Hicham Abdessamad takes lead at Hitachi Consulting
Hicham Abdessamad has succeeded Hitachi Consulting’s retiring President and CEO Philip Parr. In his new role, Abdessamad will be responsible for the company’s strategic direction and operations as he seeks to reproduce the success at his prior role as head of Hitachi Data Systems Global Services.
In his latest role, Hicham Abdessamad served as an Executive Vice President of Global Services at Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, before which he was a Senior Vice President of Global Services. He continues to hold a position on Hitachi’s Consulting board. Prior to joining Hitachi Data Systems, Abdessamad worked for EMC running the company’s Global Practice for the Open Software division, before taking on the role of Global Practice Manager for EMC's Information Management Software Division. Before starting at EMC, Abdessamad worked for StorageNetworks.
Abdessamad holds Bachelor degree in Computer Engineering from Suffolk University. In addition, he completed the executive development programme at the Wharton School of Business at Dartmouth University, and the executive leadership programme at the International Institute of Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Per 1 October Abdessamad assumed the President and CEO position at Hitachi Consulting, a subsidiary of the Japanese Hitachi Corporation, following the retirement of Philip Parr. Abdessamad ascended to the role following his strong performance at the firm's Data Systems Global Services division, where he doubled annual revenues to $1.3 billion. As President and CEO, Abdessamad will be responsible for Hitachi Consulting’s worldwide operation, strategic direction and customer services experience. His new role will see him ensure that the consulting firm delivers proven best practice, consistency and service efficiency across its various service lines.
Outgoing President and CEO Parr’s legacy at Hitachi spans 13 years, over which time the company grew from a largely US-based company with 1,200 staff to a global IT and business consultancy with 6,500 staff operating in 50 countries.
“Seeing the company grow, our base of talent expand around the world, and positioning Hitachi Consulting as Hitachi’s global consulting and IT services company was an exciting and highly satisfying period for me as president and CEO,” reflects Parr. “But what is the most fun in this business is working with our customers and talented people. During the last few years I have worked with Hicham and come to respect his capabilities as a leader, and I know we share the same passion for excellence and drive to deliver the highest levels of customer value. I am very pleased that Hicham will be leading Hitachi Consulting into its next round of growth and services innovation.”
Commenting on Parr’s retirement, Abdessamad says: “Phil has developed Hitachi Consulting into a global leader in consulting services and has been a close collaborator with my team at HDS for many years. I want to thank him for all of his contributions, not only to Hitachi Consulting but to the entire Hitachi ecosystem. I’m thrilled with this new role, and look forward to helping drive continued growth for Hitachi Consulting and, most importantly, greater strategic value for our global clients.”