Interview with SAP Co-Founder Hasso Plattner
DER SPIEGEL
Hasso Plattner is one of the co-founders of German business software giant SAP, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. In a SPIEGEL interview, he explains what German entrepreneurs could learn from Americans and shares his memories of Apple's Steve Jobs.
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Plattner: A very important contribution will come from our latest development, an innovative high-performance database for companies, the High-Performance Analytic Appliance, or HANA …

SPIEGEL: ... something that is barely comprehensible for most laypeople. But it appears to significantly speed up computing processes. And now SAP is also getting involved in cloud computing.

Plattner: We no longer have to provide users with everything at the same time. We only have to be fast enough to be able to deliver in a flash any content, at any time, in any place. That's what HANA and the cloud are all about. It's going to become another world. And do you know when you can tell that you're right on target with a product? When AOK (one of Germany's leading statutory health insurers) buys it. Doesn't test it first, just buys it and installs it. And AOK has opted for HANA. This has given SAP another real boost ...

SPIEGEL: ... which doesn't exactly come cheap. SAP recently acquired cloud-computing specialist SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion. Will its founder and CEO, the Dane Lars Dalgaard, join the SAP board of directors?

Plattner: I'd like to see him there. We need more real movers and shakers with cloud experience in our software development. They also have to be prepared to take risks.

SPIEGEL: After you stepped down as chairman of the board, what led you to get back into development?

Plattner: You see things differently when you're no longer involved in the daily grind. I was never in the right frame of mind there. In my institute at Potsdam University I started out with perfectly normal lectures and realized that most of my students saw this as too complicated. So we began there with the reduction of complexity. We've simply taken it to the next level. And I've been able to use what I learned there myself to keep pace again with the SAP developers.

SPIEGEL: How can creativity be promoted?

Plattner: First, you have to make an honest and possibly painful appraisal of the current situation: Where are we, and where are the others? Don't sugar-coat anything. Afterwards, you have to clearly define where you really want to go. That's much more difficult than it sounds. People would often rather put together a 50-page PowerPoint presentation than simply say: We want this and this! Three sentences is usually all it takes. The Germans need to learn that you sometimes have to play around with ideas. And we always have to ask ourselves what advantages customers have and what their wishes are. Some 25 years ago, I told Porsche that their clutches were far too hard. They've changed them. Today, 30 percent of Porsche drivers are women. We have to constantly ask customers what they want. And, thank God, today's customers like to talk with us again.

SPIEGEL: Today entire sectors blossom and disappear much faster. Fifteen years ago, we still drove around with roadmaps, then came car navigation systems, and now they are being replaced by smartphones. Could even SAP disappear in 20 years?

Plattner: It could happen even faster than that, although I've never been more optimistic about my company than today: Our sales team has the right arrows in the quiver, our developers are in demand and our customers see us as the trusted innovator -- so everyone's happy.

SPIEGEL: When was the most dangerous situation for SAP?

Plattner: In 1981. We were in the process of developing our R/2 software, but didn't have it up and running yet. During this period, we collected advance payments, but then the IG Metall trade union launched one of the largest strikes in postwar German history. For five months, we sold virtually nothing. That was a very difficult year for SAP.

SPIEGEL: You're now the company's largest single shareholder. Are you afraid that your baby will one day end up being swallowed by Microsoft or someone else?

Plattner: There are no guarantees here -- except perhaps for one: As long as we are worth $85 billion on the stock exchange, as is currently the case, we're rather difficult to swallow, even if Apple could buy us tomorrow.

SPIEGEL: Your four cofounders left SAP a long time ago ...

Plattner: (laughs) … I'm the last of the Mohicans, yes.

SPIEGEL: Are you still in contact with each other?

Plattner: Only with Dietmar Hopp. I'm sure they'll all attend the anniversary celebration. We know each other well but we don't have too many romantic, nostalgic feelings. We simply worked too hard for that.

SPIEGEL: Have you set a date for when you want to leave SAP?

Plattner: No. As long as I still have something to contribute, I'll be here.