Johann Gradl was born in 1961. He studied mathematics and computer science at the Technische Universität München (Munich Polytechnic University) from 1980 to 1986 and–after a hiatus during which he performed his civil service duty–he completed his doctorate in mathematics from 1988 to 1990. Johann Gradl joined SAP in 1993. He initially worked in the R/2 Services department, and then turned his attention to the area of data migration. He was a driving force behind the development o f the Legacy Sy stem Migration Workbench described in this book. He subsequently performed various tasks related to the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In his current position of Vice President for Installed Base Maintenance & Support, he is responsible for the products CRM and BW, among others.

Michael Willinger was born in 1971 in Heidelberg, Germany. He studied business administration at the University of Mannheim from 1990 to 1996, focusing on bank management, financing, auditing, fiduciary structures, and statistics. He first encountered SAP R/3 during his graduate studies in business data processing; it has had a major impact on his career path ever since. From 1998 to 2001, Michael Willinger worked as an SAP consultant (focus: Financial Accounting) at Bilfinger & Berger AG, a construction firm, before he moved to Tarkett Sommer Holding, an internationally active manufacturer of flooring. At present, he is the project manager for the global implementation of the R/3 Financial Accounting and Controlling modules.