Founded in 1972, the company was initially called System Analysis Program Development (Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung), later abbreviated to SAP. Since then, it has grown from a small, five-person endeavor to a multinational enterprise headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, with more than 101,000 employees worldwide.
With the introduction of its original SAP R/2 and SAP R/3 software, SAP established the global standard for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Now, SAP S/4HANA takes ERP to the next level by using the power of in-memory computing to process vast amounts of data, and to support advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
The name is an initialism of the company’s original German name: Systemanalyse Programmentwicklung, which translates to System Analysis Program Development. Today the company’s legal corporate name is SAP SE — SE stands for societas Europaea, a public company registered in accordance with the European Union corporate law.
People often ask, “How do you say SAP?” It is an initialism, not an acronym, therefore, it is pronounced as individual letters (S-A-P). SAP is not pronounced as a word (“sap”).
Traditional business models often decentralise data management, with each business function storing its own operational data in a separate database. This makes it difficult for employees from different business functions to access each other’s information. Furthermore, duplication of data across multiple departments increases IT storage costs and the risk of data errors.
By centralising data management, SAP software provides multiple business functions with a single view of the truth. This helps companies better manage complex business processes by giving employees of different departments easy access to real-time insights across the enterprise. As a result, businesses can accelerate workflows, improve operational efficiency, raise productivity, enhance customer experiences – and ultimately increase profits.