SAP Aligns Global SME Organization to Drive Next Phase of Growth Initiative

WALLDORF, Germany, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Capitalizing on an unparalleled opportunity within the small and midsize business arena and building on its growing success in the market segment together with its channel partners, SAP AG today announced executive appointments in its newly formed global organization responsible for overseeing sales, marketing, operations and the alignment of resources to small businesses and midsize companies. Under the leadership of Hans-Peter Klaey, president of SAP's SME organization, SAP has aligned its team to support a growing focus on the market segment over the years come and to create additional opportunities for both customers and partners. The team will expand market coverage, continue the successful rollout of the SAP(R) PartnerEdge(TM) program and execute upon SAP's multi-channel delivery strategy of business management solutions designed to meet the diverse requirements of small businesses and midsize companies.

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The new global SME leadership team is responsible for implementing go-to-market strategies, customer and partner engagement models and a diversified partner ecosystem to deliver SAP's expanding portfolio of solutions for small businesses and midsize companies. It will oversee delivery of SAP's recently announced new midmarket solutions, including the next version of SAP(R) All-in-One solutions based on mySAP(TM) ERP 2005 (see Jan. 16, 2007 announcement, titled "SAP Delivers Enterprise SOA for Midsize Companies with Next Evolution of SAP All-in-One Solutions"), and a new "enterprise SOA by design" solution enabling SAP to expand its reach to midsize companies currently underserved by existing business applications (see Jan. 24, 2007 announcement, titled "SAP Unveils New 'Game Changing' Approach to Midmarket"). The new leadership team also oversees delivery of the SAP(R) Business One application for small businesses and mySAP(TM) Business Suite applications for companies in the segment requiring comprehensive business management capabilities.

SAP plans to extend its position in the market segments of small businesses and midsize companies through an intensified customer and partner focus and an improved alignment across all internal business functions -- sales, marketing, operations, field service, support -- and the SAP PartnerEdge program. Under Klaey, the new global SME organization is committed to accelerating the growth of the SAP customer base while working closely with partners to devise and introduce innovative solutions that meet customer needs. To continue meeting these goals and add further focus to the small and midsize space, new executive appointments within SAP's SME organization include:

-- SME Indirect Channel: Terrance Scerri is senior vice president of SME Indirect Channel, responsible for overseeing the SAP PartnerEdge indirect channel program, extending and diversifying SAP's partner ecosystem while ensuring that channel program investments improve operational excellence, strengthen partner performance and increase customer satisfaction. He succeeds Donna Troy, executive vice president, who will leave SAP to pursue other personal and professional interests. Scerri joined SAP in early 2006, and in his position as senior vice president of global small business sales, reported to Troy. -- SME Regional Heads: -- Tom Kindermans is senior vice president SME in EMEA Central, overseeing SME business operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- Stephen Watts is senior vice president SME in Asia Pacific, guiding SME business operations across Japan, China, Korea, India, South East Asia and Australia/New Zealand -- These new appointments round out the regional leadership that also includes Eric Duffaut, executive vice president, EMEA NEWS; Rodney Seligmann, executive vice president, US and North America; Luis Murguia, senior vice president, Latin America; and Toshifumi Kobe, vice president, Japan. -- SME Operations: -- Michael Schmitt is senior vice president for SME Operations, responsible for finance and administration as well as development, management and continuous optimization of all processes and operations to encourage growth in the business. -- SME Business Development: -- Bobby Vetter is senior vice president for SME Business Development, responsible for driving strategic business planning and growth initiatives and coordinating all SME Solution Centers. -- Midsize Enterprise Go-to-Market: -- Emma Morice, senior vice president, midsize enterprise go-to- market, leads up a team focused on developing SAP's business model to deliver business solutions to the midmarket in the most effective and efficient way -- providing customer with more choice in how they access SAP solutions to suit their individual business requirements. -- SAP Business One Go-to-Market: -- Niels Stenfeldt is vice president of SAP Business One and related go-to-market strategies.

The appointments and formation of the new global SME organization strengthen SAP's growing programs for small businesses and midsize companies. SAP has successfully constructed a world-class platform to serve its partners and global customer base while addressing the needs of growing companies. SAP PartnerEdge, the cornerstone of SAP's partner channel business, has been rolled out globally to serve 2,240 partners, developing almost 1,000 add-ons to SAP's product portfolio of SAP All-in-One solutions and the SAP Business One application. The growth of SAP's indirect business has consistently outpaced the overall market. SAP today serves more than 22,200 small and midsize customers through its partner channel.

"These organizational adjustments reflect the depth of talent and expertise within both our global and regional teams serving small businesses and midsize companies, and will drive the next phase of growth among this important customer segment to create outstanding opportunities for our partner community and SAP," said Klaey. "We thank those who have helped SAP achieve its strong progress in the segment thus far, and we look forward to the many accomplishments to come from the contributions of team members in both new and existing roles."

For more information about SAP PartnerEdge, visit http://www.sap.com/partners/categories/channel/partneredge/index.epx. For more information about SAP All-in-One solutions, visit http://www.sap.com/solutions/midsize/allinone. For more information about the SAP Business One application, visit http://www.sap.com/smallbusiness/index.epx

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 38,000 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP(R) applications -- from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/ )

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

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