In 1972, five former IBM
employees -- Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus Tschira,
and Claus Wellenreuther -- launch a company called Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing in Mannheim, Germany. Their vision was
to develop standard application software for real-time business processes.
SAP is now the
recognized leader in providing collaborative business solutions for all types
of industries and for every major market. Serving a huge number of customers
worldwide, SAP is the world's largest business software company and the world's third-largest independent
software provider overall.
In 1990s SAP R/3 was
released.
With SAP R/3, SAP ushers
in a new generation of enterprise software -- from mainframe computing
(client-server architecture) to the three-tier architecture of database,
application, and user interface.
· Presentation Layer components are installed
across many PCs
· The Application Layer components are installed
across one or more high- end servers.
· The Database Layer components are installed on
high-end database server.
R/3 applications are written in the ABAP programming language, and run within the application layer of the R/3 System.
ABAP programs communicate with the database management system of the central relational database (RDBMS), and with the graphical user interface (SAPGUI) at presentation level.



