Can anyone tell me the major differences between the versions

Question

hi all,
what is the difference between the versions 4.6c 4.7EE and 5.0.
Atleast anyone suggest where i can get the difference exactly.
Thanks,
Saroja.

Answer 1

<b>Difference between SAP 4.6b, 4.6c, 4.7e and ECC 5.0 Versions</b>
If you are an existing user of SAP, you will probably be aware that as from January 2007 all releases below 4.6c will no longer officially be supported by SAP. Maintenance costs for releases 3.1 - 4.6b inclusive will also attract a total charge of 21% during 2005/6.
So what are your upgrade options?
You could upgrade to release 4.6c - or the more comprehensive mySAP.com - which are both currently scheduled to be supported by SAP until December 2009. These products have been available since 1999 and already have a broad user base. Bear in mind however that maintenance costs for this release will be 19% during 2007 and 21% during 2008/9.
If you wish to avoid the expense and disruption of a potential further upgrade in 2006/7, you may want to consider upgrading to release 4.7 (SAP R/3 Enterprise). Whilst this product incorporates relatively new technology, it has the advantage of being supported by SAP until March 2012 and provides new functionality in many areas.
SAP is encouraging existing users to go beyond the 4.7 (SAP R/3 Enterprise) environment and upgrade to mySAP ERP as a stepping stone to mySAP Business Suite. However, you should note that an upgrade to mySAP ERP requires a change in licensing plan. mySAP ERP licences are role-based, so you need to assess the number of finance, logistics, HR users etc. and pay accordingly. This is a radical change from previous licensing schemes operated by SAP, whereby each seat purchased was accorded full usage of the entire SAP environment (in line with user authorisations).
No technology upgrade is necessary to move from 4.7 (SAP R/3 Enterprise) to mySAP ERP. You simply add the benefits of mySAP ERP to your installation as you go along. The upgrade from mySAP ERP to mySAP Business Suite is equally straightforward – you just add those mySAP products available in the latter that you require. The alternative strategy would be to remain on 4.7 (SAP R/3 Enterprise) or mySAP ERP and purchase mySAP products available with mySAP Business Suite as add-ons.
Please see below the current maintenance schedule for SAP products:
SAP R/3 3.1 - 4.6b
Maintenance extension until December 2006
2005/2006: additional fee of 4% (17% plus 4%)
SAP R/3 4.6c
Maintenance extension until December 2009
2007: additional fee of 2% (17% plus 2%)
2008/2009: additional fee of 4% (17% plus 4%)
SAP R/3 Enterprise:
Maintenance extension possible until March 2012, available to all customers
April 1, 2009 - March 31,2010: additional fee of 2% (17% plus 2%)
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012: additional fee of 4% (17% plus 4%)
MySAP ERP 2003
Mainstream maintenance until end of March 2009
April 1, 2009 - March 31,2010: additional fee of 2% (17% plus 2%)
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2012: additional fee of 4% (17% plus 4%)
MySAP ERP 2004
Mainstream maintenance until end of March 2010
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011: additional fee of 2% (17 plus 2%)
April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2014: additional fee of 4% (17 plus 4%)
All of the above maintenance durations and extensions include all industry add-ons and all legal charges for HR and FI/LO.
If you are contained in say Financials and HR - then your burden to go to mySAP ERP is smaller - as you go from one system to another system.... on the opposite - if you use R/3 and use customer processes, manufacturing and purchasing processes - and you do not use yet mySAP CRM, mySAP SCM, mySAP SRM... then you not only have to pay more for the license - not only for mySAP ERP - but also for mySAP CRM, mySAP SRM, mySAP SCM... - the mySAP Business Suite may be interesting pricing option then...
But then to pricing - SAP says they will reduce the credit on your R/3 payments with the change of the calendar year... for some a big motivation to move to mySAP ERP license... but as a Gartner report from today pointed out - not many of these customers really upgrade to mySAP ERP in terms of functionality - but use it more as a license centralization for some instance consolidation - as well as only a technical upgrade. And then there are the many SAP customers who buy mySAP ERP - but stay on R/3 - but get this as they buy the mySAP BW license for all their users with it... and it's cheaper to buy mySAP ERP (as you need it sooner or later anyway) - than buying mySAP BW standalone now - and mySAP ERP in a few years...
One final argument... remember when mySAP ERP shipped first - March 2003. SAP said they would have the vertical code of R/3 by end of 2003... well they had not - all of it will be out only now in Q2 2006 with mySAP ERP 2005 --- three years later! How did SAP's world class engineering team miss dates so badly? It's tough to move working R/3 code over to the mySAP xxx world with NetWeaver! And no the secret: Is there a difference between you modifying a R/3 system -- and SAP development creating a vertical piece of code? Not really - or better - not at all... so have a very good luck at your modification...
Finally - there are some tools in the market which have a very good handle on estimating the implementation cost... take a look at them.
Bottom line: If you are using a lot of R/3 - you have major license cost and a major risk to upgrade... you should even look at alternatives to SAP then - as you spend as much in upgrading than switching... take advantage of some of the attractive commercial offerings from SAP competitors - even if you do this only to negotiate a better price from SAP.
If you are using a little R/3 only - and that is contained in mySAP ERP... then it comes back to how much license you want to pay now (or later - so it's really a financial consideration) - and your overall risk readiness. If you are happy to pay now and risk averse - you go for mySAP ERP 2004 or 2005... if you are risk sensitive and don't want to pay now and wait for others to be the "guinea pigs" for mySAP ERP 2007 / 2005 etc - then you go to R/3 Enterprise. Easier upgrade, no license cost. Sit on the fence and see what SAP and competitors do to service enable their apps.
Hope this helps a bit...