SAP

ENHANCEMENT PACKAGES

Overview
What is an Enhancement Package and what advantages do they offer over traditional
upgrades? Update SAP ERP 6! or upgrade SAP R"#? SAPinfo esta$lishes clarity in the
comple% world of software versions &early '()!!! customers all over the world rely on
SAP software And it has never $een easier to keep software up*to*date Since +!!6)
customers have had the opportunity to update their e%isting software applications to the
latest version via enhancement packages ,E-Ps. And they did /ore than ()#!!
customers have already installed the enhancement packages for ERP 6! to $enefit from
the newest capa$ilities availa$le 0n addition to E-P( for the ERP application) SAP plans
to release E-P1 for 2R/ 3!) SR/ 3!) S2/ 3! and P4/ 3!
Enhancement packages represent a new software delivery strategy which allows
customers to moderni5e and innovate their $usiness processes without the need of
traditional upgrades Enhancement packages for ERP include functional enhancements)
industry*specific enhancements) U0 simplifications) and enterprise service $undles 6he
first four generations of enhancement packages for ERP 6! have $een delivered and
successfully adopted in the market
Enhancement Package vs Support Packages
SAP enhancement packages are optional packages that deliver new or improved $usiness
functions which can $e selectively deployed Support Packages on the other hand) contain
corrections like $ug fi%es and legal or ta% changes and are therefore mandatory SAP
recommends installing enhancement packages when applying a regular support package
as a maintenance activity 6his com$ined approach reduces the downtime and manual
effort for the whole installation procedure and for the testing efforts
About SAP usiness Suite !
0n +!!' SAP introduced 7usiness Suite 3) a set of modular $ut integrated applications)
designed as a long*term) sustaina$le platform As shown in the figure 7usiness Suite
consists of the go*to releases of five core applications) the most recent industry and
supplementary applications availa$le since &ovem$er +1) +!!8 and the components of the
SAP &et Weaver technology platform that support the a$ove applications
The SAP Way
SAP Business Suite Innovation Road Map
"ong#Term Pre$ictabi%it&
Maintenance E'tension (or SAP usiness Suite
6o manifest the long*term predicta$ility of the 7usiness Suite and in support of the
0nnovation strategy and Roadmap the standard maintenance will $e e%tended
SAP e%tends mainstream maintenance for the 7usiness Suite core applications to
9ecem$er +!+!
)mp%ementing SAP Enhancement Package
0nstall E-P with regular maintenance activities of applying SP*Stacks


SAP EHP ! (or SAP E*P +,-

SAP Enhancement Package 3 for SAP ERP 6! contains more than 3(! $usiness
functions 6he key new features are SAP :iori) /RP runs) and data aging o$;ects
Enhancement packages give enterprises the fle%i$ility to e%tend their SAP software $y
adding only those functions and technical improvements that they actually need And)
$ecause SAP enhancement packages are simply imported into the e%isting SAP system
landscape) customers incur only a fraction of the effort) cost) and downtime that a
functional and technical ERP upgrade would entail
2ustomers activate the new $usiness functions that they want to use via the Switch
:ramework 6he enhancement packages contain new functions for $oth generic and
industry*specific processes 6hey are usually delivered to customers every two years and
$undle all the new and enhanced $usiness software functionalities that SAP has delivered
< either on an ongoing $asis or =uarterly < in the form of 0n*Advance Shipments or Service
Packs in the period since the last enhancement package was shipped
The new (unctions in EHP ! (or SAP E*P +
Enhancement package 3 for SAP ERP 6! offers more than 1!! new functions and is the
first enhancement package to $e optimi5ed for $oth the SAP -A&A data$ase and the
traditional certified data$ases
SAP has e%tended mainstream maintenance for the SAP 7usiness Suite and the
enhancement packages to the end of +!+!) which means that customers> software
investments are safe
6he enhancement packages reduce the ad;ustment effort re=uired for customers who
su$se=uently migrate their SAP 7usiness Suite to the SAP -A&A in*memory platform
Enhancement packages are cumulative 6hus) enhancement package 3 contains all the
previously delivered enhancements as well as the new ones? 6hat adds up to a grand total
of more than 3(! functions
Since enhancement package ( for SAP ERP 6!) customers have had the option of
deactivating certain $usiness functions that were previously activated
2oinciding with the release of the new enhancement package for SAP ERP) SAP has also
shipped enhancement package # for SAP 2ustomer Relationship /anagement ,SAP 2R/
3!.) SAP Supply 2hain /anagement ,SAP S2/ 3!.) and SAP Supplier Relationship
/anagement ,SAP SR/ 3!.) which are also optimi5ed for SAP -A&A
6he new functions in SAP enhancement package 3 include the current version of the SAP
2ommodity /anagement and SAP 2onvergent 2harging @! solutions Participation in the
SAP Ramp*Up program is mandatory for customers wishing to implement these solutions
SAP enhancement package 3 also includes numerous new functions for financial
accounting) logistics ) human resources) and =uality management) as well as cross*
application functions and improvements for SAP /aster 9ata Aovernance and manager
self*service ,/SS.
Three ke& new (eatures with EHP !
6he three most important new features in the current enhancement package are the SAP
:iori collection of apps) /RP ,/aterial re=uirements planning. runs powered $y SAP
-A&A) and technologies for implementing data aging concepts with SAP -A&A What
practical $enefits do they offer $usiness users?
., SAP /iori in action
6he current collection of +( role*$ased productivity apps in SAP :iori empower end users
to perform recurring daily tasks with enhanced speed and efficiency across devices <
whether they>re working on a desktop P2) smartphone) ta$let) or note$ook 6he apps offer
role*$ased processes that are personali5ed for specific user groups in the organi5ation
and that are intuitive to operate 6his means that users can complete all their tasks simply
and conveniently in a single user interface < no matter how many different SAP
applications they work with
:or e%ample) sales representatives need to access data sets from SAP 2R/ when they
want to contact a customerB $ut they also need to access SAP ERP to create sales orders
SAP :iori $undles the 2R/ and ERP transactions that the sales rep needs on a single
user interface) which can $e configured with ease to suit his or her personal re=uirements
6here is also a conte%t*$ased and role*$ased search function that helps end users find
information that they are authori5ed to access) =uickly and easily 6he search function can
$e used in connection with SAP -A&A) as can SAP :iori apps that visuali5e reports
0, /aster M*P runs
Another important innovation in SAP enhancement package 3 is the option to use SAP
-A&A 4ive to check on material availa$ility and inventory days of supply in real time at
e%ploded*view level 6here is also an option to perform ad*hoc simulations 4everaging
these options makes it possi$le to speed up comple% /RP runs and capacity planning
dramatically
:or e%ample) one customer who previously had to schedule $etween eight hours and an
entire night for an /RP run can now complete the process in less than #! minutes <
thanks to SAP -A&A As a result) this customer can perform multiple /RP runs in a single
day) a feat that would have $een virtually unthinka$le $efore 6hese improvements mean
that enterprises can adapt their production planning and control very =uickly and fle%i$ly in
response to changing customer re=uirements or to e%ceptional situations in the
manufacturing process Plant and $usiness managers can see straight away whether they
need to schedule a production order to a different machine or plant) and whether they
could save money $y sourcing parts directly from a supplier rather than through the plant>s
own warehouse
1, 2ata aging3 rea%#time access to E*P $ata
6he data aging o$;ects for SAP 7usiness Suite applications running on the SAP -A&A in*
memory platform make it possi$le to efficiently implement a data aging strategy 6his gives
end users near real*time access to data that is fre=uently re=uired in day*to*day operations
< such as the financial results for the last two years Cn the technical side) raw data from
the ERP system that is stored in the data$ase is flagged and loaded into the main memory
of the in*memory platform according to the Dhot storageE principle) where it is kept in highly
compressed form to ena$le rapid delivery of =uery results 9ata that is only re=uired
infre=uently or rarely remains in the SAP -A&A data$ase where it is accessed via SF4
=ueries
Too%s provi$e overview o( new E*P4 C*M4 an$ SCM (unctions
0t is often difficult for 06 managers to pinpoint which functions are relevant for their SAP
landscape and which are likely to add real $usiness value SAP offers two useful tools to
help customers speed up the decision*making process 6he first is SAP solution $rowser)
which gives 06 managers a fast and precise overview of all the new functions in the current
enhancement packages for SAP ERP) SAP 2R/) and SAP S2/ that are relevant for their
system landscape 6he second is the SAP $usiness function prediction self*service
tool) which < $ased on a transaction analysis in an SAP system < provides a tailored
recommendation a$out which of the new $usiness functions delivered $y enhancement
packages will $ring the greatest $usiness value to the customer
Conc%usion
SAP offers evolutionary and $reak*through innovation for the SAP 7usiness Suite
0nnovations will $e delivered continuously and non*disruptively
6he 4ong 6erm Predicta$ility with the SAP 7usiness Suite in un*matched in the industry
SAP 7usiness Suite remains the future*proof choice for $est*run $usinesses