Hitachi Data Systems has opened its first office in Adelaide, Australia and appointed Chris Clarkson as State Manager for South Australia.

The official opening will take place on January 3rd and the firm says the new office will enable Hitachi to expand its footprint and work more closely with partners and customers.

The new office will be the eighth Hitachi Data Systems office in Australia and New Zealand, alongside existing offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland and Wellington.

Chris Clarkson’s newly created role of State Manager for South Australia will see him be responsible for managing and growing Hitachi’s base of existing partners and customers in South Australia. He will focus on key industries including resources and m  ining, defence and government. 

“Chris’ experience and knowledge of the Adelaide and wider South Australian market is impressive and exactly what we were after,” said Neville Vincent, Managing Director ANZ at Hitachi Data Systems.

“We are in an excellent position to grow the business by providing better understanding, technical support and resources to help our channel partners and customers build cost-effective and sustainable storage and cloud solutions. This is an exciting opportunity for us moving into 2011.”

Prior to Hitachi Data Systems, Clarkson was State Manager at Symantec.

Hitachi Data Systems launched an Asia Pacific distribution centre that it says represents an investment of over US$3.3 million in Singapore’s Airport Logistics Park in July.