Conflicts of interest @ Sapphire & HV

Both events were intended to consolidate SAP's opinion, state and strategy. In Orlando at the Sapphire, first Bill McDermott and on the second day Hasso Plattner each give a keynote in which they present their view of things: McDermott from an operational point of view and with much praise for his own work; Hasso Plattner from a strategic point of view and as SAP's grandfather with lots of well-intentioned advice for his CEO Bill McDermott.

Both Sapphire speakers will each hold their own press conference afterwards, where analysts and journalists can ask their questions. Note: E-3 Magazine is not one of the accredited media admitted to the event. We will be watching the events in Orlando and Mannheim via live video stream.

It has been observed for many years that the questions asked by analysts and journalists are becoming increasingly "tame," cautious and irrelevant. Because the questioners are supposed to introduce themselves by name and medium, a second circumstance can be identified: The media invited by SAP belong less and less to the international elite.

While a few years ago the leading analysts such as Gartner and IDC sent their best employees to Orlando and they asked very good, pointed and also critical questions, this year one heard mainly questions from the regional press: What significance does India now have for SAP? Etc.

What did the shareholder representatives in Mannheim want to know? Here, too, a similar picture: Critical and constructive questions were on the agenda in the past. But obviously: "Money makes you blind" (see also report on the SAP Annual General Meeting in the June 2019 issue on page 53).

This year, the questions were misguided (Is SAP engaged in quantum computing?) or superficial (What will the departure of Executive Board members Bernd Leukert and Rob Enslin cost the Group?) or naïve (How many productive existing SAP customers are there in Germany?).

What is the problem? What is the conflict of interest?

If you want to verify the opinion and view of SAP by asking questions in Orlando and Mannheim, the picture is always the same: n plus 1. If you ask the same question n times, there is n plus one answer. There is not the same answer every time, but always a new answer plus the personal opinion of the respondent.

Anyone who, like the E-3 editorial team, spends two weeks in front of the PC screen with "Coke and pizza" to consume all the video streams, is not smarter in the end, but more confused - at best just as smart as before.

The example of integration: CEO Christian Klein explains in an interview that SAP may be one to two years behind; in Orlando, he says that all integration tasks could soon be solved;

SAP CEO Bill McDermott doesn't even address the issue in Orlando, but declares in Hannover that Qualtrics will remain independent; and Professor Hasso Plattner again has his own opinion, recommending building bridges between the individual SAP silos and islands.

We will have to wait for a consolidated, sustainable and transparent opinion from SAP on the most important topics for the future. Or are Orlando and Hanover the wrong places for real answers?