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SAP Hires Leading Industry Executive to Head Global Retail and Wholesale Business


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Rick Chavie Joins SAP to Drive Growth in Retail Sector

WALLDORF, Germany - November 17, 2005 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the appointment of Rick Chavie to lead global solution management for SAP’s retail and wholesale industry solutions. As senior vice president of Industry Solution Management, Trading, Chavie will be responsible for defining, shaping and delivering SAP’s market-leading retail and wholesale solutions. He will also be a key player in growing SAP’s retail partner ecosystem. Chavie will be based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Chavie has more than 20 years of experience directing major initiatives for leading retailers and consumer products companies across North America, Europe and Asia. He has worked in nearly all aspects of the business, including retail strategy, demand and supply optimization and next-generation technology development. Prior to joining SAP, Chavie led strategy, international and business process improvement at The Home Depot; was in charge of IT and re-engineering for an apparel division of Netherlands-based retailer C&A; held partner and leadership roles in retail, strategy and supply chain at Deloitte Consulting and Accenture; and most recently was CEO of marketing technology firm Infolenz.

“The global retail industry is a major growth opportunity for SAP,” said Jim Hagemann Snabe, general manager, Industry Solutions, SAP. “Retailers have recognized the need to more efficiently respond to consumer needs and as a result are moving away from investment in expensive, in-house development and point solutions, toward integrated, standardized software that enables best practices and processes. Chavie has the talent and vision to take our global retail business to the next level and, with him at the helm, we’re looking forward to delivering compelling business solutions that provide the foundation for retailers to drive increased growth and earnings.”

Chavie received his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and his bachelor’s degree in German and accounting from the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota). He is also a Fulbright Scholar in international trade, having studied at Germany’s Saarland University and the University of Cologne.

Rick Chavie’s business expertise: strategy and process engineering; retail and distribution with focus on hardlines, softlines, grocery and specialty; merchandising and supply chain.

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 29,800 customers in over 120 countries run more than 100,600 installations of SAP® software—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2005 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.



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