IDGNS: Speaking of strong personalities, do you miss Shai Agassi? [Agassi, former head of SAP's product and technology group and an expected successor to Kagermann as co-CEO, left the company in 2007 after Kagermann's contract was extended into 2009.]

Kagermann: I cannot say. We have to respect decisions. If you look at the bench strength of SAP, it's pretty large. It's not really, for a large company like SAP, an issue. I always say, there's nobody who cannot be replaced within SAP. Otherwise something's wrong in a company. It has to be that way.

IDGNS: Regarding SAP's culture: The company went through a publicly ugly battle a couple of years ago over the enactment of a worker's council, which was ultimately forced by court order. Top executives and most employees had opposed the council, saying the company's "startup" like culture didn't mesh well with it. Has the council affected the entrepreneurial spirit within SAP?

Kagermann: [The worker's council] is a very special voice that is not, I would say, represented globally for SAP. It's something elected in Germany, that is representing some people in the German locations, but not all. Many people were not in favor of it. But we have to respect it, it's the law. We work with them, we listen, we support them.

It's always difficult to speak about entrepreneurial spirit in a company. ... I think you cannot run a company that is publicly listed like you are the founder of the company. That's not possible. You have many shareholders and are responsible to all shareholders. From that point of view, sometimes decisions take longer. You cannot do it out of the air. However, if I look to what we have done in the last years in terms of innovation, new products, no one can say it is less than before.

IDGNS: What do you see as your major accomplishments, as you wrap up your tenure?

Kagermann: We started in 2002 in a very tough environment, to come back to double-digit growth and market share gains. We are now in the largest acquisition SAP has ever done [with Business Objects], and I think [the new on-demand ERP offering] Business ByDesign is another important piece. As I leave, SAP is in a good position to grow into new areas and from a product point of view, and has a good product portfolio for the next five to 10 years.