Train Wreck in Slow Motion

At SAP executive level, everyone does what they want, some do nothing, and many leave the Group. As if in slow motion, the ERP world market leader is moving toward its demise: slowly, but with a defined end - similar to the death of a star. Where does SAP currently stand? With numerous acquisitions in the past few years, SAP has inflated itself - in stellar terms - into a red giant, but this is merely a preliminary stage to its inevitable end as a small white dwarf - in all likelihood, SAP will not make it to the mighty black hole. This raises the possibility that an old plan will be reactivated: Microsoft takes over the small white dwarf SAP.

Currently, it is obvious to the SAP community: a catastrophe where the failure is obvious to everybody while it is happening. It is painful to have to make this analysis in the fiftieth year of SAP's existence. "Train Wreck in Slow Motion" is also often described as: something (a person or situation) that is slowly destroying itself.

In the aftermath of SAP's Annual General Meeting, it is of no interest whether Professor Plattner remains Chairman of the Supervisory Board for another two, three or four years. What is more decisive is the problem-solving competence that SAP's Supervisory Board and Executive Board have. Important people have left the Supervisory Board, just as many top managers have left SAP. The loss of know-how at SAP is the decisive component, not whether any age limit has been exceeded or not.

Anything goes, except repair service behavior. Currently, the SAP Executive Board around CEO Christian Klein is working on numerous repairs in the SAP universe. But the Executive Board's job should not be to repair construction sites, but to analyze why these sites exist in the first place. Strategic thinking should replace this repair service behavior. It is about the future of SAP and not about the user numbers of Rise and Hana.

How did it get this far? I have been actively involved in the SAP community for over twenty years and the short answer is: You reap what you sow!

An SAP user association that delivers perfect service to the grassroots, but never critically and persistently questioned the actions of SAP's executive board. Who would give the next keynote at association events in the event of a conflict and disruptive disagreement, when the association attacks the manufacturer - perhaps even taking the handling of SAP software licenses to the antitrust authority in Bonn?

In the area of the SAP partner community, the picture is no better: There have been very committed attempts to found an association that consolidates the moods and opinions of the SAP partners and then brings them to SAP for discussion with one voice. This association exists, but the majority of SAP partners limit themselves to maximizing their own sales - a commitment to the general public and the concerns of the community hardly has any place here. When SAP dies, and with it the SAP partner landscape suffers lasting damage, everyone will have to account for themselves - there are no culprits outside the SAP community!

SAP's existing customers are not free of blame either: Many are highly committed to the SAP user association's events. This base is thriving and alive. There was an attempt to steer the fortunes of the SAP community at executive level with a CIO working group, but this attempt came to nothing. Hardly any CIOs dare to publicly demand their rights from SAP. If SAP CEO Christian Klein now believes that everything is fine, he cannot be blamed.

The only public and critical voice in the SAP community is the fourth estate - journalism. It is impossible to praise often enough the valuable and excellent work of Christof Kerkmann at Handelsblatt and Eva Müller and Christina Kyriasoglou at Manager Magazin. In the July issue, Ms. Kyriasoglou published a very readable text: "The questionable leadership style of SAP's top management is becoming a risk. At Europe's most important tech company, the mood is tilting. A lack of vision and unresolved compliance issues are driving good people away. And CEO Christian Klein is adding to the frustration."

There seems to be a communication problem in the SAP community. MM author Kyriasoglou quotes a whistleblower and gets to the point: "No one dares to tell Christian the truth anymore." This does not absolve SAP CEO Christian Klein of all blame, but there are no culprits outside the SAP community!

Not everything was better in the past - of course not, but I experienced it myself: Under an SAP CEO, Professor Henning Kagermann, discussions were more open, diverse, committed and fair. SAP had its own culture of discussion. There is still time to steer the train onto a different track through proper communication. The catastrophe is there for all to see, but it doesn't have to happen - almost like a bad Hollywood movie, right?