Rumors continue to fly about SAP succession. They have for a while.
My hypothesis is the gravy days are over. SAP is going to be under pricing and product innovation pressure the next few years. They should ask Henning to stay and tell him to wield the knife. It would be tough to expect Leo, a sales oriented executive, or Shai, really a marketing executive in current role to do that well, though Leo would win narrowly if I had a vote.
And if Henning does not want to continue, go outside and get a Mark Hurd like exec to come in and shake up the organization. Hey, I would even volunteer my firm, Deal Architect to help. While we mostly work with buyer organizations, we have selectively worked with vendors when they get serious about reshaping their cost and pricing structure.
Update: I just realized I have Mark Hurd and a link to Dawn Kawamoto in the same blog. Enquiring minds -trust me, I have no insider information from the SAP board!
Further Update: Henning is staying through May 09. Good for SAP - he has been a stable steward. I stand by comments above though that SAP needs to restructure.
