In SAP implementations, System Landscape Design is a foundational concept that determines how SAP systems are structured and organized within an organization’s IT environment. It involves planning and defining multiple SAP systems and their interactions to support business processes, development, testing, and production operations. A well-designed system landscape ensures scalability, stability, security, and smooth SAP operations.
An SAP system landscape is a collection of SAP systems configured to work together in a coherent environment to meet the business and technical requirements of an organization. Each system in the landscape serves a specific purpose — from development to quality assurance to production.
The design of your SAP landscape impacts system performance, data consistency, project workflows, and overall IT governance.
Key Benefits:
The most common landscape, consisting of:
This model supports the complete SAP lifecycle with clear segregation of duties.
Often used by smaller organizations, where development and quality assurance are combined, or sometimes quality assurance is skipped. This can speed up delivery but comes with increased risks.
Large enterprises may add additional systems such as:
Understand business processes, transaction volumes, and regulatory compliance to define landscape needs.
Proper sizing of hardware and software ensures systems can handle workloads efficiently.
The mechanism for moving configuration and development changes between DEV, QAS, and PRD must be planned carefully to maintain consistency.
Segregation of duties, user roles, and secure communication between systems are critical.
Design for fault tolerance and quick recovery to minimize downtime.
An effective SAP System Landscape Design is critical for the success of any SAP implementation. It sets the foundation for development, testing, deployment, and production activities, ensuring that business operations run smoothly and securely. By carefully designing the landscape to fit organizational needs and adhering to best practices, companies can optimize their SAP environment for performance, reliability, and future growth.