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SAS Names Veteran As Top Exec For International Operations

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CARY, N.C. — Mikael Hagström, a long-time executive with

SAS

, is taking over as executive vice president for much of the software company’s international operations.

Hagström, who has worked at SAS for 16 years, will oversee operations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA) as well as Asia Pacific Operations. He will report directly to SAS Chief Executive Officer Jim Goodnight. He has served as vice president of EMEA sales since January of 2005.

“Mikael has my full confidence in bringing our international operation forward,” Goodnight said in a statement.

The privately held firm could reach $2 billion in revenues this year, and international markets are crucial to SAS’ success. Overall, 54 percent of SAS revenues come from customers outside the SAS Americas group.

Hagström replaces Art Cooke, who recently announced his retirement. Cooke founded the first SAS subsidiary outside the United States in 1980, when SAS launched operations in the United Kingdom. SAS now has operations in more than 50 countries. Some 4,000 employees work in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA operations.

"SAS has had a global presence for more than 25 years, but the importance of global integration has never been greater,” Hagström said. “We are driving large global enterprise deals as companies begin to adopt enterprise intelligence platforms for business decision-making. Both direct and indirect channels are increasingly becoming important as SAS continues to expand its footprint in the software market."

Hagström joined SAS Sweden in 1989. He has held various managerial positions over the years and directed the restructuring of the SAS Norway office in 1998. Hagström received a master’s of science degree in industrial automation

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