SAP has its work cut out for it. The enterprise software giant is facing off against not just a hard-charging Oracle, but also its own demons: Continuing changes at the top, and protracted delays in kick-starting its response to the surging interest in software-as-a-service.
The company’s two chief executives took some time this week to dispel some of the worries that customers and observers might have about SAP, instead focusing on the coming of Business ByDesign and how SAP aims to contend with Oracle’s ever-growing ambitions. Datamation has the story.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — SAP’s recently appointed co-CEOs had a coming-out party of sorts here at a media event at the enterprise software giant’s Silicon Valley offices. Former SAP CEO Leo Apotheker resigned unexpectedly last month after only nine months in the top spot.
Apotheker’s replacements, co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe (based in the U.S. and Germany, respectively) fielded questions about SAP’s (NYSE: SAP) strategy for about an hour, mainly dealing with delays in the company’s Business ByDesign software and competing with Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL).