

Google Cloud hires former Cisco VP as Managing Director for Southeast Asia
Published 9 December 2020
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Google Cloud has announced the appointment of Ruma Balasubramanian as the company’s new Managing Director for its operations in Southeast Asia.
She will be taking over the position from Tim Synan, who has been transferred to Italy for a new role as part of Google Cloud’s Global Strategic Initiatives team.
“Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Workspace, and industry-based AI/ML solutions are critical enablers for economic recovery and growth in Southeast Asia. As enterprises of all sizes look to digitize, modernize, and innovate, I’m thrilled to embark on this journey with Google Cloud to accelerate cloud adoption for our customers,” said Ms. Balasubramanian.
Ms. Balasubramanian joins the Google Cloud team from Cisco, where she was Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer for Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China.
During her time in Cisco, she led various digital transformation initiatives, and drove sales outcomes for APAC customers in a range of different industries including banking, manufacturing, retail, higher education, and healthcare.
Prior to Cisco, Ms. Balasubramanian was the Vice President and General Manager of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services division in Asia.
“We’ve achieved many ‘firsts’ in Southeast Asia under Tim Synan’s leadership. Ruma joins us at an exciting time as our business continues to grow from strength to strength in one of the most dynamic regions for technology adoption. We look forward to Ruma building on this strong foundation ,” said Rick Harshman, Managing Director of Google Cloud in Asia Pacific.
Google Cloud is targeting Southeast Asia with nine cloud regions in Asia Pacific, including their newest in Indonesia. Their customers include Bank BRI, GOJEK, NTUC Fairprice Co-Operative, REA Group, Reliance Health Services, Tiki Group, True Digital and Tokopedia.
Earlier this month, Google Cloud was also named one of the cloud service providers selected by GovTech to work with government agencies in Singapore.
By Jie Yee Ong, Tech Reporter
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