Masayuki Kitahara MD of PGP Japan

PGP Corporation announced that Masayuki Kitahara has joined the company as the new managing director of PGP Japan K.K. Kitahara, age 47, will be responsible for managing all of PGP Japan K.K. business development, marketing and partnership activities.

Kitahara, who has over 25 years of experience in the security industry, joins PGP Japan K.K. from SignaCert, Inc., where, as a consultant and the country manager for one year, he directed the marketing efforts for the U.S.- based IT controls solutions provider and prepared the company to begin its SignaCert K.K. operations. Before SignaCert, Kitahara was President of Tripwire Japan K.K. for 5 years where he led sales, established strategic alliances with some of the world’s leading technology companies and expanded its distribution network. Additionally, Kitahara was with Symantec Japan K.K. for 6 years in various sales, business development and service and support positions.

Utilizing Kitahara’s unique perspective and experience in the Japanese security industry, PGP Japan K.K. will increase its efforts based on business strategies that are conceived and driven in the Japanese market. Kitahara’s initial efforts will be focused on:
Launch of localized Japanese marketing
Establishment of a marketing organization, activities and services in response to needs unique to Japan. Efficient release of products in the Japanese language and introduction of products that reflect customer needs in Japan.
Increased email encryption solutions for Japanese market
Just as PGP( Desktop, PGP Universal and PGP Command Line products are localized for the Japanese market, so will additional and future PGP solutions be localized making way for greater centralized management, policy and compliance for enterprise data protection. This will enable stronger security for the dispersed corporate environment without affecting the productivity of users.
Expansion of Japanese partners and strengthen customer support
Building on the company’s world class system integrator partnerships, PGP Corporation will look to find new Japan-based partners to expand sales as well as strengthen customer support. This includes increasing the PGP K.K. internal staff as well.

"PGP Corporation is enjoying some very exciting growth as the most respected brands around the world implement PGP solutions, this calls for innovative and seasoned leadership in our most important positions," said Denise Hayman, vice president worldwide sales of PGP Corporation. "Kitahara’s years of experience expanding operations and driving marketing and sales organizations for global technology companies in the Japanese market will undoubtedly add to the success of supporting our global customer base in Japan."