What is SAP R/2 ?
SAP R/2 is a real-time enterprise resource planning (ERP) software produced by SAP.SAP R/2 followed the company's first product, a materials management module called RM/1.
What was unique about R/2 was that it was a packaged software application that processed real-time on a mainframe computer taking advantage of Time Sharing Option and integrated all of an enterprise's functions, such as accounting, manufacturing processes, supply chain logistics and human resources.
Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as "big iron") are powerful computers used mainly by large organizations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.
The term originally referred to the large cabinets that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. Later the term was used to distinguish high-end commercial machines from less powerful units.
Most large-scale computer system architectures were firmly established in the 1960s and most large computers were based on architecture established during that era up until the advent of Web servers in the 1990s. (The first Web server running anywhere outside Switzerland ran on an IBM mainframe at Stanford University as early as 1991. See History of the World Wide Web for details.)
There were several minicomputer operating systems and architectures that arose in the 1970s and 1980s, but minicomputers are generally not considered mainframes. (UNIX arose as a minicomputer operating system; Unix has scaled up over the years to acquire some mainframe characteristics[citation needed].)
Many defining characteristics of "mainframe" were established in the 1960s, but those characteristics continue to expand and evolve to the present day.
SAP R/3 is the former name of the main enterprise resource planning software produced by SAP AG. It is an enterprise-wide information system designed to coordinate all the resources, information, and activities needed to complete business processes such as order fulfillment or billing.
History of SAP R/3
The first version of SAP's flagship enterprise software was a financial Accounting system named R/1 called as YSR. This was replaced by R/2 at the end of the 1970s. SAP R/2 was in a mainframe based business application software suite that was very successful in the 1980s and early 1990s.
It was particularly popular with large multinational European companies who required soft-real-time business applications, with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities built in. With the advent of distributed client–server computing SAP AG brought out a client–server version of the software called SAP R/3 (The "R" was for "Real-time data processing" and 3 was for 3-tier).
This new architecture is compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows or UNIX. This opened up SAP to a whole new customer base.
SAP R/3 was officially launched on 6 July 1992. It was renamed SAP ERP and later again renamed ECC (ERP Central Component). SAP came to dominate the large business applications market over the next 10 years. SAP ECC 5.0 ERP is the successor of SAP R/3 4.70. The newest version of the suite is SAP ERP 6.0 – the path to SAP Business Suite 7.
It was particularly popular with large multinational European companies who required soft-real-time business applications, with multi-currency and multi-language capabilities built in. With the advent of distributed client–server computing SAP AG brought out a client–server version of the software called SAP R/3 (The "R" was for "Real-time data processing" and 3 was for 3-tier).
This new architecture is compatible with multiple platforms and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows or UNIX. This opened up SAP to a whole new customer base.
SAP R/3 was officially launched on 6 July 1992. It was renamed SAP ERP and later again renamed ECC (ERP Central Component). SAP came to dominate the large business applications market over the next 10 years. SAP ECC 5.0 ERP is the successor of SAP R/3 4.70. The newest version of the suite is SAP ERP 6.0 – the path to SAP Business Suite 7.
SAP Release Versions
• SAP R/3 Release 1.0A Release Date 6 July 1992
• SAP R/3 Release 2.0 / 2.1 Released 1993
• SAP R/3 Release 3.0 / 3.1 Released 1995
• SAP R/3 Release 4.0B Release Date June 1998
• SAP R/3 Release 4.5B Release Date March 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6A Release Date 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6B Release Date Dec 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6C Release Date April 2001
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Release 4.70 Release Date March- Dec 2003
• SAP R/3 Release 2.0 / 2.1 Released 1993
• SAP R/3 Release 3.0 / 3.1 Released 1995
• SAP R/3 Release 4.0B Release Date June 1998
• SAP R/3 Release 4.5B Release Date March 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6A Release Date 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6B Release Date Dec 1999
• SAP R/3 Release 4.6C Release Date April 2001
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Release 4.70 Release Date March- Dec 2003
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Edition 4.7
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Central Component 5.0
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Central Component 6.0
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Central Component 5.0
• SAP R/3 Enterprise Central Component 6.0