SAP chairman admits customer trust was lost

The chairman of SAP, the financial software company, admitted the business has lost the trust of its customers.

Chairman Hasso Plattner said he and the management at the company had made errors, however he added SAP would restore customer confidence, the Financial Times reported.

Plattner admitted it was a mistake to try to increase support service fees by up to 22% last year, the middle of the economic crisis, which was met with severe backlash from user groups.

"This is nothing that can be put into Léos' shoes. We have made a mistake… I was personally involved in decisions about the maintenance fees," said Plattner.

The company later backtracked and charged customers 18% of their licence fee for the Standard Support package.

Plattner confirmed SAP would continue to have two CEOs similar to other companies such as Microsoft.

"Microsoft had its best times when Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates were working together," he said.

Further reading:

SAP chairman admits errors

SAP boss ousted in shock management reshuffle

SAP backs down over increased support costs