Almost nothing remains of Software AG

Software AG (now legally known as Software GmbH) has sold its Alfabet and Cumulocity divisions, following on from the recent sales of webMethods, StreamSets and TrendMiner.

Its remaining divisions, the mainframe business around Adabas & Natural (A&N) and the BPM and process mining suite ARIS, are now to be managed as independent companies by their own management teams, as reported by Computerwoche on Tuesday.

In connection with these changes, CEO Sanjay Brahmawar is now also leaving the group — or what is left of it.  

The management of Software GmbH, which will continue to act as the holding company for ARIS, Adabas & Natural (A&N) and the central functions of the Software AG Group, has been transferred by financial investor Silver Lake Partners to Martin Biegel, Martin Clemm, Robin Colman and Toktam Khatibzadeh with immediate effect.

Important contribution to development and decline

In his role as head of the company, Brahmawar has a mixed record — but Silver Lake is not entirely innocent of this. Taking over as CEO in August 2018, Brahmawar was instrumental in Software AG’s transformation from a legacy software company to a modern subscription and SaaS business focused on recurring revenue growth. He also spearheaded the acquisition of StreamSets, combining it with webMethods into a unified AI-powered platform, Super-iPaaS.

At the same time, however, he also played a leading role in the subsequent sell-off of the company led by Silver Lake Partners. While Software AG hoped for support in its growth plans when the financial investor came on, the opposite was ultimately the case:  After completion of the takeover, the investors sold the newly created integration business to IBM for €2.13 billion with the help of Brahmawar. The CEO was also instrumental in the spin-off and divestiture of TrendMiner, Cumulocity and Alfabet. 

Speech is silver…

In view of these achievements, Brahmawar’s parting words are not without a certain cynicism: “It has been a privilege to lead such a respected company through many significant moments in its recent history and to work with such a talented and dedicated team of professionals. As my own new chapter begins, I will be watching with interest as Software AG enters the next phase of its own journey. I am leaving the company knowing that I have an exceptional management team that will continue to drive this strong company forward. I would like to thank all colleagues and the management team for their support over the past six years and especially Silver Lake for the great partnership.,” he said in a statement.

His words are only surpassed by the statement of Christian Lucas, Managing Partner of Silver Lake and chairman of the supervisory board of Software GmbH:

“We would like to thank Sanjay for driving Software AG’s transformation and are very grateful for his significant contributions to the company’s success since we partnered with him and the Software AG team in 2022.”

Growth or sale plans?

In view of the previous events, it remains exciting to see how A&N and ARIS will continue. After all, Lucas announced that he would “invest in both ARIS and A&N and their best-in-class products and support their multi-year plans to accelerate growth as independent companies.”