The new MD is Alan Hyde, former general manager of SAP's northern region.

He officially begins his new role on January 1, 2007.

Hyde joined SAP in 2003 from PeopleSoft and has more than 20 years industry experience.

He has held previous roles at IBM and Systems Software Associates. He graduated from the University of Curtin, Western Australia with a Bachelor of Business in Finance and Economics.

McBride, who will be based in Singapore, takes over from Hans-Peter Klaey who will become global president of a newly created SAP business unit for small and midsize enterprises (SME).