FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Data Corporation (IDC), the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology (ICT) markets, today announced that the leadership of its Latin America operations is being transitioned to Mr. Ricardo Villate over the next several months.
"I am convinced Ricardo's deep background of more than 20 years of ICT experience will provide key leadership to IDC's mission to advise the ICT industry and help IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community, make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. Ricardo's experience and knowledge will be particularly valuable as our industry transitions to the 3rd Platform, built on the four pillars of mobile computing, cloud services, social networking, and big data analytics technologies," said Philippe de Marcillac, Executive Vice President, International Business Units at IDC.
"Latin America is the fastest growing IT market in the world, expected to grow at 2.4 times the global average in 2013. In this context, IT vendors will continue to seek growth in Latin America and IDC will continue to invest in identifying key opportunities and trends in the region," said Mr. Villate.
Ricardo Villate, who was born in Colombia and currently resides in Miami, Florida, has more than 20 years of experience in the IT and financial industries in Latin America, with more than 15 of them at IDC, where he has held various positions within the organization. Prior to his new leadership role, as the Research and Consulting Vice President for Latin America he has been a key opinion leader for the industry in the region. Previously, he was based in Argentina and was General Manager for the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile, Peru), and before that, he held various positions directing several research programs for the Latin American region. Early in his career, Mr. Villate worked at IBM and in the financial services industry in Colombia.
"The ICT industry is moving to the Third Platform, which provides major opportunities for suppliers and buyers of ICT, but also many challenges and changes. I will focus on providing the best advice possible to our clients, while achieving even higher quality standards in research and market advisory services, as well as improving the efficiency and profitability of our operations in Latin America," added Mr. Villate.
Mr. Villate graduated as an Industrial Engineer from Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia. He also holds a marketing degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an Economics degree from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota. While in the Colombian army, Mr. Villate lived in the Middle East.
Raul Ceja, who has been successfully leading IDC in Latin America over the past five years, is leaving the company to pursue personal projects aiming at bringing all his business and management knowledge to the non-profit sector in Mexico.
"The strong management team Raul has built in all these years, coupled with the more than 100 analysts throughout the region, constitute a legacy of experience and human capital that we will continue to leverage and will undoubtedly support Ricardo in the path of strengthening IDC as the number one trusted advisor for our clients, by providing them with outstanding insights about the Latin American ICT market for their most critical business decisions," concluded Mr. de Marcillac.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 49 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To learn more about IDC visit our Web site at http://www.idc.com/.
