SAP SOLUTION MODELS: PART I

Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe needed to replace its third-party worldwide licensing system for the company's customers. With the goal of creating an internally developed, secure, and user-friendly >Web application, Adobe selected SAP® Web Application Server, the reliable and open application platform of SAP NetWeaver™. The implementation was fast, costs were minimal, and customers gained a far better solution that could be customised as needed.

SAP® Web Application Server provides an easy environment for faster, more cost-effective web-based development

Each day, millions of people around the world turn to Adobe Systems Incorporated to bring creativity to life on the Web, in print, and on video. Adobe's award-winning products, such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator®, Adobe Acrobat®, and Adobe FrameMaker®, are sold to every industry and profession, from multinational corporations to small businesses and individuals, where customers range from highly skilled graphic designers to corporate employees and home users.

Ineffective third-party system
In keeping abreast of its customers' needs, Adobe realised that the current outsource model for its licensing system for resellers and distributors was not meeting certain business-process requirements. A more reliable way to handle software licenses, track orders, and generate a variety of reports for these customers became critical. Most importantly, because the system was not integrated into the company's business process, it was not as effective as it could be.

“We wanted to enhance customer services,” says Lynn Furuta, Adobe's manager of application development. “Users of the existing system felt that it was not flexible; they wanted customisation and that could not be easily done by the vendor. They had problems with revenue recognition not tying to numbers. Plus, the performance and stability of the system was lacking.”

Worldwide licensing system using SAP® WEB AS
In response, Adobe turned to SAP® Web Application Server (SAP Web AS), the Web application infrastructure within SAP NetWeaver™, and took things into its own hands. “We decided to bring the whole application in-house and develop a worldwide licensing system using SAP Web AS,” says Furuta. “We understood the business issues and operational requirements. We could tailor the application exactly to satisfy our customers' needs.” Adobe's requirements for a licensing system are unique and considered strategic, so a packaged solution was not a viable option. Building, it turned out, was better than buying in this case.

“The application we developed with SAP Web Application Server has helped streamline processes. Integration with other applications is very easy to do . . . This really supports our operations – that's the main gain here.” Lynn Furuta, Manager of Application Development, Adobe

SAP Web AS offered Adobe a reliable and scalable application platform that supports Java/J2EE and ABAP™ for developing Web services and business applications in an open, standards-based environment. SAP Web Application Server supports developing, packaging, deploying, testing, and debugging J2EE applications (Java server pages, servlets, and Enterprise JavaBeans). SAP Web AS 6.3 is a fully J2EE 1.3-compliant application server that will deliver integrated tools for software life-cycle management to streamline the entire development process. Moreover, it seamlessly integrates into Adobe's back-end transactional mySAP™ ERP and analytical SAP Business Intelligence systems.

“We have been SAP users for more than seven years,” says Furuta. “We implemented solutions for finance, sales and distribution, materials management, human resources, strategic enterprise management, and more. We wanted to tie the licensing system into the SAP financial application and have the orders go directly into SAP. Previously, in the outsourced modes, batches of orders were sent to us for periodic updates into SAP. Now, we have an automatic, end-to-end system from order entry to fulfillment to invoicing.”

Out-of-a-box solution
Adobe's choice of SAP Web AS was based, in part, on the fact that it could leverage its existing programmer staff's skills, including their knowledge of ABAP, SAP's programming language for developing applications. Training costs would be minimal. “We attended the SAP Web AS workshop that SAP offered,” says Furuta. “We developed our whole system based on the SAP Web AS capabilities.”

With in-house resources, development started almost immediately. “It was an easy transition to use SAP Web AS, because we did not have to have deep Java knowledge or have any extra skill sets,” says Furuta. “Our developers did not have to step outside their current expertise to pick up this new tool, so the learning curve was pretty good. We accomplished a lot in a short period of time – the application we developed was completed within eight months.” All of this positively affected Adobe's return on investment.

An application beyond expectations
In short, SAP Web AS enabled Adobe to build a robust application that addressed resellers' needs, along with its own business requirements.

“Our customers need a flexible system to handle the real world,” explains Furuta. “Licensing gets very complicated. There are different types of licensing programmes with their own rules and pricing models, which are dynamically determined.”

Adobe's new licensing system, which offers additional capabilities that go beyond the scope of the previous system, has made an impact on how customers manage their businesses. The tight integration of SAP Web Application Server with SAP solutions for sales and distribution and materials management – along with the data-warehousing and analytical capabilities of SAP

Business Intelligence – lets users enter orders and make inquiries on the Web. Customers can also check the status of sales orders and track shipments. Customer-entitlement documents (license agreements) can be dynamically generated in a read-only PDF and automatically emailed.

“Adobe was one of the first companies to use SAP Web Application Server in production over the Internet. Performance has also been exceptional. We have more than 50,000 resellers and can handle 250 concurrent users. The response time is very good” Lynn Furuta

“The application we developed with SAP Web AS has helped streamline processes,” says Furuta. “Integration with other applications is very easy to do. We have better reporting as well, so that customers have access to up-to-date and accurate information. They can schedule reports for specific times, and have the results emailed to them. They can get revenue reports, order-status reports, and other analytics. This really supports our operations – that's the main gain here.”

Mission critical and dependable
The bottom line was: Adobe could not afford to have an application that was not reliable. Business and customers can be lost if the system does not offer flawless performance.

“System reliability and security were key for us,” says Furuta. “We found SAP Web Application Server to be very stable – we haven't had any problems. For security, we followed SAP's recommendations, like adopting secure socket layer (SSL) and single sign-on capabilities. There are really two parts to security. One is based on who you are, what you can see. That we programmed internally. The other part of security was making a secure Internet site. Adobe was one of the first companies to use SAP Web Application Server in production over the Internet.

Performance has also been exceptional. We have more than 50,000 users and can handle 250 concurrent users. The response time is very good.”

Greater opportunities with SAP
Adobe is quite pleased with how quickly it derived results from the implementation. “No other solution would have been able to deliver the same value in the same amount of time,” says Furuta. “Our users wanted additional functionality, which they could not get in the old system, and now we are able to provide them with everything they need. So it really opened up a much bigger opportunity for them and for us. We have heard back from them and they are very happy.”

About SAP NetWeaver™
SAP® Web Application Server is the scalable and reliable Web application infrastructure within SAP NetWeaver™, the open integration and application platform that reduces total cost of ownership across the entire IT landscape. It is the technical foundation of the mySAP™ Business Suite family of business solutions, SAP xApps™ composite applications, and other general-purpose and industry-specific applications from SAP. SAP NetWeaver also is the technical foundation for Enterprise Services Architecture, the SAP blueprint for solutions based on Web services.

SAP NetWeaver integrates and aligns people, information and business processes across technologies and organisations. It gives companies the power to adapt quickly to change. It ensures that mission-critical business processes are reliable, secure and scalable, and helps companies get more from their current software and systems. SAP NetWeaver unifies integration technologies into a single platform and provides preconfigured business content, reducing the need for custom integration. It is based on open, standard technology and is interoperable with commonly used technologies such as Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Microsoft.NET and IBM WebSphere.