Answer:
In CRM the Business Partner could be everything together. The Business Partner in CRM is not always a Customer. It could also be a prospect with some basic data only. It could also be a competitor, partner etc.
The Business Partner in SAP CRM could be everything at the same time and this single Business Partner could also have different Addresses with different Usages.
Advantages
There are some really useful functions for business partners and contact person in CRM which are not available in ERP.
Some examples:
- Marketing Attributes can be maintained very easily and used for segmentation.
- Relationships between Accounts can be realized very easily (for example "is consulting company of".. ).
- The account overview in CRM Webclient UI can be configured for the user roles need. We have for example for our service users the assignment blocks "contact persons, machines, service tickets, service contracts, etc." all in one overview.
- Activities such as appointments can be maintained for the account.
There are much more reasons why it is recommended to use
CRM. But you still need the replication of your Business partner Master
data via middleware.
Who creates the business partners? Is it an end user or a functional consultant?
Answer:
It depends on specific situations and required functionalities. If you are talking about a project mode where you as a consultant are customizing and developing, for example CRM online, you might want to have a master data to test your configuration. In that case, you probably will create some of your own master data simply to test everything you are configuring (development system).
On a production system however, it is usually the end
user who creates the master data, such as business partners, products,
etc.
What are the available bapi's related to changing business partner relationships and creating new business partners in CRM 6.0?
Answer:
You can use the following interface function modules:
CRMXIF_PARTNER_SAVE - To create a new BP or change any field in BP
CRMXIF_PARTNER_REL_SAVE - To create any new relationship or change any relationship specific field
