On the Move: John Chen to leave SAP

Sybase president and CEO, John Chen, will step down today following the successful integration of Sybase into SAP AG.

Chen, 57, has spent 15 years at the helm of the software vendor, which was taken over by SAP in 2010 for $5.8 billion.

He said that while it was time for him to “relinquish the ownership of the franchise” he knew he would be leaving what he built in good hands.

“The integration of Sybase into SAP is complete and the business is in great shape,” said Chen.

“Combining the organisations made sense and I am pleased with the direction of the mobile and database business of Sybase within SAP. The Sybase assets are contributing significantly to SAP’s success and benefitting from technology such as SAP HANA as well as the global reach of the company.”

SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe said they respect Chen’s decision and thanked him for his extraordinary leadership over the past few years.

“The acquisition and integration of Sybase is a best practice for driving growth and innovation. Together with John, we have expanded the Sybase business significantly since the acquisition. Today we are the market leader in mobility and the fastest growing database company in the industry,” they said.

According to CRN, an SAP spokesman said the company doesn’t plan to maintain the Sybase president/CEO post, “now that we’ve successfully integrated Sybase into the SAP organization.”

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