SAP was founded forty years. What began as a five-man operation is now one of the world's largest independent software providers, an employer of more than 55,000 people in over 50 countries serving more than 183,000 customers worldwide. Today, three quarters of the Forbes 500 companies run SAP software. SAP software powers 80 percent of the companies on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and 85 percent of the top 100 most valued brands in the world.
Hasso Plattner, Co-Founder, SAP & Chairman, SAP Supervisory Board said, "When we began in 1972, our vision was to build real time business applications and we did so in close cooperation with our first customers. Today, SAP continues to be the trusted innovator it was then. We are driving intellectual renewal with break-through innovations like the SAP HANA platform for the next generation of real time management of businesses anytime anywhere from any device. And we have also returned to our roots, working closely with customers to make the impossible possible."
SAP began its path of transforming the world of IT born of a single customer's demand and an entrepreneurial vision for technology's business potential. Five engineers - Hasso Plattner, Dietmar Hopp, Klaus Tschira, Hans-Werner Hector and Claus Wellen reuther -were driven by the desire to help companies run their businesses better, faster and more efficiently with standard software solutions.
