SAP SE

20th century

When Xerox exited the computer hardware manufacturing industry in 1971, it asked IBM to migrate its business systems to IBM technology. As part of IBM's compensation for the migration, IBM was given the rights to the Scientific Data Systems (SDS)/SAPE software repository. Five IBM engineers from the AI department ( Dietmar Hopp, Klaus Tschira, Hans-Werner Hector, Hasso Plattner, and Claus Wellenreuther, all from Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg) were working on an enterprise-wide system based on this software, only to be told that it would no longer be necessary. Rather than abandoning the project, they decided to leave IBM Tech and start another company. In June 1972 they founded the SAP Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung ("System Analysis and Program Development" / "SAPD") company, as a private partnership under the German Civil Code.

Their first client was the German branch of Imperial Chemical Industries in Östringen, where they developed mainframe programs for payroll and accounting. Instead of storing the data on punch cards mechanically, as IBM did, they stored it locally in the Electronic System while using a common Logical database for all activities of Organization. [ clarification needed ] Therefore, they called their software a real-time system, since there was no need to process the punch cards overnight (for this reason their flagship product carried an R in its name until the late 1990s). This first version was also a standalone software that could be offered to other interested parties.

In 1973, SAP launched its first commercial product, the RF financial accounting system. This system served as the cornerstone in the ongoing development of other software modules of the system that eventually bore the name SAP R/1. This offered a common system for multiple tasks. This permitted the use of a centralized data storage, improving the maintenance of data. From a technical point of view, therefore, a database was necessary. [ new archival link needed ]

In 1976 SAP GmbH Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung ("Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing") was founded as a sales and support subsidiary. Five years later, the private partnership was dissolved and its rights were passed on to SAP GmbH. The headquarters moved the following year to Walldorf, Germany. [ citation needed ]

In 1979, SAP launched SAP R/2, expanding the capabilities of the system to other areas, such as materials management and production planning.

In 1981, SAP brought a re-designed product to market. However, SAP R/2 did not improve until between 1985 and 1990. [ citation needed ]

In 1992, SAP released SAP R/3. SAP developed and released several versions of R/3 through 1995.

In August 1988, SAP GmbH became SAP AG, and public trading started on 4 November 1988. Shares were listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges. In 1995, SAP was included in the German stock index DAX and, on 22 September 2003, SAP was included in the STOXX Europe 50.

In the mid-1990s, SAP transitioned from mainframe computing to a client–server architecture. In 1996 it began its alliance with the Spanish technology consulting firm Seidor, initiating the expansion of SAP solutions throughout Latin America.

21st century

In 2002 after the acquisition of Israeli software company TopManage, SAP launched SAP Business One, specifically designed for smaller companies (SME), which was sold and serviced by a global indirect network.

In 2004, R/3 was replaced with SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) 5.0. Architectural changes were also made to transition customers to a service-oriented architecture.

The company's official name became SAP AG (a public limited company) after the 2005 annual general meeting.

In 2006, SAP ERP 6.0 (commonly called SAP ECC ) was released. This version was updated through SAP enhancement packs, the most recent being enhancement package 8 for SAP ERP 6.0 in 2016. It was eventually succeeded by S/4HANA following its introduction in 2015.

In the period 2012-2014, SAP acquired several major cloud companies seen by analysts at the time as an attempt to challenge competitor Oracle. The largest acquisitions were SuccessFactors (HR, $3.4B), Ariba (Procurement, $4.3B), Fieldglass (contingent labour), Hybris (eCommerce, $1.5B) and Concur (Travel & Expense, 8.3B). (For a full history see the List of mergers and acquisitions by SAP )

In July 2014, SAP completed the conversion of its legal form to a European Company ( Societas Europaea, SE), following overwhelming shareholder approval at the previous AGM.. As a result, the company name changed from SAP AG to SAP SE and its German subsidiary was renamed to SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG. This change led to the first supervisory board being elected at this time.

On 29 January 2019, SAP announced plans to cut approximately 4,000 positions at the company in a strategic plan to shift to more modern technologies. This was followed by larger cuts of 3000 jobs in 2023 and 8000 in 2024.

On 13 April 2021, SAP announced the formation of the joint venture SAP Fioneer, a dedicated Financial Services Industry (FSI) Unit between SAP and investment company Dediq GmbH. Dediq GmbH invested over €500 million in the newly formed unit and received an 80 percent share in return. SAP brought its products, organizational units and the sales network into the business and holds 20 percent of the shares.