February 20, 2010 at 14:42SAP History
Something there is nothing on a habr about good old SAP AG. But in vain! Here is a small digression into the past in order to introduce the reader to the world famous manufacturer of ERP-systems.
When five managers working for IBM decided in 1972 to create their own company and find a new way to do business more efficiently, it was hard to predict that their software would ultimately become a gold standard solution for global business. Now SAP is a world leader among suppliers of business management software solutions and ranks third among the world's leading software companies by their market capitalization (as of January 25, 2006).
Hasso Plattner, Ditmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Klaus Chira and Klaus Wellenreiter worked as system consultants at IBM when they noticed that their clients were developing the same or similar computer programs. They understood that it was necessary to supply standard software that would integrate business processes and manage information flows in real time. In addition, they were able to predict that one day the computer screen will become the focal point for data processing. Both foresights came true when they left IBM and created Systems Analysis and Program Development.
SAP was founded in Mannheim, Germany. These were the times when pocket calculators belonged to the “latest technology” and computers had a memory capacity of 500K. In the same year, Apple Computer was founded; another innovation - the first email management program was created. It didn’t take much time, and SAP was ready to launch the RF-System system, which was later called R / 1, an automatic accounting and automatic transaction processing program that differed in that it was standard software and processed data in real time. Her first clients were Rothhaendle and Knoll, who used SAP financial accounting solutions.
1972
SAP was founded as Systems Analysis and Program Development in Mannheim, Germany.
Number of employees by the end of the year: 9.
Total income: 620,000 German marks.
Entering the SAP R / 1 Solutions Market
1974
Two local companies - Rothhaendle and Knoll - choose the recently developed SAP Financial Accounting (RF) System. System
1976
SAP becomes a limited liability company called "Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing"
1977
SAP moves its headquarters from Mannheim to Waldorf.
SAP has its first international customers in Austria, and works with two partner companies.
1978
Development of a module Accounting for fixed assets Number of employees: 50
1979
Entering the SAP R / 2 Solutions Market.
Total revenue: $ 4 million
1980
50 of the 100 largest industrial enterprises in Germany are SAP customers
1981
SAP participates in its first fair in Munich
1982
SAP revenue for the year grew to $ 24 million, over 250 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland use software developed by SAP
1985
The headquarters area in Walldorf increased by 10,000 square meters.
Turnover grew by 45%.
The SAP system is used throughout Europe, as well as in South Africa, Kuwait, Trinidad, Canada, and the United States. Wayne, PA, founded the first headquarters in the United States.
1986
1st participation in the CeBIT
1988 exhibition.
Subscription capital increased from 5 million German marks to 60 million German marks, SAP becomes an open joint stock company (Frankfurt and Stuttgart).
An international training center has been established in Waldorf. SAP has its 1,000th customer, Dow Chemical
1989
SAP shares are sold on the Zurich Stock Exchange 1st SAPPHIRE Conference.
1st general meeting of shareholders.
Number of employees: more than 1,000.
SAP named “Company of the Year” by Manager Magazine
1991.
SAP enters the Russian market and begins developing a Russian version of the R / 2 system.
1992
Entering the SAP R / 3 Solutions Market.
Income is increasing and amounts to 831 million German marks, of which almost 50% is received from international operations.
1993
The customer base has grown to 3,500 companies.
SAP Introduces R / 3 System Version for Japanese Market
1995
The customer base has grown to 6,000.
SAP shares are included in the German Stock Index (DAX)
1996
SAP R / 3, version 3.1 works via the Internet
1997
SAP began developing industry solutions
1998
Company introduced in New York stock exchange.
The company brings new solutions to the market in areas such as business information storage, inter-enterprise procurement, and supply chain management.
1999
SAP delivers mySAP.com.
SAP wins Best Managed Companies Award from Industry Week.
2000
SAP creates SAPMarkets, a subsidiary specializing in creating and supporting the functioning of global interconnected markets between Internet-based enterprises, and forms a strategic alliance with Commerce One.
SAP is called “The Most Successful Company for a Long Period of Time in the 90s” (the jury consisted of 40 main managers: Wiesbaden 3/10/2000).
2001
SAP acquires Top Tier and establishes SAP Portals.
SAP's revenue in 2001 reached € 7.3 billion.
2002
SAP acquires TopManage software solutions to provide its offerings for small and medium businesses.
SAP's customer base has grown to 17,500 companies.
SAP has over 27,800 employees.
SAP celebrates its 30th anniversary!
2003
Transition from a 3-tier client / server architecture to the Enterprise Services Architecture (a Web services-based architecture for solutions supporting adaptive business), implemented on the basis of the SAP NetWeaver platform.
Source: sap.com
When five managers working for IBM decided in 1972 to create their own company and find a new way to do business more efficiently, it was hard to predict that their software would ultimately become a gold standard solution for global business. Now SAP is a world leader among suppliers of business management software solutions and ranks third among the world's leading software companies by their market capitalization (as of January 25, 2006).
Hasso Plattner, Ditmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Klaus Chira and Klaus Wellenreiter worked as system consultants at IBM when they noticed that their clients were developing the same or similar computer programs. They understood that it was necessary to supply standard software that would integrate business processes and manage information flows in real time. In addition, they were able to predict that one day the computer screen will become the focal point for data processing. Both foresights came true when they left IBM and created Systems Analysis and Program Development.
SAP was founded in Mannheim, Germany. These were the times when pocket calculators belonged to the “latest technology” and computers had a memory capacity of 500K. In the same year, Apple Computer was founded; another innovation - the first email management program was created. It didn’t take much time, and SAP was ready to launch the RF-System system, which was later called R / 1, an automatic accounting and automatic transaction processing program that differed in that it was standard software and processed data in real time. Her first clients were Rothhaendle and Knoll, who used SAP financial accounting solutions.
1972
SAP was founded as Systems Analysis and Program Development in Mannheim, Germany.
Number of employees by the end of the year: 9.
Total income: 620,000 German marks.
Entering the SAP R / 1 Solutions Market
1974
Two local companies - Rothhaendle and Knoll - choose the recently developed SAP Financial Accounting (RF) System. System
1976
SAP becomes a limited liability company called "Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing"
1977
SAP moves its headquarters from Mannheim to Waldorf.
SAP has its first international customers in Austria, and works with two partner companies.
1978
Development of a module Accounting for fixed assets Number of employees: 50
1979
Entering the SAP R / 2 Solutions Market.
Total revenue: $ 4 million
1980
50 of the 100 largest industrial enterprises in Germany are SAP customers
1981
SAP participates in its first fair in Munich
1982
SAP revenue for the year grew to $ 24 million, over 250 companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland use software developed by SAP
1985
The headquarters area in Walldorf increased by 10,000 square meters.
Turnover grew by 45%.
The SAP system is used throughout Europe, as well as in South Africa, Kuwait, Trinidad, Canada, and the United States. Wayne, PA, founded the first headquarters in the United States.
1986
1st participation in the CeBIT
1988 exhibition.
Subscription capital increased from 5 million German marks to 60 million German marks, SAP becomes an open joint stock company (Frankfurt and Stuttgart).
An international training center has been established in Waldorf. SAP has its 1,000th customer, Dow Chemical
1989
SAP shares are sold on the Zurich Stock Exchange 1st SAPPHIRE Conference.
1st general meeting of shareholders.
Number of employees: more than 1,000.
SAP named “Company of the Year” by Manager Magazine
1991.
SAP enters the Russian market and begins developing a Russian version of the R / 2 system.
1992
Entering the SAP R / 3 Solutions Market.
Income is increasing and amounts to 831 million German marks, of which almost 50% is received from international operations.
1993
The customer base has grown to 3,500 companies.
SAP Introduces R / 3 System Version for Japanese Market
1995
The customer base has grown to 6,000.
SAP shares are included in the German Stock Index (DAX)
1996
SAP R / 3, version 3.1 works via the Internet
1997
SAP began developing industry solutions
1998
Company introduced in New York stock exchange.
The company brings new solutions to the market in areas such as business information storage, inter-enterprise procurement, and supply chain management.
1999
SAP delivers mySAP.com.
SAP wins Best Managed Companies Award from Industry Week.
2000
SAP creates SAPMarkets, a subsidiary specializing in creating and supporting the functioning of global interconnected markets between Internet-based enterprises, and forms a strategic alliance with Commerce One.
SAP is called “The Most Successful Company for a Long Period of Time in the 90s” (the jury consisted of 40 main managers: Wiesbaden 3/10/2000).
2001
SAP acquires Top Tier and establishes SAP Portals.
SAP's revenue in 2001 reached € 7.3 billion.
2002
SAP acquires TopManage software solutions to provide its offerings for small and medium businesses.
SAP's customer base has grown to 17,500 companies.
SAP has over 27,800 employees.
SAP celebrates its 30th anniversary!
2003
Transition from a 3-tier client / server architecture to the Enterprise Services Architecture (a Web services-based architecture for solutions supporting adaptive business), implemented on the basis of the SAP NetWeaver platform.
Source: sap.com