<s>
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
is	O
the	O
former	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
enterprise	O
resource	O
planning	O
software	O
produced	O
by	O
the	O
German	O
corporation	O
SAP	B-Application
AG	I-Application
(	O
now	O
SAP	B-Application
SE	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
successor	O
software	O
to	O
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
is	O
known	O
as	O
SAP	B-Application
S/4HANA	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
R/2	I-Application
was	O
a	O
mainframe-based	B-Architecture
business	O
application	O
software	O
suite	O
that	O
was	O
very	O
successful	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
and	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
distributed	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
,	O
SAP	B-Application
SE	I-Application
brought	O
out	O
a	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
version	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
called	O
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
(	O
the	O
"	O
R	O
"	O
was	O
for	O
"	O
Real-time	O
data	O
processing	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
3	O
"	O
was	O
for	O
"	O
3-tier	O
"	O
:	O
1	O
)	O
database	O
,	O
2	O
)	O
application	O
server	O
,	O
and	O
3	O
)	O
client	O
(	O
SAPgui	O
)	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
new	O
architecture	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
multiple	O
platforms	O
and	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
or	O
UNIX	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
opened	O
up	O
SAP	B-Application
to	O
a	O
whole	O
new	O
customer	O
base	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
was	O
officially	O
launched	O
on	O
6	O
July	O
1992	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
newer	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
,	O
with	O
revised	O
technical	O
architecture	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
2004	O
,	O
and	O
renamed	O
as	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
Central	O
Component	O
(	O
ECC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
came	O
to	O
dominate	O
the	O
large	O
business	O
applications	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newest	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
product	O
is	O
SAP	B-Application
ECC	I-Application
6.0	O
Enhancement	O
Pack	O
8	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
ECC	I-Application
is	O
the	O
core	O
component	O
within	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
's	O
Business	O
Suite	O
(	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
applications	O
including	O
SAP	B-Application
CRM	I-Application
,	O
SAP	B-Application
SCM	O
and	O
others	O
,	O
alongside	O
the	O
ECC	O
component	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
ECC	I-Application
contains	O
different	O
,	O
but	O
integrated	O
,	O
functionality	O
within	O
its	O
"	O
modules	O
"	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
combined	O
complexity	O
of	O
the	O
Business	O
Suite	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
newer	O
in-cloud	O
competitors	O
,	O
has	O
in	O
recent	O
years	O
led	O
SAP	B-Application
to	O
invest	O
heavily	O
in	O
simplification	O
and	O
massively	O
improved	O
system	O
response	O
times	O
,	O
culminating	O
in	O
the	O
announcement	O
of	O
the	O
S/4	O
Simple	O
Suite	O
in	O
February	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
S/4	O
has	O
a	O
single	O
tenant	O
architecture	O
and	O
is	O
being	O
built	O
upon	O
SAP	B-Application
's	O
in-memory	O
database	O
technology	O
stack	O
(	O
HANA	O
)	O
and	O
will	O
be	O
available	O
in	O
a	O
choice	O
of	O
in-cloud	O
and	O
on-premises	O
deployment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
was	O
arranged	O
into	O
distinct	O
functional	O
modules	O
,	O
covering	O
the	O
typical	O
functions	O
in	O
a	O
business	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
typically	O
focused	O
on	O
best	O
practice	O
methodologies	O
for	O
driving	O
its	O
software	O
processes	O
,	O
but	O
more	O
recently	O
expanded	O
into	O
vertical	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
these	O
situations	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
produced	O
specialized	O
modules	O
(	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
IS	O
or	O
Industry	O
Specific	O
)	O
geared	O
toward	O
a	O
particular	O
market	O
segment	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
utilities	O
or	O
retail	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
based	O
the	O
architecture	O
of	O
R/3	O
on	O
a	O
three-tier	O
client/server	B-Operating_System
structure	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
SAP	B-Application
allows	O
the	O
IT	O
supported	O
processing	O
of	O
a	O
multitude	O
of	O
tasks	O
which	O
occur	O
in	O
a	O
typical	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
newer	O
SAP	B-Application
ERP	I-Application
software	O
differs	O
from	O
R/3	O
mainly	O
because	O
it	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
SAP	B-Application
NetWeaver	I-Application
:	O
core	O
components	O
can	O
be	O
implemented	O
in	O
ABAP	B-Language
and	O
in	O
Java	B-Device
and	O
new	O
functional	O
areas	O
are	O
mostly	O
no	O
longer	O
created	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
previous	O
ERP	O
system	O
,	O
with	O
closely	O
interconnected	O
constituents	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
self-contained	O
components	O
or	O
even	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
server	O
contains	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	O
server	O
is	O
a	O
collection	O
of	O
executables	O
that	O
collectively	O
interpret	O
the	O
ABAP/4	B-Language
(	O
Advanced	O
Business	O
Application	O
Programming	O
/	O
4th	O
Generation	O
)	O
programs	O
and	O
manage	O
the	O
input	O
and	O
output	O
for	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
server	O
exists	O
to	O
interpret	O
ABAP/4	B-Language
programs	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
only	O
run	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
an	O
ABAP/4	B-Language
program	O
requests	O
information	O
from	O
the	O
database	O
,	O
the	O
application	O
server	O
will	O
send	O
the	O
request	O
to	O
the	O
database	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Server-to-server	O
communications	O
can	O
be	O
encrypted	O
with	O
the	O
SAP	B-Application
cryptographic	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
relevant	O
parts	O
of	O
SECUDE	O
,	O
SAP	B-Application
was	O
able	O
to	O
provide	O
cryptographic	O
libraries	O
with	O
SAP	B-Application
R/3	I-Application
for	O
Secure	B-Application
Network	I-Application
Communications	I-Application
and	O
Secure	B-Protocol
Sockets	I-Protocol
Layer	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
