Database Reference
In-Depth Information
13.1.1.3 SAP as Populated CASE Environment
In their most developed form in the later part of the last century, CASE technology was consti-
tuted of the following components:
1. Methods
2. Tools Environment
The CASE environment was a set of integrated tools that were designed to work together and to
assist or possibly automate all phases of the SDLC.
SAP environments like NetWeaver system, SAP Repository (constituted of advanced tools
like the ABAP Dictionary, ABAP Development Workbench, CATT, Workbench Organizer), and
Business Engineer (constituted of R/3 Reference Model, Business Navigator, Procedure Model
superseded now by ASAP, IMG, International Demo and Education System [IDES], etc.) form a
state-of-the-art CASE environment.
However, as noted earlier, SAP is not only one of the best CASE environments, it is also
a populated CASE in that its repository is populated with the details of the most comprehen-
sive application system, namely, SAP consisting of Financials, Logistics, and Human Resource
systems.
13.1.1.4 SAP Implementations and Expert Systems
Expert systems (ESs) were environments that extended the realm of reusability into the areas of
operations and usage of the computerized systems. These knowledge-base-driven systems applied
inferences processing to a knowledge base containing data and business or decision rules that
matured depending on the veracity of the produced results.
In their most advanced form around the late 1980s, ES technology was constituted of the fol-
lowing components:
1. Knowledge Base
2. Inference Engine that
learned
and fine-tuned its performance based on some predefined cri-
teria with reference to the usefulness of the inferred results (this learning could be in terms
of generating new rules or modifying the strengths of the current rules or even updating the
knowledge base itself)
AcceleratedSAP is not an expert system in the traditional sense; however, it does have the basic
ingredients of a knowledge base and production of inferences or suggested actions. In fact,
in certain cases, it affects these actions automatically onto the SAP system. The knowledge
base of AcceleratedSAP keeps on getting upgraded based on the latest reported experiences
and expertise gleaned from SAP implementations. Presently, this is not an online, dynamic,
and automatic update like some of the other services provided by SAP like GoingLive Check
or EarlyWatch Alert service; SAP releases periodic upgrade of this knowledge base through
CD-ROMs. But it is easy to imagine that AcceleratedSAP may become an online service
like GoingLive Check and other services accessible through the Internet in the near future.
And it may also become a full-featured expert system with its characteristic features and
user interface.
