ERP TOOLS: Med-device maker automates test-bed provisioning while preserving data structure, context

摘要

"Our SAP system is hardly a static environment," says Brion Booth, senior business systems analyst with Varian Medical Systems. Booth manages SAP application development & support for Varian's Salt Lake City-based x-ray tube and digital-imaging division. He says it's not unusual to have several dozen small to large business-driven projects that require configuration changes or new program development within the ERP environment at any point in time. Like any high-tech products company, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian serves a market characterized by high-paced innovation and a fluid regulatory environment. Given demands for constant innovation, the ERP system must respond to frequent demands for functionality to support a new manufacturing process, or for integrating a recent business acquisition. When an application environment constantly changes, there is a corresponding need for real-time data transfers to test platforms where new functionality can be vetted.