NetWeaver is SAP's integrated technology platform and is the technical foundation for all SAP applications since the SAP Business Suite. SAP NetWeaver is marketed as a service-oriented application and integration platform. SAP NetWeaver provides the development and runtime environment for SAP applications and can be used for custom development and integration with other applications and systems. SAP NetWeaver is built using open standards and industry de facto standards and can be extended with, and interoperate with, technologies such as Microsoft .NET, Sun Java EE, and IBM WebSphere.

SAP NetWeaver's release is considered as a strategic move by SAP for driving enterprises to run their business on a single, integrated platform that includes both applications and technology. Industry analysts refer to this type of integrated platform offering as an "applistructure" (applications + infrastructure). It is widely held that this approach is driven by industry's need to lower IT costs through an enterprise architecture that is at once (1) more flexible; (2) better integrated with applications; (3) built on open standards to ensure future interoperability and broad integration; and, (4) provided by a vendor that is financially viable for the long term.

SAP is fostering relationships with system integrators and independent software vendors, many of the latter becoming "Powered by SAP NetWeaver".

SAP NetWeaver is part of SAP's plan to transition to a more open, service-oriented architecture and to deliver the technical foundation of its applications on a single, integrated platform and common release cycle.

Composition

NetWeaver is essentially the integrated stack of SAP technology products. The SAP Web Application Server (sometimes referred to as WebAS) is the runtime environment for the SAP applications -- all of the mySAP Business Suite solutions (SRM, CRM, SCM, PLM, ERP) run on SAP WebAS.

Products

The core products that make up SAP NetWeaver include:

• SAP NetWeaver Application Server
• SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (PI)
• SAP NetWeaver Enterprise Portal (EP)
• SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM)
• SAP NetWeaver Mobile
• SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence
• SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment (CE)

SAP has also teamed with hardware vendors like HP, IBM, Fujitsu-Siemens, and Sun to deliver appliances (i.e., hardware + software) to simplify and enhance the deployment of NetWeaver components. Examples of these appliances include:

• BI Accelerator
• Enterprise Search

Development Tools

• ABAP Workbench (SE80)
• SAP NetWeaver Developer Studio (NWDS) based on Eclipse
• SAP Netweaver Development Infrastructure (NWDI)
• Visual Composer

see also:

• Web Dynpro
• SAP Enterprise Portal Content Studio
• SAP Composite Application Framework - an environment for designing and using composite applications

Features

• SOAP and Web Services
• Interoperability with Java EE (WebSphere)
• Interoperability with .NET (Microsoft)
• Integration of Business Intelligence
• xApps
• Duet

Specifically, ERP is being extended by Business Process Management Systems (BPMs) and, as BPMs takes hold as the pre-dominant technical platform for new applications, expect to see radical changes to ERP architecture in the years ahead. Allen Davis, a NetWeaver xMII expert, has successfully used Six Sigma scenarios as information in real time from shop floor control systems and used in plant quality control lab experimental tests. The technology has been applied to a wide range of industries and applications.

SAP's Netweaver platform is still backwards-compatible with ABAP, SAP's custom development language.

References

• Steffen Karch, Loren Heilig: SAP NetWeaver Roadmap. Galileo Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59229-041-8

External links

• SAP Netweaver Information
• SDN, the SAP Developer Network - a comprehensive resource about SAP Netweaver
• SAP's Help Documentation Portal
• Download SAP NetWeaver Whitepapers

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