Hasso closes the bag!

A short time later, Bill McDermott was relieved of his duties and SAP had a new dual leadership. For SAP insiders, the disruptive change on the SAP Executive Board was routine.

The list of suddenly disgraced managers is long: Shai Agassi, Peter Zencke, Léo Apotheker, Vishal Sikka, Bernd Leukert. Neither is this list complete, nor was Plattner himself always the trigger.

In any case, it is in line with Plattner's management style: The visionary looks ahead and is only marginally concerned with the past. Hasso Plattner's actions are characterized by quick decisions, clear strategy and far-reaching thinking.

When ex-CEO Bill McDermott hinted at not wanting to stay at SAP for too much longer, Hasso closed the bag and removed Bill from all his positions!

Many media speculate whether the financial investor Elliott exerted gentle pressure on the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, whether Bill McDermott himself wanted to leave the ship "SAP" in the important fourth quarter - despite excellent Q3 figures.

And many other speculations and reasons are offered on the web. No, Hasso Plattner alone decided this personnel matter. SAP does not need brilliant sales managers like Léo Apotheker or Bill McDermott at the top, but holistic managers like Professor Henning Kagermann or a dynamic Jennifer Morgan and a young Christian Klein, for whom the footsteps are hopefully not too big.

The chances are good that the new SAP dual leadership of Morgan and Klein, trained by Supervisory Board member Gerd Oswald, will be a worthy successor to Henning Kagermann and Jim Hagemann Snabe.