02 August 2016
Dubai, UAE. -- Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced that Assaad El Saadi will lead the Middle East and Pakistan geographies.

In his new role, Assaad will be responsible for implementing and driving HDS's development across the Middle East and Pakistan, working closely with HDS's headquarters and regional teams to accelerate growth. Digital transformation now being a business imperative, Assaad will be tasked to continue driving the same in the regions he covers.

HDS' proven, integrated strategy and portfolio is for digital transformation through data. Its fundamentals include optimizing customers' existing systems, modernizing and providing data management capabilities to drive digital transformation, while preparing their customers for an IoT-driven future.

"Assaad has an excellent track record and will play a key role in expanding HDS' business within the Middle East and Pakistan. His appointment comes at a time when HDS is growing in the region and thriving in digital transformation. We look forward to a successful tenure and growth strategy with the extensive leadership and experience Assaad brings," said Tom Pegrume, Emerging EMEA VP, HDS. Assaad will be based in Dubai and will report into Tom Pegrume, Emerging EMEA VP at HDS.

Spending over 20+ years in the IT sector in the Gulf region, Assaad comes with experience from Oracle's Systems line of business where he successfully led the Gulf region for several years. During Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Assaad led his team to successfully maintain and expand market share by bringing into the market IT solutions based on engineered or converged systems as well as traditional hardware. Prior to his tenure at Oracle, Assaad worked at Sun Microsystems, SAS Institute, Mideast Data Systems and Xerox.

"Recently, HDS has made substantial progress in the Middle East and Pakistan region, and I am looking forward to continue to build and strengthen the ties with existing customers, and grow relationships and solutions for new customers following HDS strategic approach. We will heavily drive our key solutions on; Content, Enterprise Cloud and Converged Infrastructure, which supports both private and hybrid cloud environments with agility." said Assaad. 

Assaad holds a Master degree in Computer Science from the University of Toulouse, France where he specialized in Parallelism and Network protocols.

About Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., builds information management and Social Innovation solutions that help businesses succeed and societies be safer, healthier and smarter. We focus on big data that offers real value - what we call the Internet of Things that matter. Our IT infrastructure, analytics, content and cloud solutions and services drive strategic management and analysis of the world's data. Only Hitachi Data Systems integrates the best information technology and operational technology from across the Hitachi family of companies to deliver the exceptional insight that business and society need to transform and thrive. Visit us at HDS.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2014 (ended March 31, 2015) totaled 9,761 billion yen ($81.3 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes power & infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.hitachi.com.

HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks and company names are properties of their respective owners.

Media Contact:
Teesta Raha
The Portsmouth Group+971 (0)44 49 06 00
Teesta.raha@theportsmouthgroup.com

© Press Release 2016