Henning Kagermann, CEO / SAP

But Kagermann, 58, has done more than ensure SAP&'s domination among enterprise customers. Under his direction, the company also has executed on what he calls “the two major pillars of our strategy.” The first pillar: establishing a legitimate place in the software infrastructure market. Using NetWeaver as the linchpin, SAP is recruiting ISV partners to write composite applications that extend the mySAP suite of applications, effectively transforming SAP&'s applications into an enterprise platform.

SAP&'s—and Kagermann&'s—second achievement this year? Building a viable reseller/integrator channel and customer base in the SMB market. In the first six months of 2005, SAP added 2,400 small and midsize customers, bringing the total to nearly 14,000. It also added 300 new channel partners, creating a worldwide partner community of 1,600.

“IT spending among [SMBs] is growing at a faster rate than among large enterprises, yet the market remains fragmented with no clear market-share leader, opening the door to SAP,” Kagermann wrote in an e-mail to CRN. “Our PartnerEdge Channel Partner Program, which we introduced in May, is an indication of our commitment.”

One thing partners and competitors have learned: When Kagermann talks about commitment, he means it. Don&'t expect SAP to abandon its newly built channel. That&'s just not the SAP way.