Info storage provider opens RP office

EMC Corp., a world leading information storage provider, expects to boost its Asia Pacific presence with the recent opening of its Philippine office.

The office is headed by Ronnie Latinazo and will provide customers with pre- and post sale support services.

Not exactly a newcomer to the country, EMC has operated successfully in the last six years, through two value added resellers.

"The expansion is part of EMC Corp.'s aggressive international growth strategy, particularly in the Asian Pacific, our fastest growing region," said James Hanley, regional manager for EMC North Asia.

In the first quarter of 2000, EMC's Asia Pacific and Japan revenues grew 94 percent over the previous year.

Aside from the Philippines, EMC operates other full service offices in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Hanley said that the high growth of its Asia Pacific operations can be attributed to the unlimited demand for information as more companies transform themselves to be successful in the new economy.

In a 1998 report, research firm International Data Corp. predicted that storage demands will grow by an annual compound growth rate of 59 percent until 2003.

"At EMC we see our traditional customers in banking, telecommunications and manufacturing double their enterprise storage needs every nine months. Our dot.com customers are doubling growth every 90 days. It is clear that as more companies embark on e-business, customer relationship management and datawarehousing initiatives, the demand for intelligent information infrastructure will skyrocket," Hanley said.

On the other hand, Latinazo explained that the Internet has forced companies all over the world to change the way they do business.

Local firms, Latinazo said, are no exception, with many of them already looking to the Internet and to new technology to enter new markets and to find new ways to gain market share.