T he chief executive of SAP Leo Apotheker is leaving the top job, and the company board, after less than a year in the job. He was joint-CEO of the backoffice software group from April 2008 to May 2009, in order to ensure a smooth takeover from his predecessor, Henning Kagermann. Bill McDermott, who was head of field operations and Jim Hagermann Snabe - previously head of product development. [1]

Analysts, aware of the company's recent stumbles in the marketplace, are taking a hopeful but cautious stance to the announced changes. Apotheker's departure was preceded by months of rumors over whether his contract would be renewed, given his troubled reign as CEO. On the technology side, SAP has been slow to catch up with IT industry trends such as cloud computing and software-as-a-service. [3]

Under his leadership, SAP (SAP) posted its first annual drop in revenue since 2003 and announced the first mass layoffs in the company's history. Low morale among the Walldorf engineering team, the issue with Enterprise Support and maintenance, and uncontrollable poor quarterly performance proved to be factors beyond his control. [2]