by: Vikram Chalana
Upload Excel Data to SAP: 7 best practices Even with the standardized business processes and centralized data stores provided by SAP, much corporate data still resides in spreadsheets. Taking data in these spreadsheets and putting them into SAP remains one of the thorny challenges facing many corporate IT departments. Many business departments are wasting resources in manually reentering this data into SAP while introducing errors due to manual data entry. Functional and technical analysts in the IT departments are inundated with requests from business users to automate the upload of Excel data into SAP.
• Are you an SAP business user looking to reduce manual data entry for mass uploads or mass changes to SAP data, particularly when the data already exists in Excel?
• Are you an IT functional or technical analyst looking for ways to service the end-user requests for data uploadd more effectively?
• Are you looking for ways that your company can save time and resources in SAP data management?
If you answered “Yes” to any of the above questions, then this article is for you. This article describes 7 best practices in automating the upload of Excel data into SAP. Adopting these best practices will alleviate many of the pains that business users and IT analysts face in uploading Excel data to SAP.
1. Avoid Programming. With the several non-programming choices available to connect Excel and SAP, custom programming in ABAP or VB should be the absolute last resort for ad-hoc uploading Excel data to SAP. Not only programming is expensive and time consuming, a program that will be used only once or even once a year is particularly wasteful. Further, creating robust programs require a fair bit of testing and if a program has not been well-tested, it could be dangerous and cause irreparable data damage.
Use a scripting or a non-programming approach as much as possible. SAP provided tools such as BDC, CATT, LSMW, and third party tools such as Winshuttle’s TxShuttle will allow you to avoid programming to a large extent.
2. Do not Upload Directly to SAP tables. While this point is very obvious, it cannot be overemphasized. Writing directly to SAP tables avoids all the data validation and checks and balances that happen when creating data through the normal SAP transactions. So, avoid using any method that writes directly to SAP tables.
Always upload data via the pre-configured SAP transactions or BAPIs. Again, using tools such as BDC, CATT, or LSMW, or TxShuttle will allow the upload of data via SAP transactions instead of writing directly to SAP tables.
3. Choose a Record, Map, and Run strategy. A record, map, and run strategy generally involves first recording an SAP transaction where data needs to be uploaded. The recording step is followed by a mapping step where the SAP data fields captured during the recording are mapped to the Excel fields. Finally, the transaction is run over and over again with the different rows of data in the Excel file. A Record, Map, and Run strategy is similar to recording and running macros for automating routine tasks.
The advantages of choosing a record, map, and run strategy are that (a) it is very general and can work well for many different upload tasks and many different SAP transactions, even with custom transactions, (b) it is a very easy and intuitive approach and saves a lot of time making a mass data update, (c) it is something that even the business users can do themselves without requiring much IT support.
A record, map, and run strategy should be used for uploading data from Excel to SAP. Again, the SAP provided tools, such as BDC, CATT, and LSMW all support such a strategy and can work for many different upload applications. The TxShuttle tool simplifies the mapping recording and mapping tasks a lot and makes it even easier for business users. Also, for applications that require upload of transactional data containing header and line-items, such as journal vouchers, invoices, purchase orders, sales orders, etc., the TxShuttle tool has features that make it really useful.
4. Choose a Secure and SOX Compliant Method: Make sure the method you choose is secure and preserves SAP’s role-based security. In these days of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) audits, this point cannot be overemphasized. One key aspect of section 404 is checking that rights and duties are separately assigned to different individuals so that no individual has the power to divert business or transactions in a fraudulent manner. One of the most common open SOX audit issues is that users in the IT departments have very broad access to production data in SAP. Therefore to ease compliant with SOX, any mass changes or uploads should ideally be performed by the business users who are already authorized to make the change.
To allow business users to perform the upload via SAP-provided transaction-based tools, they would need extra authorizations to use these tools. If your company is not able to provide such authorizations, the use of Winshuttle’s TxShuttle product may be more appropriate since it lives outside the core SAP system and generally does not require extra authorizations.
5. Keep the data in native Excel format. If the data to be uploaded stays in the native Excel format, rather than being converted to comma-delimited or tab-delimited text file formats, it makes the upload process much simpler. One less step for the users to worry about. The use of Winshuttle’s TxShuttle product allows the users to keep their data in native Excel format.
6. Select an outside-in approach: The two approaches to bringing outside data into SAP are: (a) an inside-out approach where the data import tools live inside SAP are used to bring outside data into SAP, and (b) an outside-in approach where the tools living outside SAP are used to bring outside data into SAP. An inside-out approach typically requires all the data import scripts and programs to live inside SAP and therefore need to be maintained as SAP versions are upgraded, even when the scripts are one-time-use only. Thus, these one-time use scripts clutter the SAP system when using the inside-out approach. An outside-in approach offers a cleaner alternative that can be used with the user’s existing security profiles.
The announcement of Microsoft and SAP’s joint product, Mendocinno, recently validates the importance that both companies give to an outside-in approach. Other add-on products such as TxShuttle also take an outside-in approach to connect to SAP.
7. Empower business users: On a final note, one of the best practices in uploading Excel data to SAP is to empower business users to do the upload themselves. The choice of the right tool for the business users which will enable them to easily upload data without requiring any programming will go a long way to freeing up IT resources for more mission-critical applications. Letting business users take control of their own data also makes SOX compliance easier.
An easy to use product such as Winshuttle’s TxShuttle which will let business users upload their own data from Excel to SAP allows the empowering of these business users. In summary, the best practices in uploading Excel data to SAP proposed here involve choosing non-programmatic, easy-to-use approaches, and this will enable your company to save large amounts of time and resources in day-to-day SAP data management.
To learn more about SAP tools, BDC, CATT and LSMW, visit www.sap.com
To learn more about Winshuttle tool, TxShuttle, visit www.winshuttle.com.
At this site, you can download a FREE WHITE PAPER describing this problem and how the TxShuttle tool works at uploading Excel data to SAP. You can also download a FREE 15-day evaluation version of the TxShuttle software for connecting SAP and Excel.
About The Author
Vikram Chalana is the SAP product specialist at Winshuttle, Inc. He has helped many clients automate their SAP business processes, in particular processes dealing with the connecting spreadsheets and SAP. He has been in the IT industry as a data minining, business intelligence, business process automation expert for over 10 years.
To learn more about Winshuttle, please visit www.winshuttle.com
Thursday, June 12, 2008
ERP/Accounting Selection: Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, SAP – expansion to Europe
by: Andrew Karasev
This article is targeted at US-based mid-size and large companies, planning the expansion and opening branches in Europe. It is for IT director, who is nowadays responsible for ERP/MRP platform selection and following implementation. The format of the article doesn’t allow us to come up with detail specs comparison, we will be rather giving you highlights for further research and checklist of things that you should not miss at the consideration. We will begin with the specific of the market and then point out to the solutions available.
• Multiple Languages. Continental Europe doesn’t speak on English language natively – documentation is in German, French, Italian or whichever country you consider. It is not just a question of finding English speaking and writing accounting personnel – as you will see, reading further
• Taxation. Now it is becoming more standardized, however you should now that in Europe you have to deal with VAT (Value Added Tax), in comparison to Sales Tax in the US. VAT should be paid not only by end consumer, but also by resellers, distributors, etc. Also it is common practice when Services are taxable in European countries.
• Government Reporting. In the USA you report on the federal and state levels and usually IRS and the states don’t care about the accounting system you use. In Europe, again depending on the country and probably this tendency is more applicable when you move Eastward, the government might have more involvement in the ERP brands selection, recommending several systems as approved, certified, localized, etc.
• Accounting Procedures. In some countries (France, Russia) you may encounter with the situation, when government wants you to use recommended chart of accounts, usually generalized and geared toward manufacturing accounting, which might be a nightmare in the case if you are service-oriented business. Considering innovative nature of US businesses in expansion mode – this issue should be addressed
Now we will give you solutions highlights
• Local ERP. The specific legislation and conditions of the country you chose for your European penetration probably produced several locally originated ERPs. As a tendency – these systems typically deal with government reporting and available in local language only. If you decide to implement such a solution, please understand the trade-ins – you can not find US/international managers who could efficiently take the control over when needed.
• Microsoft Dynamics. Microsoft Business Solutions these systems for continental Europe: Navision, Axapta – Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX (Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP will be pulled out from France, Germany and Holland, where it currently has some market presence). Navision & Axapta are both localized and “approved”
• SAP Business One. Assuming that you represent mid-size business – this system has all-in-one and the named user license includes all the modules (you can have CRM-only client for your sales people at ½ of the price). SAP Business One was designed with the ideas of the Multilanguage, flexible reporting and object-oriented tax engine. Plus SAP Business One has transaction integration to mySAP.
• Oracle Financials/E-Business Suite. This solution, coming from Oracle, also referred as Oracle Applications should be considered as very efficient and reliable. It is also localized and has very long market presence history in Europe. Oracle comes with J2EE/EJB/Java customization & development
• IBM Lotus Notes/Domino. It is not an ERP – it is rather the platform, Lotus is very popular in Europe and you should consider and respect it if you purchase existing company, using Lotus for document workflow
• Integration, Customization & Reporting. You should consider European branch ERP integration ability to your corporate ERP in the USA and management reporting compliance.
Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com
About The Author
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.enterlogix.com.br http://greatplains.com.mx ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Europe: Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Middle East (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, OAE, Bahrain), Asia: China, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South & Central America: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Chili, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
This article is targeted at US-based mid-size and large companies, planning the expansion and opening branches in Europe. It is for IT director, who is nowadays responsible for ERP/MRP platform selection and following implementation. The format of the article doesn’t allow us to come up with detail specs comparison, we will be rather giving you highlights for further research and checklist of things that you should not miss at the consideration. We will begin with the specific of the market and then point out to the solutions available.
• Multiple Languages. Continental Europe doesn’t speak on English language natively – documentation is in German, French, Italian or whichever country you consider. It is not just a question of finding English speaking and writing accounting personnel – as you will see, reading further
• Taxation. Now it is becoming more standardized, however you should now that in Europe you have to deal with VAT (Value Added Tax), in comparison to Sales Tax in the US. VAT should be paid not only by end consumer, but also by resellers, distributors, etc. Also it is common practice when Services are taxable in European countries.
• Government Reporting. In the USA you report on the federal and state levels and usually IRS and the states don’t care about the accounting system you use. In Europe, again depending on the country and probably this tendency is more applicable when you move Eastward, the government might have more involvement in the ERP brands selection, recommending several systems as approved, certified, localized, etc.
• Accounting Procedures. In some countries (France, Russia) you may encounter with the situation, when government wants you to use recommended chart of accounts, usually generalized and geared toward manufacturing accounting, which might be a nightmare in the case if you are service-oriented business. Considering innovative nature of US businesses in expansion mode – this issue should be addressed
Now we will give you solutions highlights
• Local ERP. The specific legislation and conditions of the country you chose for your European penetration probably produced several locally originated ERPs. As a tendency – these systems typically deal with government reporting and available in local language only. If you decide to implement such a solution, please understand the trade-ins – you can not find US/international managers who could efficiently take the control over when needed.
• Microsoft Dynamics. Microsoft Business Solutions these systems for continental Europe: Navision, Axapta – Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX (Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP will be pulled out from France, Germany and Holland, where it currently has some market presence). Navision & Axapta are both localized and “approved”
• SAP Business One. Assuming that you represent mid-size business – this system has all-in-one and the named user license includes all the modules (you can have CRM-only client for your sales people at ½ of the price). SAP Business One was designed with the ideas of the Multilanguage, flexible reporting and object-oriented tax engine. Plus SAP Business One has transaction integration to mySAP.
• Oracle Financials/E-Business Suite. This solution, coming from Oracle, also referred as Oracle Applications should be considered as very efficient and reliable. It is also localized and has very long market presence history in Europe. Oracle comes with J2EE/EJB/Java customization & development
• IBM Lotus Notes/Domino. It is not an ERP – it is rather the platform, Lotus is very popular in Europe and you should consider and respect it if you purchase existing company, using Lotus for document workflow
• Integration, Customization & Reporting. You should consider European branch ERP integration ability to your corporate ERP in the USA and management reporting compliance.
Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com
About The Author
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.enterlogix.com.br http://greatplains.com.mx ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Europe: Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Middle East (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, OAE, Bahrain), Asia: China, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South & Central America: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Chili, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
SAP Business One – MRP Implementation in São Paulo
by: Arthur Ferretti
SAP just introduced localized version of its mid-size and small ERP solution – SAP Business One. As you probably know SAP Business One has Multilanguage in one company feature, and it is adaptable to unique tax rules, which is the case in Brazil. Among the other localized solutions: Microsoft Navision, Oracle Financials (or the whole set of Oracle Business Suite – Oracle Applications), Microsoft Axapta (localized version should be release in 2006), SAP Business One should be considered to be implemented for either Brazilian company with the connections to European and American market and business partners or for Brazilian branch of multinational corporation. Let’s consider market specifics and how SAP Business One could potentially fit for the ERP market in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or the whole Brazil.
• Multilanguage & Brazilian Portuguese Support. This is really strong point of SAP Business One - you can switch from say Portuguese to American English by pressing cntrl keys combination. System will close all your existing screens and this is probably the only inconvenience you may notice. Please, be aware that SAP Business One has also version with Portuguese interface for continental Portugal.
• Manufacturing/Production module. For the multinational company Brazil is often considered as the place for quality and cost efficient manufacturing operations. And we see diversified needs for manufacturing automation – from machinery to food processing. SAP Business One Production module targets the whole spectrum of manufacturing needs.
• CRM. CRM module is integrated within the system. We should mention modern design of CRM module and really intuitive interface for business professionals, dealing with sales analysis.
• HR. SAP Business One doesn’t have Payroll module for Brazil.
• Drag & Relate. This feature allows you intuitively drag and compare/relate the data in the system.
• Customization, Reporting & Integration. SAP BO integrates with Microsoft Office on the level of COM objects, it sits in MS SQL Server database (the only platform available for Brazil at this time). It has SAP Business One SDK and we expect large number of ISV with custom products show up on the Brazilian market within a few years. Besides internal SAP BO reporting – you can do reporting from SQL Server directly.
• Competitors. If you are looking from the number of installations in Brazil, then you should consider Microsiga, where you will see similar slightly higher license and system implementation prices. If you are looking for international ERP brand, localized for Brazil – then consider Microsoft Navision/Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Axapta/Dynamics AX and Oracle E-Business Suite, which includes Oracle Financials, also known as Oracle Applications. Microsiga should be recognized as very efficient Brazilian tax & government reporting solution, at the same time SAP, Microsoft and Oracle are catching up with the compliance of their localized MRPs.
• Releasing Dates. SAP Business One, having over 8,000 installations Worldwide is scheduled to be released in Brazil in November/December 2005. Microsoft Navision and Oracle E-Business Suite are available and availability of localized Microsoft Axapta (Microsoft Dynamics AX) version is 2006.
• Licensing Price Structure. SAP Business One has all-in-one named user licenses. This means that you do not pay for adding new modules – all the modules are available for the user and included in the license price. CRM-only user license is available at 50% or the all-in-one user license. SAP Business One requires also annual maintenance fee, which will give you now standard for the ERP industry software upgrade and discounted technical support.
Please give as a call São Paulo 55-11-3444-4949, USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com
About The Author
Arthur Ferretti is SAP Business One specialist at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Microsoft CRM and IBM Lotus Notes Domino Partner, serving clients in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Manaus, Lisboa, Coimbra, Porto, Cascais and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
SAP just introduced localized version of its mid-size and small ERP solution – SAP Business One. As you probably know SAP Business One has Multilanguage in one company feature, and it is adaptable to unique tax rules, which is the case in Brazil. Among the other localized solutions: Microsoft Navision, Oracle Financials (or the whole set of Oracle Business Suite – Oracle Applications), Microsoft Axapta (localized version should be release in 2006), SAP Business One should be considered to be implemented for either Brazilian company with the connections to European and American market and business partners or for Brazilian branch of multinational corporation. Let’s consider market specifics and how SAP Business One could potentially fit for the ERP market in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro or the whole Brazil.
• Multilanguage & Brazilian Portuguese Support. This is really strong point of SAP Business One - you can switch from say Portuguese to American English by pressing cntrl keys combination. System will close all your existing screens and this is probably the only inconvenience you may notice. Please, be aware that SAP Business One has also version with Portuguese interface for continental Portugal.
• Manufacturing/Production module. For the multinational company Brazil is often considered as the place for quality and cost efficient manufacturing operations. And we see diversified needs for manufacturing automation – from machinery to food processing. SAP Business One Production module targets the whole spectrum of manufacturing needs.
• CRM. CRM module is integrated within the system. We should mention modern design of CRM module and really intuitive interface for business professionals, dealing with sales analysis.
• HR. SAP Business One doesn’t have Payroll module for Brazil.
• Drag & Relate. This feature allows you intuitively drag and compare/relate the data in the system.
• Customization, Reporting & Integration. SAP BO integrates with Microsoft Office on the level of COM objects, it sits in MS SQL Server database (the only platform available for Brazil at this time). It has SAP Business One SDK and we expect large number of ISV with custom products show up on the Brazilian market within a few years. Besides internal SAP BO reporting – you can do reporting from SQL Server directly.
• Competitors. If you are looking from the number of installations in Brazil, then you should consider Microsiga, where you will see similar slightly higher license and system implementation prices. If you are looking for international ERP brand, localized for Brazil – then consider Microsoft Navision/Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Axapta/Dynamics AX and Oracle E-Business Suite, which includes Oracle Financials, also known as Oracle Applications. Microsiga should be recognized as very efficient Brazilian tax & government reporting solution, at the same time SAP, Microsoft and Oracle are catching up with the compliance of their localized MRPs.
• Releasing Dates. SAP Business One, having over 8,000 installations Worldwide is scheduled to be released in Brazil in November/December 2005. Microsoft Navision and Oracle E-Business Suite are available and availability of localized Microsoft Axapta (Microsoft Dynamics AX) version is 2006.
• Licensing Price Structure. SAP Business One has all-in-one named user licenses. This means that you do not pay for adding new modules – all the modules are available for the user and included in the license price. CRM-only user license is available at 50% or the all-in-one user license. SAP Business One requires also annual maintenance fee, which will give you now standard for the ERP industry software upgrade and discounted technical support.
Please give as a call São Paulo 55-11-3444-4949, USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com
About The Author
Arthur Ferretti is SAP Business One specialist at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – Oracle, SAP, Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Microsoft CRM and IBM Lotus Notes Domino Partner, serving clients in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Manaus, Lisboa, Coimbra, Porto, Cascais and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
Integrating XML into SAP Business Connector
by: Ron victor
Corporations are always in search of the most effective mechanism for both acquiring and selling goods as well as services at very minimum total cost over the Internet. The Business Process Connectors for SAP systems supports for the dynamic integration between the application processes and server systems thus it facilitates in faster and efficient functioning of SAP R/3, SAP Portals and MySAP solutions. In the current model, SAP Business Connector Framework uses XML schemas for generating a JSP that can be assessed from any of the web browsers dynamically, so that one can test and deploy integration tools between the application server environment and SAP systems immediately. For the purpose of adding flexibility, convergence of XML schema approach to the SA Business Connector facilitates to all the SAP standards. Thereby the customers can leverage the power and flexibility of XML into their business documents with an improved efficiency and improved cost-effectiveness as well. Integrating Business Connectors with XML SAP BC combines both the RFC server and the client. Additionally it supplies an XML layer over R/3 functionality and also comes with XML automation since it has the ability in converting SAP’s RFC format into XML. There is no requirement of SAP R/3 automation at the receiving end since it supports both synchronous RFC and asynchronous RFC protocols. Benefits of XML Integration: End-to-End Web Business Processes Internet bridges the gap between different businesses, systems and users and facilitates them to do business via web. SAP BC makes communication easier by its XML conversions. By means of integration with XML, it enables the exchange of structured business documents over the Internet by providing common standard for various applications together with IT systems for communing with each other and for exchanging business data. Open Business Document Exchange over the Internet SAP Business Connector uses hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for exchanging XML-based documents over the Internet. Without the need of developing tool, it guarantees the security in replacing of documents in accordance with the help of its SSL (Security Socket Layer) technology. Additionally, SAP BC offers openness and flexibility for complying with emerging semantics of business that keep on changing frequently. XML Solutions for SAP services SAP BC makes all solutions to be accessible by means of XML based business documents and with the support of XML-based interface Repository (IFR) and empowers SAP customers to benefit from SAP functionality over the Internet, it helps all major existing interfaces that are being offered by SAP. This particular IFR gives the choice of downloading XML schemas and tenders a uniform XML interface representation despite different implementation technologies such as RFC, IDOC and BAPI. XML messages are easily translated into equivalent SAP internal call whenever you need and it gets converted back into XML format when received from SAP system thereby enhancing the existing programming model for distributed applications formed by ALE along with SAP BC.
About The Author
Ron Victor is a SEO copywriter for http://www.simplysap.com He written many articles in various topics.For more information visit http://www.simplysap.comContact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com
Corporations are always in search of the most effective mechanism for both acquiring and selling goods as well as services at very minimum total cost over the Internet. The Business Process Connectors for SAP systems supports for the dynamic integration between the application processes and server systems thus it facilitates in faster and efficient functioning of SAP R/3, SAP Portals and MySAP solutions. In the current model, SAP Business Connector Framework uses XML schemas for generating a JSP that can be assessed from any of the web browsers dynamically, so that one can test and deploy integration tools between the application server environment and SAP systems immediately. For the purpose of adding flexibility, convergence of XML schema approach to the SA Business Connector facilitates to all the SAP standards. Thereby the customers can leverage the power and flexibility of XML into their business documents with an improved efficiency and improved cost-effectiveness as well. Integrating Business Connectors with XML SAP BC combines both the RFC server and the client. Additionally it supplies an XML layer over R/3 functionality and also comes with XML automation since it has the ability in converting SAP’s RFC format into XML. There is no requirement of SAP R/3 automation at the receiving end since it supports both synchronous RFC and asynchronous RFC protocols. Benefits of XML Integration: End-to-End Web Business Processes Internet bridges the gap between different businesses, systems and users and facilitates them to do business via web. SAP BC makes communication easier by its XML conversions. By means of integration with XML, it enables the exchange of structured business documents over the Internet by providing common standard for various applications together with IT systems for communing with each other and for exchanging business data. Open Business Document Exchange over the Internet SAP Business Connector uses hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for exchanging XML-based documents over the Internet. Without the need of developing tool, it guarantees the security in replacing of documents in accordance with the help of its SSL (Security Socket Layer) technology. Additionally, SAP BC offers openness and flexibility for complying with emerging semantics of business that keep on changing frequently. XML Solutions for SAP services SAP BC makes all solutions to be accessible by means of XML based business documents and with the support of XML-based interface Repository (IFR) and empowers SAP customers to benefit from SAP functionality over the Internet, it helps all major existing interfaces that are being offered by SAP. This particular IFR gives the choice of downloading XML schemas and tenders a uniform XML interface representation despite different implementation technologies such as RFC, IDOC and BAPI. XML messages are easily translated into equivalent SAP internal call whenever you need and it gets converted back into XML format when received from SAP system thereby enhancing the existing programming model for distributed applications formed by ALE along with SAP BC.
About The Author
Ron Victor is a SEO copywriter for http://www.simplysap.com He written many articles in various topics.For more information visit http://www.simplysap.comContact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com
Data Warehousing and SAP BW
by: Ron Victor
The basic criteria for the formation of data warehousing is to scrutinize data from diverse sources while taking decision-making. The objective of data warehousing is to scrutinize data from diverse sources to support decision making. Poor Performance Generally, data warehouse refers to storage of numerous data in it. It is not a quick process to retrieve data from the data warehouse for analysis purposes. To scrutinize the data, this data warehouse design uses a special process known as star schema. One finds difficult while extracting, transferring, transforming and loading data from diverse sources into a data warehouse. The Data must be analyzed properly before using. For the failures of many data warehousing projects ETTL has been frequently quoted. You also realize the problem if you started analyzing the data without SAP BW. Today in large companies, SAP R/3 is used for management purposes. This SAP R/3 which is an enterprise resources planning system which is used business purposes. Before the introduction of the SAP BW, SAP R/3 was mainly used by the data warehouse. SAP BW is a business information warehouse which explains the needs of the business development. To mark your success in the market competition, you have to complete with the up-to-date development of your business environment. These challenges enable the business to take an appropriate decision with the available data. This decision enables you to make many successes in your business life. Basic Concept of Data Warehousing Data warehouse is a system, which contains its own database. This data warehouse collects data from various sources and it is planned to support while research has been taken place. For the purpose of analytical processing a special database technique called star schema is used. Star Schema Star schema is a new technique that is used by the business people for few years. This star schema has various concepts in it. Star schema is used for the data base by the following method. This star schema is a graphical version. The name has been derived since it looks like a star. The table looks like a several dimension table. Since the table is very large, it is measured in the gigabyte. This table ensure with enormous useful data. The dimension table size will amount to 1 to 5 percent of the actual table size. This table does not require any normalization. ETTL—Extracting, Transferring, Transforming, and Loading Data One finds difficult while designing database, because building a data warehouse involve a significant task that do not arise OLTP system. It is difficult to extract, transform, transfer and load the data from the diverse source to data warehouse. ETTL Process • While extracting the data, data has been transferred from the source system such as sap R/3 system. The purpose of this extraction is to identify the right data. A knowledgeable source system is essential for absolute accomplishment. • In transfer, we transfer a large number of data from different source systems to the data warehouse. Here the purpose is to plan a reasonable schedule and should have reliable and fast networks. • In data transformation, we design data to represent consistently in the data warehouse. The original data which exist in different databases may use different data types or different file formats. Some are case sensitive; others may not be. • In loading, we load data the actual tables appropriately and quickly. The purpose is to develop a complete procedure. This ETTL is a complex and time-consuming task. Any error in it will put in to a risk at data quality, will affect business decision making. Due to this reason many data warehousing projects will try to complete their work in time. SAP R/3 is a good business functionality which leads to a complex database. Actually, it contains approximately 10,000 database tables. Sometimes the tables and columns may not have precise English descriptions. For years, due to the usage of SAP R/3 data for decision making, the business people face a continuous problem. After short listing the problem, SAP decided to develop a new data warehousing solution to help its users. The result they found is SAP Business Information Warehouse, or BW.
About The Author
Ron Victor is a SEO copywriter for SAP Jobs Search . He written many articles in various topics in SAP Articles and SAP Training. For more information about sap information visit SAP Forums .Contact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com
The basic criteria for the formation of data warehousing is to scrutinize data from diverse sources while taking decision-making. The objective of data warehousing is to scrutinize data from diverse sources to support decision making. Poor Performance Generally, data warehouse refers to storage of numerous data in it. It is not a quick process to retrieve data from the data warehouse for analysis purposes. To scrutinize the data, this data warehouse design uses a special process known as star schema. One finds difficult while extracting, transferring, transforming and loading data from diverse sources into a data warehouse. The Data must be analyzed properly before using. For the failures of many data warehousing projects ETTL has been frequently quoted. You also realize the problem if you started analyzing the data without SAP BW. Today in large companies, SAP R/3 is used for management purposes. This SAP R/3 which is an enterprise resources planning system which is used business purposes. Before the introduction of the SAP BW, SAP R/3 was mainly used by the data warehouse. SAP BW is a business information warehouse which explains the needs of the business development. To mark your success in the market competition, you have to complete with the up-to-date development of your business environment. These challenges enable the business to take an appropriate decision with the available data. This decision enables you to make many successes in your business life. Basic Concept of Data Warehousing Data warehouse is a system, which contains its own database. This data warehouse collects data from various sources and it is planned to support while research has been taken place. For the purpose of analytical processing a special database technique called star schema is used. Star Schema Star schema is a new technique that is used by the business people for few years. This star schema has various concepts in it. Star schema is used for the data base by the following method. This star schema is a graphical version. The name has been derived since it looks like a star. The table looks like a several dimension table. Since the table is very large, it is measured in the gigabyte. This table ensure with enormous useful data. The dimension table size will amount to 1 to 5 percent of the actual table size. This table does not require any normalization. ETTL—Extracting, Transferring, Transforming, and Loading Data One finds difficult while designing database, because building a data warehouse involve a significant task that do not arise OLTP system. It is difficult to extract, transform, transfer and load the data from the diverse source to data warehouse. ETTL Process • While extracting the data, data has been transferred from the source system such as sap R/3 system. The purpose of this extraction is to identify the right data. A knowledgeable source system is essential for absolute accomplishment. • In transfer, we transfer a large number of data from different source systems to the data warehouse. Here the purpose is to plan a reasonable schedule and should have reliable and fast networks. • In data transformation, we design data to represent consistently in the data warehouse. The original data which exist in different databases may use different data types or different file formats. Some are case sensitive; others may not be. • In loading, we load data the actual tables appropriately and quickly. The purpose is to develop a complete procedure. This ETTL is a complex and time-consuming task. Any error in it will put in to a risk at data quality, will affect business decision making. Due to this reason many data warehousing projects will try to complete their work in time. SAP R/3 is a good business functionality which leads to a complex database. Actually, it contains approximately 10,000 database tables. Sometimes the tables and columns may not have precise English descriptions. For years, due to the usage of SAP R/3 data for decision making, the business people face a continuous problem. After short listing the problem, SAP decided to develop a new data warehousing solution to help its users. The result they found is SAP Business Information Warehouse, or BW.
About The Author
Ron Victor is a SEO copywriter for SAP Jobs Search . He written many articles in various topics in SAP Articles and SAP Training. For more information about sap information visit SAP Forums .Contact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com
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