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Reporter's Notebook: Sapphire Sets Stage For A Different Kind Of SAP

When Harley-Davidson CIO Jim Haney drove a Harley onstage during Leo Apotheker's keynote address at Sapphire on Tuesday, there were more than a few gasps from the audience. This is the type of stunt typical of a California tech company, not the stoic German we know as SAP. But I saw it as just one example of SAP trying to reinvent itself, including the upcoming change in CEO leadership.

This may be co-CEO Henning Kagermann's last Sapphire, since his contract expires next April and he plans to retire. He seemed annoyed by the litany of questions regarding his "legacy," noting that he still has another year to develop it. Still, I've never seen him so relaxed, happy, and confident.

Earlier on Tuesday, Henning and Leo were seated on couches on a stage waiting for a press conference to begin, and Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" started blaring through the speakers. It was an odd moment -- suited executives sitting on stage with this quasi-punk music blaring -- and Henning broke the tension by starting to bounce, like a 5-year-old, up and down on the couch to the beat of the music. We all got a good chuckle out of that.

A few months ago SAP named both Henning and Leo co-CEOs; Leo will be (as far as we know) the company's only CEO at Sapphire 2009. One SAP handler, who knows them both very well, describes "Leo as the customer guy and Henning as the product guy." Henning is a brilliant, professorial, instantly likable guy, but I think Leo's witty, extroverted persona is going to bring something new to SAP. Consider that this transition comes at a time when SAP is working to broaden its industry partnerships to expand its software into smaller businesses, try out new SaaS delivery models, and bring more collaborative capabilities into its software.

I had some time with both gentlemen at the show, and I share with you a few insights:

• Leo confirmed the decision to slow growth of Business ByDesign (its new SaaS offering) was related to the fact that the company is not yet making a palatable profit from the software service, AND it wants to work out some technical issues. Business ByDesign is based on NetWeaver 7.1, and some tweaks to that platform will result in a better performing, upgraded version of BBD within a few months or so, he said.

• You know that ugly lawsuit filed by Waste Management against SAP for allegedly selling Waste Management on demoware that didn't work, and the current lawsuit filed by Oracle over allegedly stolen secrets? Henning claims customers don't seem concerned by them. "The only questions I get on these are from the press, not customers," he said. "Not one customer has asked." What's more, SAP hasn't yet received the Waste Management complaint; the Oracle suit has been ordered to mediation.

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