The different SAP solutions

Discover our SAP solutions guide to understand SAP architecture.

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SAP is not just software, nor is it a single product.
It's a complete ecosystem of business management solutions, capable of adapting to all businesses, all sizes of organization, and all sectors of activity.

From financial management to supply chain management, from human resources to project management and data analysis, SAP offers a range of modular solutions, centralized in a powerful, integrated ERP system.

Some solutions are well known, such as SAP S/4HANA or SAP Business Suite. Others, like SAP Fieldglass, Concur or SuccessFactorsare specialized in specific areas (purchasing, HR, cloud services).

👉 This page gives you a clear overview of the main SAP solutions, so that you can better understand :

Their role in company management
How they differ from "SAP modules
How they fit into an overall system

It's the perfect guide if you're looking to understand the architecture of the SAP world, choose the right solution for your business, or orient yourself in your training or retraining.

🎯 What are SAP solutions for?

SAP solutions are used to control, automate and optimize all business processes.
They are designed to meet the business needs of each department: accounting, production, HR, purchasing, sales, logistics, project management, customer relations...

In practice, an SAP solution is a specialized business application, often made up of several modules, which is integrated into an overall ERP system.

Let's look at a few concrete examples:

An industrial company uses SAP S/4HANA to manage production, inventory, sales and finances.
An international group deploys SAP SuccessFactors to manage its human resources on a global scale.
A service provider adopts SAP Concur to automate expense reports and SAP Ariba to manage its suppliers.

Each SAP solution enables :

Centralize data in a single system
Gain visibility on company performance
Streamline processes between departments
Meeting regulatory and financial obligations
Reducing costs related to manual errors or duplications

In short, SAP solutions enable companies to better manage their resources, costs and decisionsin a secure, structured and scalable environment.

🧩 The differences between SAP solutions and modules?

In the SAP world, we often confuse solution and module. However, these two notions do not have quite the same function.

It represents a a unit specializing in a particular area of management accounting (FI), sales (SD), production (PP), human resources (HCM), etc.
The modules are integrated into a ERP system and interact with each other: a purchase impacts the accounting department, a customer order triggers a delivery, and so on.

They are at the heart of historical versions like SAP ECC and modern versions like SAP S/4HANA.

Find out more ...

A solution consists of one or more modules and meets a global business needoften on a larger perimeter than that of a single module.

For example:

SAP Financial Management includes FI, CO, TRM modules, etc.
SAP Supply Chain Management includes MM, WM, EWM, PP, and even TM or IBP depending on configuration.
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based HR solution, gradually replacing HCM in the cloud, with modern, integrated functionalities.

In other words:

A module is a brick
A solution is a coherent set of brickssometimes cloud, sometimes on-premise, sometimes hybrid.

This distinction is essential to understand how to choose, implement or train on SAP, depending on the architecture of a project or the specific needs of a company.

🏛️ SAP Business Suite

SAP Business Suite is one of SAP's historic suites, designed to meet the complete integrated management needs of large enterprises.

It is based on the previous generation of ERP (SAP ECC), but has evolved and been enhanced by numerous advanced solutions.

Here are the key components found in the SAP Business Suite environment (and its successors):

SAP Datasphere : It's the modern solution for enterprise data management in a cloud environment. It connects, transforms and orchestrates data from SAP and other systems, while guaranteeing security and governance.
SAP Analytics Cloud : Un outil puissant de Business Intelligence (BI) and data visualization. It enables users to create interactive dashboards, make forecasts, and manage their business with customized indicators.
SAP BTP (Business Technology Platform) : La technology platform SAP's core business, which combines database management, artificial intelligence, process automation and customized application development.
This is where companies develop, extend or integrate their SAP and non-SAP applications.
SAP S/4HANA : Le successeur direct de SAP ECC. Il s’agit de la new generation of intelligent ERPwhich works in real time, integrates AI, and is optimized for the database. in-memory HANA.
SAP S/4HANA is available in cloud or on-premiseIt has become the heart of the information system for many companies.
SAP Business One : Une lightweight ERP solutiondesigned for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers accounting, sales management, inventory, CRM and other functionalities, at a more affordable cost than traditional solutions.
SAP Business AI : C’est la artificial intelligence brick from the SAP world. It can be integrated into several solutions to automate tasksWe're here to help you make the most of your data, offer intelligent recommendations or analyze large quantities of data.

Today, the SAP Business Suite and its extensions form a modular, interconnected and scalable architecture, which can be adapted to companies according to their size, business sector and digital maturity.

💰 SAP Financial Management

La solution SAP Financial Management regroupe l’ensemble des outils nécessaires pour piloter la performance financière d’une entreprise, avec précision, fiabilité et conformité.

It is designed to help finance departments go beyond accounting, integrating analysis, planning, taxation and cash flow management.

Here are the main components of this solution:

SAP Financial Planning and Analysis : Cette application permet aux équipes financières de forecast, simulate and adjust their strategy. It offers budget planning, scenario simulation and real-time monitoring of variances between forecasts and actuals.
SAP Accounting and Financial Close : Elle automatise les processus comptables et accélère les financial closings monthly, quarterly or annually.
It also guarantees regulatory compliance and traceability of entries.
SAP Tax Management: This module supports the management of tax obligationsincluding VAT, multi-country declarations, and adaptation to legal changes.
It reduces the risk of errors and the costs associated with non-compliance.
SAP Treasury and Working Capital Management: Centralizes the management of the treasuryand cashand financial risks and investments.
It provides a consolidated view of cash flows and enables better anticipation of financing requirements.
SAP Quote-to-Cash Management: This module manages the entire sales process, from quotation to collection quotations, contracts, invoicing, collection.
It aligns the sales, finance and customer service teams around a common goal. smooth, optimized sales cycle.
SAP GRC and Cybersecurity: GRC stands for Governance, Risk and Compliance. This solution ensures financial transaction securitythe sensitive access managementthe regulatory compliance and the cyber security of the SAP system.

Together, these solutions enable finance departments to make informed decisions, d'improve profitability and reduce riskswhile improving operational efficiency.

💳 SAP Spend Management

SAP Spend Management groups together SAP solutions designed to control and optimize company spending, whether on purchasing, subcontracting, business travel or supplier management.

This portfolio is at the heart of strategies to reduce costs and manage the risks associated with external spending. It provides a clear view of outgoing flows, enables more effective negotiation, and ensures process compliance.

Here are the main solutions included:

SAP Ariba: One of the world's most widely used e-procurement platforms. It connects buyers and suppliers in a single collaborative networkIt facilitates tendering, procurement, negotiation and invoicing.
SAP Concur: Solution dedicated to expense and travel management. It makes it easy for employees to declare their expenses, while ensuring a smooth automatic, compliant monitoring business expenses.
SAP Fieldglass: Specialized in management of external service providers and temporary workers. It offers total visibility on assignments, costs and compliance, particularly useful in organizations that use subcontractors.
SAP Business Network Discovery: This platform enables you to find new suppliers compare offers, and expand buying opportunities in a fast-growing worldwide network. It enhances the agility of supply chains.

With SAP Spend Management, companies gain control, reduce value leakage, improve transparency and make better purchasing decisions. based on reliable data.

🚚 SAP Supply Chain Management

SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM) brings together SAP solutions dedicated to optimizing supply chains, from planning to final delivery.

The aim is to enable companies to react rapidly to market fluctuations, while reducing the costs and risks associated with production, supply and distribution.

Here are the main components of this solution:

SAP IBP (Integrated Business Planning): A tool for advanced planning which aligns demand, production capacity, inventory and financial objectives. It fosters collaboration between the various players in the supply chain, thanks to a integrated, real-time vision.
SAP S/4HANA for Advanced ATP : ATP stands for Available To Promise. This solution helps check product availability in real time, à promise reliable delivery timesand manage priorities according to company rules. A key asset for maintaining high level of customer service.
SAP Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management: Enables you to plan, execute and monitor complex projects (new products, industrial investments, supply chain launches...). This brick links logistics, resources and finance in a single tool.
SAP Field Service Management: Optimize field service management, including technician assignment, appointment scheduling, geolocation, spare parts management... A must for companies with mobile technical teams.

With SAP SCM, companies have a comprehensive centralized management of their supply chainThe new system is designed to anticipate out-of-stock situations, optimize inventories and enhance customer satisfaction.

👥 SAP Human Capital Management

The SAP Human Capital Management (HCM) solution enables you to manage the entire lifecycle of your employees: recruitment, integration, administrative follow-up, training, compensation, internal mobility...

It meets strategic talent management challenges, while ensuring HR compliance and a seamless employee experience.

Today, this solution is available in two complementary forms:

SAP HCM (on-premise): This is the historic solution, often used internally by large companies. It offers powerful functionalities for personnel management, payroll, time and absence tracking, training, etc.
It is integrated with the rest of the SAP ERP system, making it easy to centralize HR data.
SAP SuccessFactors (cloud): SuccessFactors is the upgraded cloud version from SAP HCM. It stands out for its user-friendly interface, rapid deployment and ability to integrate global HR best practices.
It covers talent management (recruitment, performance, development, succession), e-learning and employee experience management.

With SAP HCM and SuccessFactors, companies can align their HR strategy with their business objectivesThe company's strategy is to develop its human capital and anticipate tomorrow's needs.

🤝 SAP Customer Experience

The SAP Customer Experience suite (formerly SAP C/4HANA) is designed to offer companies a unified, fluid and intelligent vision of customer relations.
It covers all points of contact: marketing, sales, service, customer data management, and even product resale.

Its objective: to enable a personalized, omnichannel and consistent customer experience, while respecting data confidentiality and modern expectations.

Here are the main components of this solution:

SAP Recommerce: An innovative solution, SAP Recommerce helps brands manage resale of reconditioned productsThis new approach is in line with the challenges of sustainability and the circular economy. It gives new life to products, while strengthening customer loyalty.
SAP Customer Data Platform: Centralizes all customer data from multiple channels (web, mobile, point-of-sale, etc.) to build rich, coherent profiles. It enables marketing and sales interactions to be better segmented, targeted and personalized.
SAP Customer Identity and Access Management: Ensures security and RGPD compliance in customer account management. It enables users to manage their consents, preferences and identifiers autonomously, while securing access.
SAP Sales Cloud: Optimize sales processes, including lead management, opportunity management, quotation management and pipeline management. Sales reps gain in efficiency, with a modern, mobile tool that's connected to reality in the field.
SAP Service Cloud: Improving service management customer support It offers a wide range of services: tickets, chat, FAQ, tracking of interventions. It gives support teams a 360° view of the customer, for faster, more personalized processing of requests.
SAP Emarsys Solution: A platform for multi-channel marketing automationdesigned to create personalized campaigns based on customer behavior. Ideal for marketing teams who want to boost customer engagement with precision.

With SAP Customer Experience, the company no longer just sells, but also creates long-lasting, intelligent, value-driven customer relationshipsin an omnichannel environment.

🔄 SAP Business Transformation Management

SAP Business Transformation Management brings together tools designed to support companies in their digital, organizational and operational transformation projects.

This is a set of solutions that enable processes to be analyzed, modeled, automated and managed, in order to improve overall performance.

Here are the main tools that make up this solution:

SAP Signavio: This is the reference platform for the business process modeling. It maps existing workflows, identifies inefficiencies and suggests improvements. A key tool in any transformation project.
SAP Build Process Automation: This solution enables you toautomate repetitive manual tasks without complex coding. It combines robotic automation (RPA), low-code workflows and integration with other SAP solutions to enhance operational agility.
SAP Enable Now: Tool for contextual training and online help. It enables SAP users to access tutorials, step-by-step guides and support content directly in their working environment. An asset for accelerating skills development.
SAP LeanIX: Specialized in application landscape management and enterprise architecture. LeanIX visualizes how applications interact, identifies redundancies and supports rationalization decisions.
SAP Joule : The assistant intelligent and conversational from SAP, designed to facilitate decision-making. It relies on AI to analyze data, make recommendations, and deliver contextualized insights to business users.

Thanks to this ecosystem, companies can conduct their transformation projects in a structured, data-driven waywhile involving operational teams.

👨‍💻 SAP Technical Skills

In the SAP world, technical skills are essential for developing, customizing and maintaining existing solutions.

Whether creating interfaces, automating processes or optimizing system performance, SAP developers have powerful, interconnected tools at their disposal.

Here are the main technologies used:

SAP Fiori: SAP's modern user interface, based on user-centered UX principles. Fiori transforms the classic SAP experience (often considered austere) into intuitive, responsive and business-oriented applications.
Developers create Fiori apps to simplify access to critical system functions.
SAP ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming): SAP's historic language. It enables develop customized programs, reports, interfaces and extensions within the SAP system. This is the most sought-after skill among traditional SAP developers.
SAP Eclipse: Integrated development environment (IDE) that enables SAP developers to write ABAP code, develop OData services, manage Fiori projects and integrate their developments with other modern technologies.
SAP UI5: Open-source JavaScript framework used to build Fiori user interfaces. UI5 lets you develop dynamic, high-performance web applications that are perfectly integrated into the SAP ecosystem.

These technical skills are key to adapting SAP to specific needs of each company. They make it possible to go further than standard configuration, by creating customized, robust and maintainable solutions.

🤔 Why are there so many SAP solutions?

It's a common question, and a legitimate one!

SAP has progressively expanded its catalog of solutions to meet the varied and complex needs of companies, whatever their sector, size or digital maturity.

It's not just a monolithic ERP: SAP is a constantly evolving ecosystem, covering :

All business processes (purchasing, sales, HR, finance, production, logistics, etc.)
All types of company (SMEs, multinationals, public bodies, etc.)
All operating modes (on-premise, cloud, hybrid)

Every SAP solution is specialized, modular and complementary.
They can be deployed independently or in synergy, depending on the business context and strategic priorities.

And it is precisely this flexibility which has made SAP a world leader for over 40 years.

🔗 Are SAP solutions modular and interconnected?

Yes, and it's one of the cornerstones of the SAP approach.

All SAP solutions are designed to communicate with each other, thanks to a modular architecture and native connectors. This means..:

Fewer data silos

Smoother business processes

A unified corporate vision

For example:

A sales order in Sales Cloud can automatically generate an invoice in SAP FI.
A new employee registered in SuccessFactors can be automatically synchronized in the SAP HCM payroll database.
Data from SAP IBP can be used as a basis for financial forecasts in SAP FP&A.

This interconnection makes it possible to build a coherent, scalable, data-driven system, while retaining the ability to evolve module by module, solution by solution.

SAP is not just an ERP. It's a strategic platform, made up of complementary solutions that enable a company to manage all its activities, while adapting to its context and challenges.

Understanding the different SAP solutions, their uses and interactions, means you're already prepared to :

Take an active part in an SAP project
Intelligent training for your profession or objective
Evolve in a rich, structured professional ecosystem with a constant demand for skills

Whether you are in the discovery phase or already on a training course :
👉 this overview of SAP solutions is your compass for navigate the SAP world with clarity.