Software AG announced a number of senior executive appointments in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ). This forms the cornerstone of the company’s plan to establish a leadership team that can better support its customer and partner bases in the region, underscoring the importance that Software AG is placing on the region. This also follows a robust 1Q21 global business performance, where digital business transformation emerged as a key growth driver for Software AG.
Software AG aims to help organisations become truly connected and turn business data into information that can be acted on. The new appointments collectively boost Software AG’s ability to respond to the evolving needs of organisations in APJ, especially in light of the rapid digitalisation in this region.
Nicolas Betbeder-Matibet has been appointed Software AG’s new Senior Vice President of Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan and will lead the region, where he is responsible for driving all regional GTM efforts as well as cultivating a strong culture and purpose for the team in APJ. Nicolas joins the company from Tibco, where he led their Asia business and drove an aggressive regional growth strategy for the company. Nicolas has also held senior roles at MEGA International and CGI Consulting and is a well-known regional speaker.
Software AG veteran Michael Cross has taken on a new role as the Vice President of APJ Alliance and Channels. With renewed focus on alliances and channels to boost Software AG’s business growth in APJ, Cross’ responsibilities also include an important role to shape the company’s IoT Go-To-Market strategy for the region. Based in Australia, Cross’ 11 year tenure at Software AG spanned a number of leadership roles across its APJ operations, providing him with insight into the region’s unique business nuances.
Lorne Fetzek, appointed as Software AG’s Country Manager of Japan, brings with him more than 20 years of experience and a stellar track record in leading technology heavyweights. Lorne started his career with Dell Japan, and has held Japan country-level and APG regional-level leadership positions at Verizon, Polycom, and Proofpoint. Prior to joining Software AG, Lorne was the Area Vice President, Japan for cybersecurity specialist, Imperva. Lorne is looking forward to utilising his experience in the Japan market to strengthen Software AG’s growing Japan business.
KyuHwan Lee, Country Manager of Software AG, South Korea, joins the company from Oracle Digital Prime. KyuHwan previously held the role of Sales Director, and was responsible for driving customer-oriented strategies, marketing and sales play with his direct reports and partners for Oracle. These strategies led to outstanding results, achieving remarkable growth for Oracle in FY20 for which he was honoured with the “Outstanding FLM in FY20” recognition.
Scott Little, Senior Vice President of Global Sales said: “Our growth momentum over the past quarter has been driven in no small part by the rise of digital business, and bolstering our ranks with industry veterans will position us well to continue building on the strong momentum that we have established. The rapid digitalisation of APJ presents new opportunities for Software AG to distinguish itself as a leading industry player by supporting the growth of the region’s digital-first businesses. Led by our newly minted team, we are thrilled to embark on a new chapter of our regional growth story and look forward to further entrenching Software AG’s presence in APJ.”
Moving ahead, Software AG’s approach to growth will be centred around the Helix transformation strategy. Built around the values of “Focus, Team and Execution”, it sets solid, material goals for the company, including targeted, sustainable and profitable growth, and a commitment to medium-term milestones, metrics and pathways.
Earlier in February 2021, Software AG announced a partnership with Singaporean telecommunications company StarHub that aims to help businesses consolidate varied IoT assets on a massive scale via the 5G IoT platform service. It is billed as a one-stop solution that provides IoT connectivity including StarHub’s 5G, device management, professional services to integrate existing or new systems, and managed services to run the entire IoT environment for any organisation. This accelerates and adds scalability to IoT implementations, empowering organisations with productivity boosts, enhanced innovation capabilities, as well as overall cost-savings.
Software AG to Power Growth Across APJ with New Senior Executive Hires
