Complex – Dynamic
SAP systems are complex, dynamic systems, and the benchmarking method selected must be capable of showing that.
Complex Structures
Important aspects of the complexity of SAP systems are, for example, the hardware architecture, which consists of such things as the network, the back-up system, memory storage, the database server, the applications server and clients, the software architecture, the logical structure, the applications structure, the organizational structure, and the cost structure.
The Dynamics of the System
SAP systems are characterized by different dynamic aspects at different time-scales. These include database accesses (typical response-time 1 millisecond), response-times (seconds), report runtimes (up to several hours), changes to applications (days), changes to the user-structure (weeks), changing the cost structure (months), and changing the process architecture (months or years).
Objective: Cost Optimization
We need be able to take into account all structural aspects and all dynamic aspects running on time-scales of between milliseconds and months. On each time-scale and each structural level, quantitative aspects, such as data volumes, transaction volumes, information volumes, user-behavior, and qualitative aspects such as performance, availability and security, play a role. The costs of a single transaction are just as important for optimization as the total costs of the system; the access-time for individual database access is just as important as the frequency and duration of maintenance intervals.