SAP names cloudy former Microsoft exec Quentin Clark as CTO

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German tech giant SAP has announced former Microsoft corporate vice president (CVP) Quentin Clark as its new chief technology officer.

Clark was previously at Microsoft, where he’d served for 20 years, as CVP for business applications, reporting directly to then executive vice president Satya Nadella. He helped oversee the delivery of various data products including Microsoft SQL Server, Power BI, and BI in Microsoft Office.

His job role at SAP is described on his LinkedIn profile as ‘technology ambassador.’ “Clark will drive direction and vision of SAP’s future technology and shape SAP’s brand as the technology leader”, it adds.

“I am very pleased to have Quentin join SAP,” said executive board member Bernd Leukert, who Clark will report to. “He is not only an impressive technologist who thrives on pursuing a meaningful vision but at the same time a passionate leader.”

He added: “I am sure that Quentin will significantly contribute to shaping and executing our technology strategy and turning opportunities into innovation – and help our customers to Run Simple.”

In other words, this is cloud, cloud, cloud. The company released its third quarter results last month and found cloud subscriptions up 51% from Q313, while software revenues were down 3% from this time last year.

The problem with that, however, is cloud subscriptions and support was €738m (£584.1m), while software revenue was €2.53bn (£1.99bn). It’s a bit of a jump, but then it’s what SAP would roughly be expecting given it wants to migrate its revenues to cloud. For a company with ambitions to be ‘THE cloud company’, then it’s little surprise analysts have been concerned about its future, along with the likes of Oracle and IBM.

The move to bring Clark in as CTO continues the list of the executive merry-go-round. Former SAP head of cloud Shawn Price recently joined Oracle, as well as former Google App Engine exec Peter Magnusson.