System landscape basically is the set-up or arrangement of your SAP servers. Ideally, in an SAP environment, a three-system landscape exists. A three-system landscape consists of the Development Server, Quality Assurance Server and the Production Server. 

In some Projects, they may maintain pre-production server also.

 

Development Server is where the consultants do the customization as per the company's requirement. Once the BBP gets signed off, the configuration is done is development server and saved in workbench requests, to be transported to Quality/Production server.Quality server is where the core team members and other members test the customization.Production Server is where the live data of the company is recorded. This is the last/ most refined client where the user will work after project GO LIVE. Any changes/ new development is done is development client and the request is transported to production. 

Transport management system is the coordination of the movement of objects and configuration changes from the development system to the Quality Assurance system and then to the Production system.Best practise for transporting is, configuration/changes are first made in the Development system, thoroughly

tested in the Quality Assurance system before been loaded into the production (Live) system.

 

----It is important to state that a test system - Sandbox can also exit separately. The essence of the sandbox is to test the configuration of the business processes of a company, especially at the inception of the project (before the Business Blue Print is signed). It can also serve as a practice environment, even after go-live. Whatever you do in the Sandbox doesn't affect the other servers or clients.

Note: IDES is purely for education/demonstration/training purpose and is NOT INCLUDED in the

landscape.