Monday, April 30, 2007
Introducing Leo on Managing Automation
Introducing Leo on Managing Automation: "Insiders also say that Apotheker, in some ways, couldn't be more different from the scientist Kagermann, a professorial personality who is just as much at home talking about philosophy as technology. But they also say that Apotheker, with his reputation for relentless execution, may just be the right guy to lead SAP in the years ahead.
That's because the 53-year-old Apotheker, a child of Holocaust survivors who was born in Germany, grew up in Antwerp, and now lives in Paris, is viewed as right for the times. SAP has solidified its basic strategy around NetWeaver, its Business Process Platform, and service-oriented architecture. Now, the insiders say, SAP's future success rests on executing on this strategy in a world that is very different from that of the 1990s when R/3 catapulted the company to the top of the enterprise software market. Today's world is characterized by the need to manage innovation with customers and partners, and deliver what Apotheker calls the 'next quantum leap in business improvement.'
SAP's man from Paris, fluent in six languages and capable of unexpected flashes of humor, will have his work cut out for him should the top job eventually become his. For one thing, he will have to be that important public face at a time when SAP, at $10 billion and 40,000 employees, has become a large and complex company. He will also have to decide just how aggressive SAP needs to be in the market — he prefers the term 'assertive' — against such competitors as Oracle."
That's because the 53-year-old Apotheker, a child of Holocaust survivors who was born in Germany, grew up in Antwerp, and now lives in Paris, is viewed as right for the times. SAP has solidified its basic strategy around NetWeaver, its Business Process Platform, and service-oriented architecture. Now, the insiders say, SAP's future success rests on executing on this strategy in a world that is very different from that of the 1990s when R/3 catapulted the company to the top of the enterprise software market. Today's world is characterized by the need to manage innovation with customers and partners, and deliver what Apotheker calls the 'next quantum leap in business improvement.'
SAP's man from Paris, fluent in six languages and capable of unexpected flashes of humor, will have his work cut out for him should the top job eventually become his. For one thing, he will have to be that important public face at a time when SAP, at $10 billion and 40,000 employees, has become a large and complex company. He will also have to decide just how aggressive SAP needs to be in the market — he prefers the term 'assertive' — against such competitors as Oracle."
