SAP, the German software giant, is making changes at the top in response to months of lackluster business that some observers say could be due to problems in its product strategy and its inability to get a firm grasp on the cloud computing market.
Matters certainly haven’t been helped by competitor Oracle’s continued strength in the sector. eCRM Guide takes a look at what former CEO Leo Apotheker’s departure from the corner office means for the company and its prospects.
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SAP CEO Leo Apotheker resigned unexpectedly from his post this weekend, after the company said Apotheker and its supervisory board had reached a “mutual agreement” to not extend his contract.
Apotheker, whose tenure atop the business software giant lasted just over nine months, will immediately be replaced by co-CEOs Bill McDermott, SAP’s (NYSE: SAP) head of field organization, and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development, SAP said.
The now-former CEO, who shared leadership with former co-CEO Henning Kagermann from 2008 until this past May, oversaw a nine-month span in which SAP’s shares made only modest gains, the company reported lackluster sales and profits and watched arch-rival Oracle continue its unrelenting growth-through-acquisition strategy without sacrificing its own profits or revenue growth.