Sydney, Australia — SAP today announced changes to its executive leadership team in ANZ (Australia New Zealand).
Tim Ebbeck, currently chief financial officer in ANZ, has been appointed to the new role of chief operating officer (COO) for ANZ, effective 1 January 2007. As COO, Tim will be responsible for strategy, business partner management, finance, commercial and sales operations. Tim will also work on key strategic and commercial initiatives across Asia Pacific.
Stephen Watts, currently ANZ director of marketing and business development, will become Asia Pacific vice president for small and midsize enterprise (SME) and business development, also effective 1 January 2007.
Based out of Singapore, Steve will be part of the new Global SME Line of Business, with a dual reporting line to the new SME group’s president, Hans-Peter Klaey and the newly appointed regional president of Asia Pacific, Geraldine McBride. The Global SME Line of Business is a recently established SAP business unit dedicated to the market, industry and resource requirements of SMEs, which currently account for about 65 per cent of SAP’s total customer base.
“Steve and Tim have been highly influential and effective for SAP in ANZ,” said Geraldine McBride, CEO and managing director, SAP ANZ. “They have been major contributors to the commercial success of SAP in Australia and New Zealand, helping the company to achieve its customer, growth and marketing objectives across all target markets. This contribution is reflected in these significant appointments.”
The changes follow on from the appointment of Alan Hyde, as CEO and managing director, SAP ANZ; and Geraldine McBride’s appointment as regional president of SAP Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.
Tim Ebbeck joined SAP ANZ and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) in 2003. Tim has more than 20 years experience in the IT sector and previously held positions with Compaq, initially as CFO for South Pacific, and later as an Investment Director within the Compaq Venture Capital fund.
Steve Watts joined SAP and the ELT in 2001 and has led the development of SAP’s ANZ market strategy since that time. He managed the daily execution of business development, marketing, demand generation, alliances and sales operations.
