Red Hat appointments to boost APAC growth

Red Hat, provider of open source solutions, today announced six senior management appointments to boost its Asia-Pacific management team and position the company for growth in the region.

The appointments include two new roles, focused on expanding the Red Hat partner system in the region and accelerating the use of open source technology in enterprises in Asia. According to the company, the Asia-Pacific business grew by 16-20 per cent in the first quarter that ended March 31.

Arun Kumar has been named senior director of business development to spearhead the expansion of Red Hat’s partner system in the region, to create a vibrant open source community. His priorities are to strengthen Red Hat’s relations with systems integrators and original equipment makers across the region and build regional programs for independent software vendors. Frank Feldmann, who takes on the role of director of business and technology solutions, will focus on helping customers to take advantage of low-cost, high-value, open source technology to build agile information technology infrastructure. His responsibilities include developing business growth strategies for the entire portfolio of products and services, including cloud and virtualisation solutions and JBoss middleware technology.

Kenny Khow has been appointed as senior director of services, taking over this role from Arun Kumar. Khow will manage the pre-sales, consulting (global professional services) and training (global learning services) teams in Red Hat Asia-Pacific/Japan.

Red Hat Asia-Pacific also announced Arics Poon as president of Red Hat Greater China. He has responsibility for developing the sales and business strategy and direction for Red Hat’s business across China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

In South Korea, James Oh, the new general manager, oversees all aspects of sales, marketing and services in the country.Adding to the strength of the regional team is Jean Chay, regional counsel, who will be responsible for contracts and negotiations and supporting the Red Hat regional office in legal matters.

“The new appointments underscore Red Hat’s commitment to expand our business in the region, taking advantage of the burgeoning opportunities. Throughout the region, enterprises and governments are increasingly cognizant of the value of open source technology and are looking to Red Hat to provide open source solutions to meet their business needs,” said Gery Messer, president of Red Hat Asia-Pacific/Japan.