SAP SE

Overview

SAP SE is a German enterprise software company founded in 1972 and headquartered in Walldorf. Its applications help organizations manage and connect core operations, including finance, procurement, human resources, supply chains and customer experience. Its offerings center on cloud-based enterprise resource planning software, alongside SAP Business Technology Platform for integrating systems, extending applications and building AI-supported applications.[1]+2

SAP’s stated purpose is to “help the world run better and improve people’s lives.” The company has a global presence and employed more than 110,000 people at the end of 2025. It reported €36.8 billion in revenue for 2025.[4]+2 [1]+5

Products & services

SAP’s core product is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. SAP Cloud ERP, built around SAP S/4HANA, supports finance, procurement, manufacturing, supply chain, asset and project management, risk, and research and development. Its Public Edition provides preconfigured processes and automatic upgrades, while Private Edition offers more scope for customization and migration from existing SAP ERP systems. SAP also offers the SAP HANA in-memory database. Cloud ERP Suite generated €18.1 billion in 2025, representing 86% of SAP’s cloud revenue.[2]+3

SAP’s specialist applications include SuccessFactors for HR, payroll, time, talent and employee experience; Ariba for sourcing and procurement; Concur for travel, expenses and invoices; and Fieldglass for external workforce management. Its customer-experience applications cover marketing, commerce, sales and service.[10]+2

For development and data management, SAP Business Technology Platform provides application integration, extension and automation capabilities, including SAP Build and Integration Suite. SAP Business Data Cloud brings together governed SAP and third-party data for analytics, planning and AI, with offerings that include Analytics Cloud and Datasphere. SAP also provides implementation and ongoing support services, including the SAP Activate implementation framework and SAP Cloud ALM for managing implementation and operations.[3]+5 [2]+12

Geographic presence

SAP SE is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, and has offices across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. Its main operating regions are Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); North and Latin America (Americas); and Asia Pacific Japan (APJ).[18][19]

In 2025, revenue by customer location was €17.025 billion in EMEA (about 46% of total revenue), €14.499 billion in the Americas (about 39%), and €5.276 billion in APJ (about 14%). Germany generated €5.828 billion, the United States €11.537 billion, and Japan €1.569 billion—approximately 16%, 31%, and 4% of total revenue, respectively.[20]+2 At year-end 2025, SAP had 50,837 full-time-equivalent employees in EMEA, 27,760 in the Americas, and 32,053 in APJ.[23]+2 [20]+7

Business segments

SAP reports two operating segments: Applications, Technology & Support (ATS) and Core Services. ATS covers its applications and technology portfolio, earning revenue primarily from cloud subscriptions, software licenses and software support. Its smaller services component includes product-integrated training. In 2025, ATS generated about €32.8 billion, or 89% of total segment revenue.[24]+2

Core Services focuses on helping customers adopt and use SAP products. It earns revenue mainly from professional consulting and premium support, although SAP notes that this segment does not encompass all of its services activities. In 2025, Core Services generated about €4.0 billion, or 11% of total segment revenue.[27]+2 [24]+6

Company history

SAP was founded on April 1, 1972, by five former IBM employees—Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner, Claus Wellenreuther, Klaus Tschira and Hans-Werner Hector—who set out to develop integrated, real-time business software.[29] It introduced the R/2 system in 1981, went public in 1988 and introduced R/3 in 1992, marking a shift toward client-server software.[30]+2

SAP expanded through acquisitions, including Business Objects in 2008, Sybase in 2010, SuccessFactors and Ariba in 2012, and Concur in 2014.[33]+4 It introduced the HANA data platform in 2011 and launched the S/4HANA enterprise resource planning system in 2015.[38][39] SAP acquired Qualtrics in 2019 and sold its stake in 2023.[40][41] [29]+12

Sources

• SAP SE — Full financial report (2025 Y)
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