Former Pivotal Vice President to Lead RightNow Sales Effort in Japan(email this article)

RightNow Technologies (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies), the world’s leading provider of hosted customer service and support solutions, today announced the hiring of veteran industry executive Fred Macaraeg as Sales Manager for Japan.  In his new position, Macaraeg will spearhead RightNow’s growing relationship with in-country distributor Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and will work to deepen the penetration of the Company’s acclaimed customer service solutions and consulting services in the Japanese market.

Macaraeg brings broad industry experience and expertise to his new position, having served for the last four years as Pivotal Corporation’s Regional Vice President for Japan and Asia.  During that time, he established Pivotal’s Japanese subsidiary and developed a strategic partnership between Pivotal Japan and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

Macaraeg formerly was the director of Asia-Pacific sales for Aurum Software (later acquired by Baan), where he built an extensive network of Japanese distribution partners that included Hitachi.  Macaraeg also worked for Japanese workstation manufacturer Kubota Systems as a senior engineer in the early 1990’s.  Macaraeg, who has lived in Tokyo for several years, speaks fluent Japanese.

“You couldn’t ask for a better champion for RightNow in Japan than Fred Macaraeg,” Steve Daines, vice president of customer care at RightNow, said.  “We look forward to expanding our market presence there, as we work closely with Mitsui & Co. to provide Japanese businesses with superior customer service technology and best practices consulting services.”

RightNow entered into its partnership with Mitsui in June 2001, at the same time as it made its flagship solution, RightNow eService Center, available in Japanese.

“RightNow has shown a clear commitment to achieving success in Japan,” Macaraeg said.  “I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to participate in that success and to bring RightNow’s powerful, high-value technology to Japan’s highly service-oriented corporate buyers.”

About RightNow Technologies
RightNow Technologies is the leading customer service and support solutions company that radically and rapidly improves the effectiveness of service and support operations with easy-to-implement/easy-to-use technology, replicable best practices drawn from the industry's broadest base of successful implementations, and engagement terms that create accountability for delivering quantifiable results.

RightNow has delivered these benefits to more than 1,000 customers worldwide such as: Air New Zealand, Ben & Jerry's, Briggs and Stratton, British Airways, Cisco, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Electronic Arts, Pioneer, Raymarine, Remington, Sanyo, Specialized Bicycles, and more than 100 public sector clients including the Social Security Administration and the State of Florida.

Founded in 1997, RightNow has offices in Bozeman, Dallas, San Mateo, London, and Sydney, with an associated office in Tokyo.  RightNow's products are available in 17 languages worldwide.  For further information visit http://www.rightnow.com/