SAP is a German multinational corporation which has been creating enterprise software since 1972 to manage all types business operations and customer relationships. It is especially known for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software which has been trusted by organizations across the world. R/1, R/2, R/3, ECC, and S/4HANA – These are the various SAP ERP software which are made available by SAP over the years. SAP ECC ERP is that the most used SAP ERP software now.
What Is SAP ECC Stands For?
One of the key technologies in business and every one other industry is SAP ECC. SAP ECC has been around, when it started as a financial software package. It was originally called RF. SAP ECC stands for SAP ERP which is that the first applications suite for businesses. Over the years, the software suite has expanded to incorporate another module like RM/1. The suite was renamed R/1 within a couple of years of its introduction.
R/2 was introduced back in 1979. The software combined multiple enterprise functions. SAP is implemented in all sectors like logistics & supply chain management, human resources, manufacturing, and accounting. This version became the primary client/server technology that didn’t require any mainframes. R/3 supported a spread of databases and computer systems.
What Does Sap HANA Stands For?
SAP S/4HANA in called as SAP Business Suite 4 SAP HANA. It is the latest ERP offering from SAP and is based on the SAP HANA in-memory database to help organizations execute transactions and analyse business data in real-time. It is the fourth version of the SAP Business Suite and is meant to run only on SAP HANA.
With an user experience powered by Fiori, embedded real-time analytics, and HANA powered in-memory processing to handle large data volumes of operational and transactional business data, SAP S/4HANA helps in assisting organizations to run simpler and faster with better efficiency. In addition, SAP S/4HANA solves batch latency, manually driven processes, data sprawl – problems which are present in traditional ERP systems.
SAP S/4HANA, flagship products and is heavily pushing it to be the successor for SAP ECC. As of December 6, 2019, SAP intends to prevent supporting SAP ECC by 2025. As discussed before, they are promoting SAP S/4HANA as the go-to solution for existing SAP ERP customers and are hoping to move the 40000+ SAP ECC users to SAP S/4HANA by 2025.
Similarities
The two SAP ERP systems share variety of commonalities.
Both ECC and S/4HANA enables for all types of business operations for sales, procurement, manufacturing, distribution, service, quality, accounting operations and plant maintenance. Both systems offer centralization of a company’s operational information during a single database; standardization and automation of routine tasks and one source for operational reporting. ECC and S/4HANA are both modular systems, designed so businesses can use the pieces they have, configured in such a way that makes sense as per business requirements.
SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC probably share almost 90% of their core features and functions. However, with technological shifts, there are sure to be differences and benefits companies can reap within them.
Differences
- Database. SAP ECC can run on third-party databases like Oracle, MaxDB and IBM. SAP S/4HANA can only run-on SAP HANA, an in-memory modern technology.
- Customer vs. vendor to Business Partner. SAP ECC maintains separate customer and vendor files, even in those cases where a corporation partners with a corporation for both functions. S/4HANA combines common arrangement elements into a Business Partner record.
- Merger of Controlling (CO) and Finance (FI). In SAP ECC, FI GL accounts are mapped to CO primary cost elements. In S/4HANA, the structure of the universal journal is employed to store both GL account and price element.
- New General Ledger (GL). SAP ECC can run on either a “classic” GL structure or the “new” GL structure. S/4HANA uses only the new GL, which is technically very similar to that of the new GL in ECC. However, the new GL’s functionality is required in S/4HANA and may be a prerequisite for brand spanking new asset accounting.
- Rebates. Customer rebates through existing SD rebate processing in ECC are replaced by settlement management through condition contracts in S/4HANA.
