BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : FEBRUARY 7, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- SPECIAL REPORT -- LEADERS Hasso Plattner: SAP Hasso Plattner SAP Position Co-chairman Contribution Developed Internet strategy for Europe's largest software company Ambition To create a portal that will become a global hub for e-commerce There's nothing like a personal challenge to get a guy like Hasso Plattner motivated. Last year, when German software giant SAP (SAP) watched its revenues flatten and its stock price fall to one-third of its all-time high, Co-Chairman Plattner got busy with a turnaround plan. SAP had emerged during the 1990s from being a little-known European software maker to being one of the largest and most successful software makers in the world. But Plattner had never been viewed as an industry seer like Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates or archrival Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. In SAP's darkest hour, Plattner decided to change that. ''Larry Ellison said SAP faces a nuclear winter,'' Plattner told customers last fall. ''But Larry might have to face the nuclear fallout--because we have a vision.'' And what a vision. While SAP's products had always been complex and expensive corporate software for accounting and manufacturing that took months or years to install, Plattner decided to break with the past and deliver the company's technology in an entirely new way. The result is mySAP.com, an Internet business portal Plattner launched last September that provides access to the whole array of SAP's traditional products--plus new pieces in hot software markets like customer relationship management. Corporations can tap in and get going in a matter of weeks. If Plattner's portal catches on, SAP could become a leading global hub for e-commerce. Plattner has an impressive foundation to build on. Already, SAP systems analyze the global operations of 20,000 large companies, from IBM to Bayer. SAP is now offering them the chance to hook their existing systems with new Net services that reach out to customers on one end and suppliers on the other. Riding this product, Plattner hopes to expand SAP's reach. ''We have 10 million users today,'' he says. ''We want to grow to 100 million. We want to be the AOL inside the company.'' The crucial question is whether massive SAP can get its staff and products running on Internet time. ''They have to change their whole business model,'' says Alexander Straug, chief executive officer of Mondus.com, one of SAP's competitors on the Web. ''They have hundreds of managers leaving to join companies like ours.'' To spread SAP's Net gospel, Plattner is trying out a fresh marketing approach. In the booming mid-'90s, Plattner pursued yachting with a passion. And SAP worked yachting images into its promotions. But now, trying to create a global brand, Plattner is spending $30 million on TV ads, mostly on sports shows with broader appeal. ''I'm not sailing anymore. I'm into hockey,'' he jokes. While Plattner's push onto the Web is just beginning, he's notching some victories. In recent months, he sold mySAP.com to Delta Airlines, a new customer, as well as Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments. ''The big contracts are back,'' he says. Meanwhile, SAP's core business seems to be improving, too. The company pre-announced fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 7, declaring that its new software license revenues had increased by 40%, to $823 million, and its operating income would be significantly higher than a year earlier. Within days, the stock spiked to an all-time high of $64.50 a share. For Plattner--so new to the vision thing--that's not a bad view. By Stephen Baker _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS Europe's Top e.business Leaders Ola Ahlvarsson: Result Venture Knowledge International Tomasz Czechowicz: Poland.com Nina Brink: World Online International N.V. Hasso Plattner: SAP Renato Soru: Tiscali Mark Schneider: United Pan-European Communications Kurt Hellstrom: Ericsson Ernesto Schmitt: peoplesound.com Chahram Becharat: Europ@web Paulus Neef: Pixelpark AG INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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