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In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I’m discussing the recent transformations occurring within SAP.
Highlights
00:15 — Interesting past several weeks at SAP. You’ve got customers now in businesses not just saying, “I have to pick the best application, I have to get the best deal.” Big businesses today are making bets on their applications and AI cloud providers that are going to seriously affect the ability of that customer’s business to be successful, to live in a future where it’s creating its own future.
01:25 — So, two different things we’ve talked about last week, Hasso Plattner stepped down as chairman; he had been the driving force behind the company for 52 years. Before Plattner left, he led the supervisory board to give an early contract extension to Christian Klein. He’s now going to be the CEO contracted through the end of 2028.
02:33 — If I’m a customer evaluating all this, I’m going to say that gives me a lot of confidence that I can bet on SAP to continue to be a player for a while here. SAP, like so many businesses, was severely disrupted by the pandemic. Klein stabilized the company; he later that year took an enormous risk but pulled this off successfully.
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03:44 — Today, the company’s market cap is at an all-time high, and under Klein’s leadership, the company’s become a rapid innovator. It’s got good partnerships with key constituents across the industry. It’s just been doing a great job for customers. Brilliant move by SAP to give this extension now.
04:14 — If I’m a customer, I see stability, ongoing momentum in the market, and an uninterrupted stream of innovation coming. I’m going to feel pretty good about that for the next four and a half years.
04:58 — This is Christian Klein’s company not just because of a title, but because of the achievements that he and his team have put together over the last four and a half years: getting the company through a very difficult period in 2020, shifting fully over to the cloud, winning back the confidence of investors and customers along the way and now making it one of the fastest-growing major cloud vendors in the world.
