Needed More Than Ever

“Needed more than ever” was SAP CEO Christian Klein’s theme for the partner’s event in October in Hamburg, Germany. Klein stood on stage in person before employees and partners. The DSAG, the German-speaking User Group, held their annual congress in Leipzig, Germany, last week. There were over three thousand participants from the SAP community—Christian Klein would have been needed there. He was not present, instead greeting his customers solely via a live feed on a projection screen during the keynote address, presented by his fellow board member, Thomas Saueressig.

It remains a mystery to this day why Christian Klein could not come to Leipzig for a few minutes with his corporate jet, but could spend extensive time in Hamburg with his own employees and partners. Of course, the Hamburg event was of a higher quality: the buffet was better, the location more exclusive, and the admission prices about twice as high as for the DSAG Annual Congress.

It seems reasonable to assume that Christian Klein would have had to face critical questions from existing customers in Leipzig, while in Hamburg he was able to celebrate extensively on stage with friends, employees, and partners. Conversely, however, we should ask ourselves where the money for the party comes from. Ultimately, it was the licenses and the cloud subscriptions that financed the buffet and music at the Hamburg event.

Next year, the DSAG user association will try again and move a little closer to Hamburg with its annual congress. In 2023, the SAP community will be celebrating in Bremen, Germany, but whether Christian Klein will be able to find the location with his corporate jet still remains to be seen. It would be worth a try. It would be an act of courtesy toward SAP’s long-standing paying customers.

However, relief is in sight: after seven years of abstinence and denial, the SAP CEO of Switzerland was once more a guest at the renowned DSAG conference and in the Switzerland SAP community of interest in Andelfingen, a village in the canton of Zurich, in mid-November. An invitation has always been extended to the SAP office in Zurich, but only recently was it accepted for the first time in a long while. Will the DSAG Annual Congress now also have to wait seven years for the SAP CEO? We hope not, because we need Christian Klein more than ever!