At SAP, software developer Kagermann prepares to hand off the CEO job to salesman Apotheker.

The handover has fed an irresistible narrative in financial markets: the software egghead who shoveled cash into new projects is yielding to the uncompromising money maker.

More from the NYT:

The company is indeed shifting toward more of a focus on the bottom line, and less on the multibillion-dollar investments in technology that helped make it the market leader in the lucrative field of business software.

The goal, it seems clear, is for SAP to show that it can not just produce sophisticated software that companies depend on to run their businesses but also do as well as its American archrival, Oracle, in satisfying the demands of investors.

Interesting to see if and how the changes play out for customers down the road.