Local IT industry veteran K Raman joins recent senior-level hires from HP and SAP as company renaissance accelerates towards mobile-first, cloud-first era
KUALA LUMPUR, 25th March 2015 – Microsoft today announced the appointment of K Raman as the new Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia.
Raman joins Microsoft from Oracle Corporation, where he was Regional Managing Director for ASEAN and South Asia Growth Economies, overseeing a portfolio of 17 countries. A Malaysian technology veteran with more than 25 years of local IT industry experience, Raman has also served in senior leadership roles in Malaysia with EMC and HP, the latter for 15 years.
Raman is joining Microsoft Malaysia during a period of significant change for the company. Sparked by the appointment of new CEO, Satya Nadella, Microsoft has recently embarked on a major corporate transformation with a goal of being the Productivity and Platform company for what it sees as an increasingly “mobile-first, cloud-first” world.
“I’m very excited to be given the opportunity to lead Microsoft Malaysia, especially during its current period of transformation, which I see as very relevant to local needs here in Malaysia. With the Government’s aspiration to make Malaysia a developed nation by the year 2020, Microsoft is well positioned to provide the platform and partnerships to accelerate economic growth, enhance international competitiveness, improve workforce productivity, advance innovation and deliver cloud services that are secure, private, reliable and trustworthy,” said Raman.
Raman is the latest in a series of high-profile defections from other local IT companies who have chosen to join Microsoft. In January, the subsidiary announced that HP’s Managing Director for Malaysia, Thiyagu Letchumanan, would be leaving to head up Microsoft’s Enterprise sales team; in a similar vein SAP’s Head of Public Services Nik Ariff Nik Omar recently left to lead Microsoft Malaysia’s Public Sector sales team.
“Something special is happening right now at Microsoft and, within the industry, it hasn’t gone unnoticed. We have a bold ambition – to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more – and we have the passion and persistence to execute on it. That’s a big draw for local talent,” said Raman.
As Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia, Raman will also become a member of Microsoft’s Asia Pacific Leadership Team. Asia-Pacific President, Cesar Cernuda, commented, “We are thrilled to have secured Raman as our new leader in Malaysia. He brings with him proven business and leadership skills, plus the local market knowledge, insights and expertise needed to lead our team of highly-committed local professionals, dedicated to helping our customers succeed in a mobile-first, cloud-first world”.
For news about Microsoft in Malaysia, join the conversation on Twitter. Follow us at @MYMicrosoft
About Microsoft
Microsoft Malaysia is part of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq “MSFT”). Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/newscenter on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
