Former HP and Oracle man K. Raman takes over at Microsoft Malaysia

• 15 years at rival HP, joining from regional leadership role at Oracle
• Joins as Microsoft transforms itself for a mobile- and cloud-first world

MICROSOFT Corp has announced the appointment of K. Raman (pic, above) as the new managing director of its Malaysian subsidiary.
 
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 Hewlett-Packard, the latter for 15 years.
 
Raman is joining during a period of significant change for the company, Microsoft said in a statement.
 
Sparked by the appointment of new chief executive officer 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,” said Raman.
 
“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,” he added.
 
This is the latest in a series of senior executive appointments after former managing director Carlos Lacerda resigned from the company.
 
In January, Microsoft announced that HP’s managing director for Malaysia Thiyagu Letchumanan had joined to head up its Enterprise sales team; while SAP’s head of public services Nik Ariff Nik Omar would lead its Public Sector sales team.
 
As managing director of Microsoft Malaysia, Raman will also become a member of Microsoft’s Asia Pacific Leadership Team.
 
“We are thrilled to have secured Raman as our new leader in Malaysia,” said Microsoft’s Asia Pacific president Cesar Cernuda.
 
“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,” he added.
 
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