媒体报道Shai Agassi已经正式离职

今天媒体正式宣布了Shai Agassi (夏嘉曦)已经正式离开SAP，暂时还很难估量他的此举会给SAP带来什么样的影响。转贴外电及国内媒体的相关报道如下：

Rift Over Co-CEO Caused Agassi to Leave SAP

Shai Agassi is leaving SAP AG to tackle climate and energy issues in Israel and not as a result of Oracle's recent lawsuit against SAP, or SAP's two missed quarters in fiscal 2006, according to SAP's chairman, Hasso Plattner.

Rather, according to Plattner, Agassi's departure stems more from the fact that SAP's board extended Henning Kagermann's CEO contract to 2009, leaving Agassi in the lesser position of president of the Product and Technology Group for another two years.

ADVERTISEMENT "What happened is I shared my plan with Shai that he should become co-CEO with Apotheker," said Plattner during an impromptu press conference March 28.

"When I asked Henning [Kagermann, SAP's CEO] if he could stay until mid-2009—we will launch a new product—Henning agreed. It became apparent to Shai that he was not comfortable committing a long-term, 10- or 15-year period to SAP and responded that I should not consider him for the co-CEO or CEO position."

Plattner said after Agassi's response to Kagermann's contract extension, it was Plattner's turn to respond.

"It became clear to me that when a 120-percent person is not committed in long terms, we should make short-term changes, because it would release energies in others."

Under SAP's bylaws, Kagermann's contract would have expired this summer on his 60th birthday, to be extended on a yearly basis.

Agassi and Leo Apotheker, president of SAP's Global Customer Solutions & Operations, were front runners for the top spot at SAP.

And from the look of today's announcements—Apotheker was named deputy CEO, alongside Kagermann—the board was clearly considering a co-leadership role between Agassi and Kagermann. SAP executives stressed that it was this rift that led Agassi to give up his coveted role at SAP—and not the explosive legal claim brought by Oracle last week that alleges theft on a grand scale by TomorrowNow, SAP's subsidiary that provides third-party support for Oracle's applications.


"This has nothing to do whatsoever with Oracle," said Kagermann. "The proof is this meeting, which was issued before Oracle launched its broad attack."

When asked about his thoughts as to whether Agassi would have been named to the top spot should his contract not been renewed, Kagermann responded strongly. "I will not be pushed by anyone inside our outside of SAP to make comments about public positions," he said. "That's it. Period."

Whatever the reasons behind Agassi's resignation—the reasons not outlined in a press release—SAP is clearly under pressure. Oracle's lawsuit, whether specious or not, is shedding a negative light on the company in what has been a tough year on the financial front.

Twice during the year—its second and fourth quarters, respectively—SAP restated guidance in a downward trend. At the same time, the company will invest between $370 million to $493 million over the next eight quarters in a new mid-market suite, A1S, which SAP hopes will increase its earnings by $1 billion over the next four years, and nearly triple its customer base by 2010.

SAP said during its fourth-quarter earnings call in January that the investment in A1S would likely have a negative impact on the company's operating margin this year, chipping 1 or 2 percentage points off 2006's 27.3-percent margins.

During the March 28 press conference, Plattner said Agassi's leaving—despite his position as chief architect—would have no impact on the development of A1S. "With all his responsibilities, Shai is not responsible for A1S. Peter Zenke as a board member is," said Plattner. "We have only disclosed that we will come out with the product this year, so [Agassi's leaving] will not impact us at all. Except all the technology stuff we are using is part of Shai's contribution."

During his six-year tenure at SAP, Agassi was very much behind a major platform push that led to the development of NetWeaver, SAP's integration and development platform, and the company's transition to a SOA (service oriented architecture) model—an achievement that cannot be understated for a company that was once synonymous with the word "monolithic."

The transformations at SAP, with Agassi as the frontman technically, with customers and with the press, led him to be viewed as a bit of a wunderkind at SAP and in the technical community.

While it may be hard to measure the impact of Agassi's departure in the near term—particularly with SAP's platform strategy that puts it in line to compete with the likes of Microsoft and IBM—Kagermann was adamant that there will be no changes in SAP's strategic direction.

"Strategy is given from the CEO, not just one member," said Kagermann. "We will continue to execute. There is no need to change. It is a superior strategy. The Business Process Platform, you will see it in products. NetWeaver will continue to be a revenue generator for SAP."

In light of Agassi's departure, SAP also announced the formation of an Executive Council, comprised of the company's corporate officers, which will be responsible for both customer-facing and product strategies. Executives leading development will report to Kagermann. The Executive Council consists of: Doug Merritt, who lead the development of software for the business user; Klaus Kreplin, who will continue to lead SAP NetWeaver technology; Jim Hagemann Snabe, who will lead development of the SAP Business Suite and industry solutions; Michael Kleinemeier, who will drive collaboration and lead industry business unit priorities; Bob Stutz, who will continue to lead the CRM team; Hans-Peter Klaey, who will continue to lead the SME organization which now encompasses SAP Business One; and Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP America, who will oversee the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan regions. The changes will take effect April 1.

Agassi, for his part, will be returning to his entrepreneurial roots. He started his meteoric rise at SAP in 2001 when his portals company, Top Manage, was acquired by SAP. Now he plans to take on climate change and global-energy issues, according to Plattner.

"[Agassi] said, 'When I look to the future I see myself getting older.' He is so young, I cannot understand this—but that is what he told me," said Plattner. "[Agassi] has said many times he has many things he wants to do. He will save many thousands of tons of energy. You will be amazed. He will start in political things in Israel, building a company."

原文地址：

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2108962,00.asp

正巧在网上看到了翻译的这篇报道，贴如下：

（本文首发于许坤的博客http://blog.xukun.com ，欢迎转贴，但请注明出处，谢谢！）

SAP调整执行董事会职责 为CEO任命副手

　　SAP宣布，为强化公司的发展战略，公司将扩大高层管理团队的职责。这些变动是在宣布执行董事会成员夏嘉曦(Shai Agassi) 离职的同时做出的。根据与公司签定的相互协议，夏嘉曦将离开公司，以便致力于其本人关注的环境政策、替代能源资源及其他问题方面的工作。在宣布这一变动的同时，SAP强调了公司目前的产品和平台战略，以及致力于推动SAP的用户及合作伙伴获取成功的责任。

　　SAP监事会主席及公司创始人哈索·普拉特纳 (Hasso Plattner) 表示，“我们对夏嘉曦离开公司的决定感到惋惜，但我们对他在SAP所做出的成绩表示祝贺。夏嘉曦推动了公司成功的平台战略，领导了有助于SAP成长和保持市场领导地位的创新，并为商业软件的未来奠定了基础。我曾把我的计划告诉过夏嘉曦，准备让他接替孔翰宁博士担任SAP的联合首席执行官。由于孔翰宁博士的合同延长到了2009年，夏嘉曦肯定对自己的10-15年任期感到不舒心，因为这与他个人的任职期限不相符。鉴于此，我向监事会建议改变我们的计划，调整SAP高层管理团队的职责。”

　　SAP全球首席执行官孔翰宁博士表示：“我们现在有一支实力雄厚的研发和产品领导团队，我们已经在企业级SOA(服务导向架构)路线图上取得了重大进展，我们对公司在中级市场大批量业务领域的增长机会有清晰的认识和目标。”

　　产品与技术集团总裁兼SAP执行董事会成员夏嘉曦说，“过去6年与SAP同呼吸共命运是我的无上荣耀，我对我们的成就以及推向市场的成功产品感到骄傲。产品团队将在孔翰宁博士的领导下继续前进，我坚信SAP在未来许多年里将继续领导企业软件市场。我将把我在SAP的经历作为我职业生涯中最满意的时光留在记忆中，我很高兴有机会在SAP与那些杰出而热情的同仁共事。我期待着新的机会，希望从事那些对我十分重要的事情，例如替代能源和环保政策问题以及以色列的未来等。”

　　SAP监事会已经接受了夏嘉曦的辞呈，该辞呈将于2007年4月1日生效。夏嘉曦将留任监事会主席办公室特别顾问，负责技术、创新和竞争趋势方面的工作，并将在公司的Palo Alto研发基地保留一间办公室。

　　李艾科 (Léo Apotheker) 出任副首席执行官；组建执行理事会

　　公司宣布客户解决方案及营运总裁、执行董事会成员李艾科 (Léo Apotheker) 担任SAP全球副首席执行官并立即生效。

　　SAP还宣布成立由企业事务高管 (Corporate Officers) 组成的执行理事会。理事会受执行董事会的领导，将分担面向用户和产品战略方面的职责，促使公司更迅速适应用户的需求，并支持公司的2010年发展规划。为强调公司对当前产品和平台战略所做的承诺，各开发部门的管理层将归孔翰宁博士领导。

　　以下管理层将由孔翰宁博士领导：

　　■ Doug Merritt，企业事务高管，负责商务用户软件开发；

　　■ Klaus Kreplin，企业事务高管，继续负责SAP NetWeaver 技术；

　　■ Jim Hagemann Snabe，企业事务高管，负责SAP 商务套件和行业解决方案的开发；

　　■ Michael Kleinemeier，企业事务高管，负责对外合作和主要行业优先级事宜；

　　■ Bob Stutz，企业事务高管，继续负责CRM团队。

　　以下管理层由李艾科 (Léo Apotheker) 领导：

　　■ 全球市场部和解决方案市场部合并为一个部门，由企业事务高管Marty Homlish领导；Peter Graf 担任Marty Homlish的副职，由Marty Homlish领导；

　　■ 雷汉鹏 (Hans-Peter Klaey)，企业事务高管，继续负责中小企业市场部，现包括SAP Business One；

　　■ EMEA (欧洲、中东地区和非洲)北部、东部、西部和EMEA中部将合并为一个EMEA地区，由企业事务高管Ernie Gunst领导，负责SAP在该地区的运作；

　　■ Bill McDermott，企业事务高管，担任美洲、亚太和日本地区的负责人；Geraldine McBride将继续负责亚太和日本地区，并汇报给Bill；

　　■ 所有合作伙伴活动，包括独立软件经销商、渠道、技术合作伙伴、服务合作伙伴和系统集成商，将由Zia Yusuf负责。

　　SAP声明以上变动将于2007年4月1日起生效。