SAP chief Hyde to lead NEC Australia

NEC has appointed former SAP local chief Alan Hyde as managing director for Australia.

Hyde, the first non-Japanese head of the Australian business, has replaced the outgoing Wataru Takeuchi.

"NEC has been an important player in Australia's technology market for more than 40 years... I'm looking forward to building on this success and growing the business in this important market," Hyde said.

Hyde spent five years at SAP as general manager for the northern region before taking over as chief executive in 2007. 

Before that he held a positions at PeopleSoft in Australia and the UK. He started his career at IBM in Australia, and was most recently acting in an advisory capacity on corporate strategy in the IT sector.

NEC said the appointment marked a "clear and serious signal" that NEC's focus was on the growth of its systems integration and services businesses in Australia.