Introduction to Business Process: Chapter 2 Quiz

Give Examples of Service-oriented architecture

By using Web services, companies could now integrate multiple client-server applications and create enterprise mash-ups, or composite applications. Composite applications and mash-ups rely on Web services to send and receive data between and among ES in a standardized way, which eliminates a great deal of cost and complexity from integration projects. In addition, they execute newer and more specific processes than are typically found in the standard ES.

What is the difference between Client-Server Architecture and Service-oriented architecture?

Client-Server Architecture CSA) is more limited, you have to be in a certain place to log in; whereas, Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is more advanced, you can log in anywhere - instead of using three layers this is more web-based.

SAP ERP modules:

Production Planning (PP), Materials Management (MM), Sales and Distribution (SD), Plant Maintenance (PM), Project Systems (PS), Quality Management (QM), Financial Accounting (FI), Management Accounting / Controlling (CO), Human Resources (HR), and Business Intelligence (BI).

Service-oriented architecture, or SOA.

The fundamental concept behind SOA relates to the technical capabilities that allow systems to connect with one another through standardized interfaces called Web services. By using Web services, companies could now integrate multiple client-server applications and create enterprise mash-ups, or composite applications. Composite applications and mash-ups rely on Web services to send and receive data between and among ES in a standardized way, which eliminates a great deal of cost and complexity from integration projects. In addition, they execute newer and more specific processes than are typically found in the standard ES In essence, SOA enables companies to build composite applications on top of their existing three-tier client-server applications without changing the underlying applications. This capability gives companies an entirely new level of flexibility at an extremely low cost.

Client-Server Architecture

Think of a desktop application that you routinely use, such as word processing, spreadsheet, or presentation software. These applications consist of three components, or layers: (1) how you interact with the application (using menus, typing, and selecting); (2) what the application allows you to do (create formulas or charts, compose a document); and (3) where the application stores your work (on your hard drive or flash drive). These layers are the presentation layer, application layer, and data layer, respectively. In the desktop applications mentioned above, all three layers are contained in one system. In contrast, the three-tier client-server architecture separates these layers into three separate systems. Much of the work you do on the Internet uses a three-tier architecture. Your browser is the presentation layer. Through your browser, you connect to many systems (websites) that provide a variety of capabilities (e-mail, purchasing goods, information sharing). These websites contain the applications that execute the request you send through the browser (via HTTP), and they retrieve and store data in a connected database. The shift to the three-tier client-server architecture in the early 1990's dramatically reduced the costs of acquiring, implementing, and using an ES while significantly increasing the scalability of the systems.

Enterprise Systems

are one of the most complex and powerful information systems in use today.

Capabilities of an ERP system are often described in terms of:

modules or specific capabilities, and it is still quite common to see or hear SAP ERP referred to in terms of module abbreviations in job advertisements or industry discussions.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

systems are the world's largest and most complex ES. ERP systems focus primarily on intra-company processes—that is, the operations that are performed within an organization—and they integrate functional and cross-functional business processes. Typical ERP systems support Operations (Production), Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Sales & Distribution, and Procurement. SAP was the first company to create a fully integrated and global ERP system, SAP R/3, which could manage end-to-end processes for companies that operated in many different countries, with multiple languages and currencies. SAP was generated through IBM.

Scalability refers to:

the ability of the hardware and software to support a greater number of users easily over time, typically at a decreasing cost per user. These two benefits transformed ES from a capability that only a few large companies could afford into a technology that hundreds of thousands of companies now utilize.

SAP ERP

the world's most popular enterprise system.

The architecture of enterprise system refers

to the technical structure of the software, the ways that users interact with the software, and the ways the software is physically managed on computer hardware. Most modern ES have either a three-tier client-server architecture or a service-oriented architecture. There are many different ways to deploy ES in these two architectures, primarily either on on-premise hardware or a cloud-based platform. Both models offer distinctive technical and cost benefits, and both models have drawbacks. Nevertheless, the impact of these two models on the management of business processes is largely the same