Ex-SAP CEO Leo Apotheker - Named as New CEO and President of HP

September 30 2010, Thursday. Hewlett-Packard named former SAP chief executive Leo Apotheker.

Is this going to boost the partnership of HP and SAP?
How about a services unit that competes with IBM?

Apotheker resigns as SAP's chief executive

The chief executive officer of SAP, Leo Apotheker, has resigned his post and from the company's board, after the board declined to extend his contract.

The resignation, which was reportedly by mutual decision, is effective immediately.

To replace Apotheker, the SAP's board has appointed co-CEOs: Bill McDermott, head of field organization, and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development.

"The new setup of the SAP executive board will allow SAP to better align product innovation with customer needs," SAP Chairman Hasso Plattner said in a statement. "The new leadership team will continue to drive forward SAP's strategy and focus on profitable growth, and will deliver its innovations in 2010 to expand SAP's leadership of the business software market."

Stung by lower sales and earnings, SAP actually beat expectations in the final quarter of 2009. The company in January reported sales of 10.67 billion euros (US$14.9 billion), 8 percent lower than the 11.56 billion euros (US$15.82 billion) from 2008.

Despite the downturn, overall fourth-quarter sales and especially those from software-related services beat estimates from both the company and analysts. Operating margins for the full year also were better than expected. SAP attributed the improvement in part to cost cuts and layoffs it had announced earlier in the year.

Apotheker was appointed co-chief executive in 2008, serving with then-current CEO Henning Kagermann. He took over the role of CEO in 2009 after 19 years with the company.

Source: ZDNETAsia

Think groups, not modules, when venturing into ERP

Q. I have five years of experience in marketing research, which includes B2B research (agency side), media research and IT research.

I am now working for an IT company in Dubai as a market research executive. My work profile in this company is not a technical one, it's pure marketing research.

I have been thinking of a career shift to ERP (functional module) for some time. But since my experience is in marketing research, I am unsure about the module I choose. Expert opinion says that relevant domain experience is essential to select the module in ERP.

I have been browsing over to match my work experience with certain functional modules but I couldn't find a related match.

I am an electronics engineer and have an MBA degree too.
I am not so keen on finance modules since I don’t have much interest or skill in it. Could you suggest the right module for me? Could project portfolio management or strategic enterprise management be the right choice?


Career advice from Richard Talbot, general manager of IT recruitment specialist,
Sapphire Technologies Singapore:


Most of the major ERP systems installed have the financials modules at their core. So although this area is not the one of most interest to you, it is where much of the demand for staff comes from.

More important than the module, in our opinion, would be the ERP product that you choose to move into. The major market products are SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft.
Commercially, SAP is the product with the greatest skills shortage in the Asia-Pacific region. This would be the one we would suggest to you, as it's easiest to get an opportunity to work with (supply and demand).

In relation to the specific module you are interested in, you should be aware that organizations that implement these systems rarely have consultants with skills in just one module--more often the modules are generally requested in groups.

The primary groups that consultants have experience in are:
• Financials • Supply Chain • HR/Payroll • CRM • Manufacturing

Rather than choosing a specific module it's better to choose an "area" to work in, then attempt to get training/experience in the core modules that fall into that area. The consultants most in demand are capable of conducting functional analysis around the major core modules in these areas.

More Links:

• Is a short course on SAP good enough?
  Earning potential of SAP functional consultant
• Will a Java expert need to learn ABAP to get into SAP?

Source: ZDNetAsia

Is it good to stop working to study for an MBA?

Q. I am working for a bank as an Oracle DBA for one year. I have more than four years of experience in this field.

I hold the B.Tech (I.T.) and M.Sc. (Telecommunication) degrees.

What are the career prospects of doing an MBA in ERP (SAP) if I stop working and do the MBA course full-time?

Is it advantageous or disadvantageous to make such a move?

Career advice from Stella Thevarakam, regional HR director of management and technology consulting firm ISS Consulting (M):

An MBA always has more value when it is backed by good years of experience. You have got four years of experience.

Stopping work to do the MBA is not really necessary. Don’t rush with your MBA. Take it at a pace that you are comfortable with.

If you can manage studying and working (most people who do MBA work and study), then that will be the best option as it will add value to your resume and experience.

Stopping work and just concentrating on your MBA may give you more concentration but may reflect not so favourably on some future employers who may think that you cannot handle too much stress. Definitely more value is added if you study whilst working, but this is just an opinion. There are pros and cons.

My opinion would be not to stop working as when I interview candidates and they have periods where they study and work I view them more favourably. It adds on to the quality of the person’s experience and calibre.

More Topics:

• An ABAP-trained MBA holder eyes SAP-based job
• Is a short course on SAP good enough?
• Earning potential of SAP functional consultant

Source: ZDNetAsia

What is SAP?

SAP AG (ISIN: DE0007164600, FWB: SAP, NYSE: SAP) is the largest European software enterprise and the third largest in the world, with headquarters in Walldorf, Germany.

History

SAP was founded in 1972 as Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung by five former IBM engineers in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg (Dietmar Hopp, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, Klaus Tschira, and Claus Wellenreuther).[1] The acronym was later changed to stand for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung ("Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing").

In 1976 "SAP GmbH" was founded and the following year it moved headquarters to Walldorf. SAP AG became the company's official name after the 2005 annual general meeting (AG is short for Aktiengesellschaft).

In August 1988, SAP GmbH transferred into SAP AG (a corporation by German law), and public trading started November 4. Shares are listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchange.[1]

The founding members Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner, Klaus E. Tschira and Hans-Werner Hector form the executive board. In 1995, SAP is included in the German stock index DAX. On September 22, 2003, SAP is included in the Dow Jones STOXX 50.[2] In 1991, Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann joins the board; Dr. Peter Zencke becomes a board member in 1993.[3] Claus Heinrich,[4] and Gerhard Oswald [5] have been members of the SAP Executive Board since 1996. Two years later, in 1998 the first change at the helm takes place. Dietmar Hopp and Klaus Tschira move to the supervisory board, Dietmar Hopp is appointed Chairman of the supervisory board. Henning Kagermann is appointed as Co-Chairman and CEO of SAP next to Hasso Plattner. Werner Brandt joined SAP in 2001 as member of the SAP Executive Board and Chief Financial Officer since 2001.[6] Léo Apotheker has been a member of the SAP Executive Board and president of Global Customer Solutions & Operations since 2002 and is appointed Deputy CEO in 2007.

Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in 2003.[7] In February 2007 his contract was extended until 2009. After continuous disputes over the responsibility of the development organization, Shai Agassi, a member of the executive board who had been named as a potential successor to Kagermann, left the organization

Related Links:

• What is ABAP?
• What is Mini SAP?
• Interview with SAP CEO on YouTube