Det har skabt nogen uro og bekymring, at den mangeårige topprofil i SAP og chef for cloud-forretningen, Robert Enslin, pludselig forlader selskabet for i stedet at ‘søge nye udfordringer.’
Enslin har været ansat i SAP i hele 27 år - han blev ansat i 1992 - og regnes for at være en af de helt tunge drenge i selskabet.
Hans exit kommer i kølvandet på andre profilers afgang fra det tyske selskab.
I den seneste har også CTO og cloud-chef Bjoern Goerke, global service-direktør Bernd Leukert og SAP Hana-profilen Rich Heilman forladt selskabet.
En del af en plan
SAP har under CEO Bill McDermotts ledelse sat en større omstrukturering i gang, der - som det er tilfældet for så mange andre af de store, klassiske it-selskaber - sigter mod at transformere selskabet til en digital platforms-forretning med vægt på cloud og brug af nye teknologier som analytics, machine learning og kunstig intelligens.
Transformationen har haft en del konsekvenser for organisationen, der skal både tilpasses og forandres.
I et brev udsendt til samtlige SAP-medarbejdere skriver Bill McDermott, at Robert Enslin mod slutningen af sidste år ‘begyndte at modtage henvendelser om muligheder, der kunne være interessante for ham.’
Han skriver, at Robert Enslin vil løfte sløret for sine nye planer ‘senere på måneden.’
“Vi meddeler hans [Robert Enslins, red] afgang med dybfølt taknemmelighed for hans lange karriere her, hans dedikation til SAP og hans dybe tro på vores fremtidige potentiale,” skriver topchefen til medarbejderne.
Bill McDermott har nu udpeget Jenniffer Morgan til chef for cloud-forretningen, ligesom han har udnævnt en række øvrige navne til at lede SAP i fremtiden.
“Det er vores testamente til Hasso [Plattner, stifter af SAP, red] og vores bestyrelse, at vi har en smart og gennemtænkt plan for arvtagere, så selskabet kan fortsætte med at bevæge sig fremad,” skriver han.
Han antyder samtidig, at der kan være flere ændringer på vej og vil inden længe levere det, som han kalder for et ‘ufiltreret bud på det, som selskabet skal foretage i de kommende måneder for at leve op til ambitionerne.
Se hele hans brev til medarbejderne i anledning af Robert Enslins exit her (på engelsk)
To All SAP Employees Worldwide
Dear Team,
I am writing to let you know that SAP, under the leadership of our Chairman Hasso Plattner, has accepted Robert Enslin's resignation as President of the SAP Cloud Business Group (CBG). To ensure we continue accelerating our momentum, I'm happy to report that Jennifer Morgan will ascend to President of CBG as Rob's successor, while Adaire Fox-Martin rises to lead Global Customer Operations (GCO) as sole President. These changes are effective immediately.
Those are the big headlines today. Now, to tell it like it is, some of you have responded to recent announcements and asked that we share more background on how these changes come to be. That's perfectly fair and I'm happy to do so.
Back in 2017, when Rob succeeded Steve Singh and first formed CBG, he was very honest with the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board about his outlook for the next few years. While he agreed to take on the assignment, he also said that after a couple more years, he'd likely be curious to try something outside SAP. It's important to remember that Rob first joined SAP in 1992. In the nearly three decades that followed, he worked his way up the chain of command all the way to the Executive Board, first as President of GCO, later as President of CBG. He has lived on multiple continents and traveled to more than 100 countries supporting our customers over the years.
Like Rob following Steve's departure, we are fortunate to have amazing leaders ready to lead us forward. Jennifer Morgan and Adaire Fox-Martin built a dynamic partnership co-leading GCO. We'll continue to benefit from that partnership, now with Jen as President of CBG and Adaire as President of GCO. It's worth noting here, not only have Jen and Adaire distinguished themselves as Executive Board Members, they have emerged as two of the most exciting leaders in the IT industry.
Jennifer Morgan is the change-making innovator we need to help SAP win in these "best of breed” categories. She began her career helping customers implement enterprise technology, and she has never lost that clarity of focus on the forces and trends that are shaping our customers' future. In every leadership role, Jen has been a role model of our culture, values and strategy. She inspires belief in the bright future of SAP. She'll bring vision, high expectations and an unrelenting focus on execution to her new role leading CBG.
Adaire Fox-Martin has been a distinguished SAP leader for over a decade. As president of SAP's business in Asia Pacific and Japan, Adaire led an impressive transformation to simplify the region and set the course for future growth. She expanded on that track record as co-president of GCO, overseeing the business in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Greater China. We know she will bring strong instincts, the highest integrity and dynamism to this expanded role.
Always remember, leadership is the art of inspiring followership. Jen and Adaire understand that showing humility and empathy are keys to empowering great teams. We have the greatest business presidents and engineers in the industry. Today's announcement will help make those leaders, teams and businesses rise to the next level. CBG and GCO are in great hands.
Together with Jen, Christian Klein and Juergen Mueller, we have a unified product strategy for the company. In fact, given that all assets plug-in to our S/4HANA core, Christian will become even more visible as the chair of our Intelligent Enterprise program. Together with Michael Kleinemeier, we will also have a unified message to our customers. Luka and Stefan are in service to all teams to help everyone run at their very best.
It is a testament to Hasso and our Supervisory Board that we had a smart, thoughtful succession plan so we can keep the company moving without disruption.
On that note, we're now firmly on the path to SAPPHIRE NOW, which is only a few short weeks away. We also have the All Hands meeting on Earnings Day, April 24. I plan to change things up this time and give you a truly unfiltered view of what the company needs to do in the months ahead to fulfill our ambitions. I consider this meeting mandatory and look forward to achieving 100% participation. After all, with so much happening, why would anyone want to miss out on the conversation?
Until then, I hope you'll join me in saluting Rob's outstanding career and pledging your full support to Jen and Adaire on their expanded assignments.
To our bright future, always in your corner, XO,
Bill
