Product engineering head Thomas Saueressig will take on a new role to maximize potential for customers in the cloud, but that’s cold comfort for on-premises users. Credit: IDG-Owned SAP is reshuffling its executive board to place even more emphasis on serving its cloud customers. Executive board member Thomas Saueressig, previously responsible for product engineering, will soon take on a new role as head of customer services and delivery, focused on maximizing potential for customers in the cloud, said Hasso Plattner, chairman of the company’s board of directors. To prioritize innovation adoption in the cloud will annoy some of SAP’s most faithful customers. Many of them are increasingly unable to adopt SAP’s innovations because they’re simply not made available to them. That’s because, as SAP CEO Christian Klein told financial analysts in July 2023, only customers running its flagship S/4HANA ERP platform through the cloud-based subscription offering, Rise with SAP, will receive the company’s latest AI and carbon-accounting innovations. Those running SAP’s older ERP software, ECC, or S/4HANA on premises or in hosted environments are out of luck — and that’s no small number. Last year, a UK & Ireland SAP User Group (UKISUG) survey found that only 21% of its members running S/4HANA were using the private- or public-cloud edition. The proportion was similar among members of DSAG, the German-speaking SAP User Group. The user groups have criticized SAP’s cloud-only innovation policy, saying those paying to use the software in other environments deserve a fair return, too, and that the company should pay more attention to those running its software on premises. No change in direction From April 1, Saueressig’s replacement as head of SAP’s product engineering organization will be Muhammad Alam. In a statement announcing the two appointments, Plattner gave no indication he wanted Alam to change the cloud-first direction set by Saueressig. “He’s well-suited to continue driving the success of our product engineering teams,” he said of Alam. Alam has only been with SAP since January 2022, when he was hired as chief product officer for Intelligent Spend, the company’s procurement, travel, and expense management tools, and for Business Network, its portfolio of products for managing relationships with trading partners. Prior to that, Alam spent 17 years at Microsoft, first as an enterprise strategy consultant and later as a product leader for its ERP and CRM suite, Dynamics, working on its transformation into the software-as-a-service offering, Dynamics 365. Support for adoption Ritu Bhargava, president and chief product officer for SAP Industries & CX, says developing new features that customers want is one thing, but ensuring they’re adopted is another, and Saueressig’s new role will help with that. “His focus is going to help us take the products and be that bridge between customer success and customer service, to really expand on the footprint of what we already have, with not just our customer base, but also our adoption base.” Cloud accounted for 45% of SAP’s revenue in Q3 of 2023, up from 40% a year earlier. The company will announce its Q4 and full-year results on January 24. Related content feature State of IT jobs: Mixed signals, changes ahead Layoffs and salary plateaus in the wake of exuberant pandemic-era IT hiring has the IT talent market in flux. And while employers pay premiums for hard-to-find AI skills, IT pros seek the same for filling in-office openings. By Sarah K. White May 17, 2024 10 mins Salaries Hiring IT Jobs feature Project manager salary: 5 key tips to earn more Project managers need to know what their worth is — and make others know it, as well. Here’s a look at project manager compensation, skills that increase a project manager’s pay scale, and how to negotiate a more competitive project By Josh Fruhlinger May 17, 2024 14 mins Salaries Project Management Careers feature Cyber resilience: A business imperative CIOs must get right With ransomware at an all-time high, companies need to understand that being cyber resilient means going beyond compliance to considering all aspects of a business, from operational continuity to software supply chain security. By Andrada Fiscutean May 16, 2024 9 mins Regulation Incident Response Data and Information Security feature Shine a Spotlight on Your Team’s IT Excellence with CIO Awards Canada By Allice Shandler May 16, 2024 4 mins Events IT Leadership PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe