Actually, the change is even more fundamental than that. Albeit slowly, SAP oversaw the shift from MRP to ERP, from mainframe to client-server, and the current move to a services-based architecture. It has learnt some important lessons on the way and is busy applying these to the latest developments, and it is this that makes the innovative moniker plausible. The most important lesson is the awareness that it has to deliver more than technology or functionality, and evidence that it has learned the lesson is starting to be demonstrated though its Enterprise Services Architecture initiative.
ESA is SAP’s interpretation of a service-oriented architecture, implemented via its NetWeaver integration platform and its application stack. Where ESA represents an architectural concept based around the idea of an open, services-based architecture designed for adaptability and flexibility, NetWeaver provides the technology to enable it. Layered on top of this are application components such as CRM and ERP, and composite applications in the form of xApps. The company hopes ESA will be the blueprint for composing new applications and extended existing applications, while maintaining a level of flexibility and adaptability that will make future changes feasible.
Beyond services-oriented architecture
ESA goes beyond SOA because where the term SOA and its critical component Web Services are used to describe a technology stack, ESA extends the principle to provide enterprise-level business functionality in the form of Enterprise Services. Where Web Services are generic, low-level services, SAP says its Enterprise Services are higher-level business services that take the more granular Web Services and aggregate them into reusable elements capable of bringing value to the business.
For example, where the Web Service Delete a Purchase Order would delete a PO in a specified database, the Enterprise Service Cancel a Purchase Order could cope with the broad, end-to-end set of activities that are needed at a business level, including triggering associated actions such as checking the order against production orders and billing processes, and updating inventory or warehouse information. The difference between Enterprise Services and Web Services can be summed up as business reality as opposed to technology function.
Influencing the next generation
At the moment ESA and Enterprise Services are themselves more vision than reality. SAP has set itself some highly ambitious targets in relation to ESA and there is plenty that can and probably will go wrong, but it is an area where SAP is innovating. With the company putting more than half of its considerable resources into its development, it is critical to SAP, and given the size and spread of its customer base, ESA is also likely to be instrumental in how services-oriented architecture is implemented and developed in the business world. Dedicated ESA-watchers may be the first to glean an understanding of what the next generation of enterprise applications will be like.
