Hicham Abdessamad CEO, Hitachi Consulting

Hitachi Consulting announced that president and CEO Philip Parr will retire at the end of September 2015.

Hitachi Data Systems EVP of Global Services Hicham Abdessamad will assume the role, effective October 1, 2015.

Parr will retire after more than six years as CEO and 13 years with Hitachi Consulting. During his tenure, the company grew from predominately a US-based technology consultancy with 1,200 employees, to a global business and IT consultancy with over 6,500 employees speaking 25 languages and operating in 50 countries. The company established multiple off-shore delivery locations and a base of offices in all major geographies around the world, while tripling revenue and creating a balanced portfolio of business consulting, technology implementation and outsourcing services.

“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,” said 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.”

Abdessamad currently serves as EVP of global services at HDS and is a current Hitachi Consulting board member. He will report to Jack Domme, COB of Hitachi Consulting. He takes on this new role after his leadership of the HDS Global Services business – doubling its annual revenues to $1.3 billion. He will vacate his role with HDS, effective September 30.

“Hicham has been a critical leader in helping Hitachi Data Systems transform from a hardware company into a complete solutions company, where software and services account for more than 60% of our total revenues,” said Domme. “He has helped drive increased synergies between Hitachi Consulting and HDS for a number of years to support our mutual enterprise customers, as well as emerging projects to support Hitachi’s Social Innovation business. Hicham is a proven senior executive who brings a passion for winning, the ability to build and lead world-class teams, and a laser focus on unrivaled client experience.”

“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,” said Abdessamad. “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.“