SAP’s McDermott Says Call From Jobs Confirmed Tablet Push
This article is for subscribers only.
Bill McDermott, co-chief executive officer of SAP AG, said a phone call from Steve Jobs in early 2010 helped convince him to move further into tablet computing as a platform for expansion.
SAP had placed an order for 4,000 Apple Inc. iPads when Jobs called and asked “what are you doing?,” McDermott said during an address at the Churchill Club speaker series in Palo Alto, California yesterday. The order, which was placed before Apple first began shipping the tablets, was so McDermott could give them to sales staff and demonstrate SAP’s business management software.