SAP: Inside the Secret Software Power [Hardcover]

Instead, new ERP systems (excuse me, ENTERPRISE systems) became a "must have" initiative for almost all large companies. R/2 evolved to R/3, which cemented its position as the undisputed market leader in the class. This in spite of being a devilishly complex product even by German standards, created by a non-American software company that was reputedly shy of publicity, thin-skinned, arrogant, and vindictive. R/3 was received its entre and initial sponsorship in the USA not by SAP itself, but by consulting firms Anderson Consulting, the (then) Big Six accounting firms, CSC, Cap Gemini, and others. The results have been mixed. In extreme cases, companies have sunk hundreds of millions both in deploying SAP and in the process re-engineering associated with its deployment. Even the "expected" ratio of software to implementation expense is 7:1 or 10:1. This suggests the reality that R/3 is more an application framework than a shrink-wrapped solution, as CEOs and CIOs quickly discovered. Nevertheless both the huge investment and the high-level executive sponsorship have made SAP a fixture in much of the corporate world today.

There is surely a facinating story to be told of SAP's capture of this market position. What exactly did the consultants see in R/3 that was missing elsewhere? How did they sell the huge implementation costs? How did SAP sell them on R/3, and on themselves? How did they cross the large cultural barriers? How did this compare with the competiton? Unfortunately, you will not find any such history in Meissner's book. This utterly dreadful volume reads like a translated German press release...if you can imagine a press release that is 200-pages long! Perhaps that is unfair to press releases, which have some clear content and direction, which this book sorely lacks. What you will learn is that six IBM "drop-outs" created an integrated transaction-oriented mainframe business software package during the 1970s, using mainframe computer time borrowed from their first customer. They enhanced and extended the product, launching a client/server version in 1992. Their sales strategy was to sell strictly to CEOs, and the doors to the executive office were opened for them by their implementation partners. Their expansion in the USA was driven by the feisty Klaus Beiser. You will also learn that the SAP culture is characterized by a flat organizational structure, open exchanges of information (strictly within SAP, it is understood by all), flexibility in work hours, and lifelong learning. Typical valley start-up stuff. You won't learn anything else from Meissner. The book has less depth than most any other discussion of SAP (a formidable achievement, that).

Perhaps a few examples will suffice. One Chapter is entitled "Washing Dirty Linen in Public - The Resignation of Cofounder Hans-Werner Hector". Just trips off the tongue, doesn't it? The book includes references to URLs which no longer exist, includes a few graphs and charts imported directly from Microsoft Excel, and numerous recycled sidebars, surprising in their location, but not their content. Just in case you wanted to know, it also includes the addresses and phone number of every SAP office worldwide(talk about filler!), although the order in which they are sorted is unfathomable (details, details!). The chapter on the SAP-Microsoft relationship ends:

"At the Sapphire user conference in August 1996 in Philadelphia, where the business framework architecture was presented for the first time, Hasso Plattner and Bill Gates showed how R/3 can be used with Microsoft software on the Internet. In the evening, the conference participants met at a party on the bank of the Delaware River. For this party SAP engaged pop star Stevie Wonder, and the people from SAP and Microsoft had a grand time joining in on the line "We've got to reach higher" as the customers listened with great pleasure."

Not a pleasure to read. This book certainly deserves at least a "B-" grade in any course in English as a second language, but it is hard to swallow a full volume of such drivel when so poorly written.

The history of the 5 co-founders and the interplay of the 5 throughout the initial stages of the company and the development of R/2 and R/3 are fascinating.

Meissner provides insight into the ever-changing relationships of SAP with the press and the industry analysts. He also explains the role of major, influential customers in the ongoing development of SAP's products.

My only disappointment with the book was the relatively little information about SAP developments since late 1996, early 1997 when the book was originally written.

Otherwise, a smart investment for anyone involved with SAP R/3, contemplating an SAP implementation, and for anyone who simply likes a good story.

Jim Heldman Berkeley, CA