SAP AG yesterday announced a number of key appointments in its US subsidiary management line-up, at the same time unveiling a plan to launch a stock option and bond convertible program as a way of retaining employees. Under the management shuffle, SAP America named Chris Larson as president and Eric Rubino as chief operating officer. Larson will replace Jeremy Coote, who left the subsidiary in March to join front office vendor Siebel Systems Inc.
In his new role, Larson will be responsible for overseeing all field operations in the US, including sales, presales and consulting for all industry business sectors. As COO, Rubino will be responsible for infrastructure and support services, which include customer support, strategic alliances, applications hosting, training and education, business development, legal counsel and contracts administration.
SAP said Larson and Rubino, who have both been with the company for more than a decade, were instrumental in the development of the mySAP.com internet strategy. Larson was senior VP and executive director of mySAP.com throughout its inception and was responsible for the go-to-market strategy in America as well as forging the partnerships and relationships that underpin the whole architecture. Rubino, meanwhile, was in charge of SAP America’s outsourcing initiative, which is a key part of mySAP.com, the company said.
The German software giant also announced plans to issue a new stock option program called the SAP 2000 Long Term Incentive Plan. It said the program will consist of two offerings, stock options and convertible bonds that are competitive in the US marketplace and are in compliance with the German legislation on corporate regulatory issues. As an added incentive, the bonds can be converted to SAP stock options within a defined period. The program will be open to members of SAP’s executive board, members of the boards of SAP’s affiliate organizations and selected senior managers and top performers the company said. It added that the total number of stock options and convertible bonds will not exceed 6.25 million. The plan requires approval from shareholders and SAP will hold a meeting in Mannheim on January 18 to discuss the details, it said.
The moves are designed to retain key staff at SAP, which over recent months has seen the departure of many top employees to competitors. Last month, it issued a lawsuit against Siebel alleging the front office vendor had unfairly poached 27 of its staff in an attempt to injure SAP’s business and prevent the company from competing with Siebel in the customer relationship management space. Among them was Paul Wahl, the former head of SAP America, who left SAP in March to join ex-colleague Jeremy Coote at Siebel.
