than that taken by the ERP system vendors. You may find the white paper at the Collaboration Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment site: http://www.cpfr.org/

My students must read also the excellent materials you may find at the Web sites of RosettaNet and of the Uniform Code Council: http://www.rosettanet.org/ http://www.uc-council.org/

In sum, this is a good, introductory book for SAP R/3 users who want to provide R/3's functions over the Internet. There are already entire books on supply chain management and on the Internet. This book provides a good starting point for understanding how to combine SAP R/3 and the Internet. Someday, perhaps other vendors will find the courage to provide their systems and books for critical evaluation and use in universities. I am still waiting for other reviewers to cite better books.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Very Poor Effort - practically useless, April 10, 2000

By 

Frank MacNoles (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The SAP R/3 on the Internet (Hardcover)

I found this book a very poor effort. This is neither a hands-on approach or a practical approach. It is full of waffle and I get the impression that the authors were not really sure of the subject they wrote about. I look forward to the book that Gareth M. De Bruyn will write on R/3 & the Internet !