SAP Product Chief Resigns

SAP's(SAP Quote) product chief and executive board member Shai Agassi is resigning from the company by mutual agreement to pursue other interests, the German business software company said Wednesday.

Agassi, who became a member of SAP's executive board in 2002, will leave his post April 1. He had been considered as a successor to CEO Henning Kagermann, who recently extended his contact with the company.

"With the extension of Henning's contract to 2009, it became apparent that Shai was not comfortable committing to a 10- to 15-year period, which was not in keeping with his personal career timeline," said Hasso Plattner, company founder and chairman of SAP's supervisory board.

"Given this, I made the recommendation to the supervisory board that we change our plans and now adjust SAP's executive management team responsibilities," Plattner said.

SAP said that Leo Apotheker, president of Customer Solutions and Operations, and executive board member, will serve as of deputy CEO of the company, effective immediately.

Agassi will remain with SAP as a special consultant to the Office of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board on technology, innovation and competitive trends.

Shares of SAP, which competes with Oracle (ORCL Quote), were off 81 cents to $44.43 in afternoon trading.