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Chapter 8
NetWeaver’s Exchange Infrastructure module allows different applications to share
data. By adhering to the standard of the Exchange Infrastructure, companies can eliminate
the need to write code to enable different applications to share data. For example, using
Exchange Infrastructure, a business can keep its current electronic data interchange (EDI)
system and seamlessly integrate that with its ERP system. SAP’s Web Application Server,
the development environment that is the foundation of NetWeaver, gives Exchange
Infrastructure its customizability.
NetWeaver at Work for Fitter
Now we will examine how NetWeaver could help Fitter. Assume that Fitter has an SAP
ERP system and that Fitter’s two top salespeople, Amy Sanchez and Donald Brown, are
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busy selling NRG bars directly to customers and to distributors. Amy works from home,
and she logs on to the SAP system with her laptop computer, using the SAP GUI. She does
not know much about the SAP system, nor does she have to. She needs to know how to
place customer orders and check on their status. When Amy goes on a sales call, she
brings her calculator and notepad with her to determine quote prices and jot down order
details. When she returns home, she plugs those numbers into the SAP system and
confirms her quotes. Amy would like to have some additional information on how
salespeople in other regions are doing and what mix of bars they are promoting, but she
does not know how to access any of that information. She also would like to see if there
are new ways to market to her customers.
Donald Brown sells Fitter’s BRG bars to distributors, and he has been chosen by his
manager to test SAP NetWeaver for possible implementation at Fitter. With this new
capability, Donald’s work day has changed dramatically. During the test, Donald logs on to
his Enterprise Portal, which was tailored for his job, using his office computer. When he
does so, he can see his email, sales figures from his top 10 customers, data on production
and inventory, the current stock quote for Fitter on the NASDAQ exchange, the current
market price for oats, wheat germ, and honey, and the local weather report. Today,
Donald will make an important sales call for a regional grocery chain. He grabs his
smartphone and some extra business cards, and heads out the door. During lunch with the
purchasing manager for the grocery chain, Donald is able to check up-to-the-minute
details on current sales orders and can confirm promises to ship additional bars to the
customer next week, thanks to SAP’s Mobile Infrastructure. Back at the office, Donald calls
up the Business Intelligence module in NetWeaver. From there, he can run a few reports
to find out which snack bars are selling best nationwide, grouped by region and time of
year. He can also analyze snack bar sales using data mining, to find sales patterns that can
help him plan future sales calls.
Exercise 8.1
1. Now that you have read about the features of SAP’s NetWeaver and have
learned how Amy Sanchez and Donald Brown perform their duties at Fitter,
try to convince Fitter’s CEO to implement NetWeaver across the organization.
Write a memo to the CEO outlining your arguments.
2. The CEO is impressed with your work but has asked you for an ROI (return
on investment) analysis. How would you begin doing that? What numbers do
you need, and who are the people you would have to interview to get those
numbers?
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