New Hitachi subsidiary appoints former GE Digital and IBM executives
Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, has announced the appointments of two new executives to help steers its industrial internet of things (IoT) and services portfolios.
The company was launched just last month as a new business entity to help unite the operations, technologies, intellectual property and human capital of Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group and Pentaho into a single, integrated company that is focused on digital innovation.
Brad Surak has been named chief product and strategy officer (CPSO) and will be overseeing the development of Hitachi Vantara's solutions portfolio, while John Murphy has been tapped to advance its services portfolio as vice president of offerings management.
"In a market environment where our ability to bring digital innovations to market with speed and agility is increasingly important to better serve our customers, it's critical that we continue to deepen our bench with the industry's best talent," says Brian Householder, president and chief operating officer, Hitachi Vantara.
"Hitachi Vantara is building a world-class executive team that possesses deep domain expertise in every corner of our portfolio — from data infrastructure and software, to cloud and analytics, to IoT and digital industrial solutions. This is why we are exceedingly pleased to welcome Brad Surak and John Murphy to the Hitachi family.
There certainly seems to be a mountain of change happening at Hitachi at the moment, with this news hot on the heels of its launch of a fully enhanced Lumada IoT platform together with new offerings, including its Hitachi IoT Appliance, Hitachi Enterprise Cloud and Hitachi Smart Data Center, among others.
Brad Surak joins Hitachi Vantara from GE Digital, where he most recently served as the company's chief operating officer. Surak has experience in IoT as he was responsible for GE's global IoT solutions and digital industrial product portfolio.
He's also held executive positions SAP, Business Objects, Cambridge Technology Partners, and Ernst - Young.
Surak will now be responsible for driving the company's product and technology road map to bring intelligent innovations to market that deliver value and outcomes for Hitachi's customers and partners.
"Hitachi's exceptional breadth and depth of operational and information technology expertise sets it apart from other players in the digital solutions and industrial IoT markets and gives it a unique advantage," Surak says.
"I'm immensely pleased to be joining the Hitachi Vantara team to drive a comprehensive product strategy that addresses our customer's greatest business challenges from edge to core to outcomes.
John Murphy comes to Hitachi Vantara from IBM, where he most recently led product development and product management for the IBM Watson Data Platform. During his tenure, he also held key leadership roles in its data analytics and enterprise content management businesses.
Reporting to Hitachi Vantara's Chief Solutions and Services Officer Bobby Soni, Murphy will lead unified offerings management for the company, supporting development of its digital solutions and services portfolio and business strategy.
"Hitachi is boldly positioning itself to deliver the services and solutions that modern data-driven enterprises are hungry for," says Murphy.
"I'm proud to be joining a team that is so intently focused on serving the needs of its customers, and is uncompromising in its commitment to provide the unique delivery models and innovations they need to best capitalize on their data and more effectively compete in their markets.
