SAP is one of the world’s largest producers of business management software. The company is most well-known for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Its latest version, SAP S/4HANA, uses the latest technology, including in-memory computing, to process big data and supports artificial intelligence and machine learning.
SAP’s integrated applications support every business function, from human resources management to supply chain management. According to SAP, the company has over 230 million cloud users and more than 100 solutions covering all business functions—the largest cloud portfolio of any provider. One study says that around 7 out of every 10 organizations globally use SAP modules or solutions.
Needless to say, understanding each and every SAP module in the portfolio can be overwhelming and complex. This article will help you navigate between the different SAP systems and provide an SAP modules list for both functional and technical users. Read on to learn more!
Understanding SAP Modules
SAP offers a wide range of software modules that cater to various business needs and processes. From finance and accounting to human resources and supply chain management, SAP modules offer comprehensive solutions that cover almost every functional area of a business and seamless integrations for optimized business functions.
Here are a few of the main technical and functional modules included in the SAP ERP system…
- SAP Production Planning (PP)
- SAP Project Systems (PS)
- SAP Plant Maintenance (PM)
- SAP Financial Accounting (FI)
- SAP Controlling (CO)
- SAP Solution Manager
- SAP Basis
Types of SAP Modules
SAP modules are grouped into two main types—functional and technical.
Functional modules provide a front-end interface for business features like order processing, business intelligence, and human resources.
Technical modules are used on the back end of SAP to manage your environment, development, and updates.
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Get in TouchList of SAP Functional Modules
We’ll start by covering the SAP functional modules and their core features…
SAP Financial Accounting
The SAP Financial Accounting module is one of the most vital modules in SAP ERP modules because it manages a company’s financial transactions and data and analyzes financial conditions in the market. This module integrates with many other SAP modules to give organizations a comprehensive business solution. There are sub-modules of SAP Financial and Accounting, including:
- SAP General Ledger
- SAP Accounts Payable and Receivable
- SAP Bank Accounting
- SAP Asset Accounting
- SAP Funds Management
- SAP Travel Management
SAP Controlling (SAP CO)
The SAP CO module is another essential SAP module. It manages the process of planning, reporting, and monitoring the operations of a business. You can do things like track, plan, and report on costs.
Finance and Controlling (FICO)
The SAP FICO module records all the financial transactions within an organization to produce statements as well as financial reporting. It also consists of several sub-modules, including the following:
- General Ledger Accounting
- Accounts Receivables
- Accounts Payables
- Asset Accounting
- Bank Accounting
Sales and Distribution (SAP SD)
The SAP Sales and Distribution module manages all the business processes for selling, billing, and shipping products. SAP SD module consists of all things sales, which can be separated into pre-sales activities, sales, and post-sales activities.
SAP Fieldglass
This new Vendor Management System (VMS) acts as a replacement solution for the SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM) module that will be sunset by 2027. It helps companies effectively source, manage, and engage external workforces through flexible Workforce Management, Worker Profile Management, Assignment Management, and Services Procurement applications.
Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM)
The Customer Relationship Management module helps companies manage customer data and interactions to improve customer relationships and grow sales. SAP CRM consolidates all your customer information in a single platform to give your organization access to these details across the business.
Human Resources Management (SAP HR)
The SAP HR module helps the human resources management team manage all aspects of the employee, including recruiting, onboarding, professional development, and off-boarding.
SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW)
SAP BW is a data warehouse management product based on the SAP ABAP platform. It integrates data from different sources for storage, cleansing, and consolidation.
Plant Maintenance (SAP PM)
The SAP Plant Maintenance module handles the inspection, preventative maintenance, notifications, technical system repairs, and more to oversee the entire maintenance management.
SAP Project System (SAP PS)
The SAP PS module helps plan and control all stages of your project systems.
SAP Production Planning (SAP PP)
SAP PP is designed to handle production planning and management. The production planning module uses master data, system configuration, and transactions to help businesses plan the manufacturing, sale, and distribution of products.
SAP Materials Management (SAP MM)
The SAP MM module plays a critical role in the manufacturer’s supply chain. It provides companies with inventory, warehouse, and materials management functionality.
SAP Quality Management (SAP QM)
The SAP Quality Management module helps companies manage quality in production. SAP QM works in conjunction with procurement, sales, planning, inspection, notification, control, and more.
SAP Warehouse Management (SAP WM)
The SAP WM module helps users optimize their warehousing operations by offering better reporting and analytics functionality, controlling the movement and storage of goods more efficiently, and providing customizable applications, like put-away and picking strategies, to meet your warehousing needs.
SAP Human Capital Management (SAP HCM)
The SAP HCM module deals with the data and processes within the HR department, like hiring, managing payroll, performance, etc.
SAP Financial Supply Chain Management (SAP FSCM)
SAP FSCM offers a set of applications that not only offer improved visibility and control for your most important financial functions, but also improve collaboration between companies, suppliers, and customers to ensure payments are made accurately and on-time.
SAP Logistic Execution (LE)
The SAP LE module handles the entire logistics of the supply chain management process, including vendors, warehouses, production and distribution, and customers.
SAP SuccessFactors
SuccessFactors provides comprehensive solutions that help companies support core HR, Payroll, Workforce Management, Talent Management, and Employee Experience Management functions. SAP users can integrate SuccessFactors with their SAP ERP modules through the SAP Integration Suite (Cloud-based), SAP Process Integration (Web-based), or by uploading and downloading specific files.
SAP Concur
SAP Concur solutions provide the functionality needed to connect vendor, travel, and expense spend management processes in a single solution. With this, companies can improve transactional visibility, improve compliance, and manage spend more efficiently across the board.
SAP Ariba
SAP Ariba is a cloud-based solution designed to connect buyers and suppliers on a single, integrated platform. As a functional B2B solution, Ariba not only allows organizations to communicate with the right suppliers, but it also provides better functionality to improve data management and integration processes for both master and transactional data.
List of SAP Technical Modules
Now let’s look at the SAP technical modules and their main capabilities…
SAP Basis
SAP Basis is the system administration of SAP and helps keep SAP applications running smoothly 24/7.
SAP Security
SAP Security allows you to set internal security measures to control access within the organization.
SAP Solution Manager
SAP Solution Manager allows you to manage and automate technical support for your entire system.
SAP NetWeaver
SAP NetWeaver is the technical foundation that connects users to SAP software wherever they connect, such as mobile or web browsers.
Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI)
XI allows you to implement cross-system processes on services.
SAP Fiori
The SAP Fiori user experience (UX) approach offers a unique set of role-based applications that help companies manage day-to-day operations more efficiently through desktop or mobile-enabled devices. Fiori is designed to supplement and replace SAP GUI functionality, and it offers key integrations with other databases and tools, like the SAP HANA database and S/4HANA, to improve data migration and management processes.
Advanced Business Application Programming (SAP ABAP)
SAP Advanced Business Application Programming is a modern programming language derived from the computing languages Java, Python, C, and C++. Developers use SAP ABAP to create applications in the SAP environment.
What SAP Modules Are Right for My Organization?
Now that you’ve seen the top SAP modules list, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed. There’s a lot to consider when deciding what SAP modules (and even sub-modules) you need depending on your industry, company size, and business environment. That’s where Surety Systems can help.
Our team of senior-level SAP consultants has extensive experience with the SAP portfolio, and we can break down each SAP module to help you understand the benefits and value it can bring to your organization. We can also save you money by steering you away from an SAP module that might not be the right fit.
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