SAP chairman admits customer trust was lost
Remaining management at financial IT business tries to restore confidence after abrupt departure of CEO
The chairman of SAP, the financial software company, admitted the business
has lost the trust of its customers.
Chairman Hasso Plattner said he and the management at the company had made
errors, however he added SAP would restore customer confidence, the
Financial
Times reported.
Plattner admitted it was a mistake to try to increase support service fees by
up to 22% last year, the middle of the economic crisis, which was met with
severe backlash from user groups.
“This is nothing that can be put into Léos’ shoes. We have made a mistake… I
was personally involved in decisions about the maintenance fees,” said Plattner.
The company later backtracked and charged customers 18% of their licence fee
for the Standard Support package.
Plattner confirmed SAP would continue to have two CEOs similar to other
companies such as Microsoft.
“Microsoft had its best times when Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates were working
together,” he said.
Further reading:
SAP
boss ousted in shock management reshuffle
SAP
backs down over increased support costs
