Despite the fact the company is determined to become more cloud focused, the latest person to leave is Robert Enslin, the bloke who is in charge of the cloud.

Enslin joined SAP in 1992 and had served on its board since 2014, had been tipped by some as a potential successor to Chief Executive Bill McDermott but has departed to take an unspecified opportunity elsewhere.

During his two year tenure as head of the cloud business group, Enslin helped build out SAP’s cloud portfolio, including its $8 billion deal last year to buy Qualtrics, which specialises in tracking online sentiment.

Enslin’s exit follows other high-profile departures, including Bjoern Goerke, chief technology officer and head of SAP’s cloud platform business, and Bernd Leukert, the board executive who ran global service and support.

Programming gurus Rich Heilman and Thomas Jung - both highly respected among SAP developer specialists - said last month they had been let go by SAP, but have now found new roles and are staying, a company spokesman said.

The departures underscore McDermott’s long-stated ambition to transform SAP into a digital platform business, but the exit of long-serving and well-regarded staff with extensive know-how risks alienating core customers.

SAP said board member Jennifer Morgan, who joined the company in 2004 and most recently co-led SAP’s global customer operations, would succeed Enslin as president of the cloud business group with immediate effect.

In a Tweet, Enslin said: “Though my tenure with #SAP has come to an end, my personal belief and public advocacy for SAP’s innovation and vision to help the world run better never will. Thank you ... dear colleagues for 27 spectacular years.”