Global cloud Identity leader makes strategic
commitment, continues strong momentum in Japan
Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent provider of
identity for the enterprise, today announced its continued global
expansion with the launch of a new office in Japan and the hiring
of its first Japan Country Manager, Takashi Watanabe. With a base
of customers and a growing local team, Okta is making a long term,
strategic investment in the dynamic Japanese enterprise technology
market.
“Okta’s vision is to enable any organization to use any
technology, and that global challenge is more important than ever
in today’s remote work-dominant landscape,” said Todd McKinnon,
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Okta. “Japan is an
incredible match for Okta. As a thriving, technology-savvy market,
Japanese businesses are adopting tools across the full technology
spectrum--from cloud to on-premises--and Okta is the only identity
provider that can truly help simplify and secure adoption across
all technologies. We’re thrilled to bring aboard industry veteran,
Takashi Watanabe, to take on this opportunity, and look forward to
continuing to serve the Japanese market as a trusted partner.”
“The opportunity for Okta in Japan is massive, and it’s only
getting bigger,” said Graham Sowden, General Manager, Asia Pacific.
“As we’ve continued to generate interest and grow our customer base
across Asia Pacific, we’ve recognized how vital the region--and
Japan specifically--is to Okta’s long term success. Bringing
Takashi onboard is yet another step in continuing our progress
across Asia Pacific, and in Japan.”
Takashi Watanabe to Lead Okta Japan
Takashi Watanabe brings over 25 years of enterprise software
experience to Okta, having worked for global brands like Adobe and
SAP to drive demand and interest in Japan. Prior to Okta, Watanabe
led Appirio KK as the General Manager of Japan, greatly expanding
operations and increasing sales within the country. At Okta,
Watanabe will manage the strategy and execution of Okta’s Japanese
business, working alongside Okta’s global leadership and a broad
spectrum of technology and solution provider partners in its vision
to ultimately enable every Japanese organization to use any
technology.
“Cloud technology has created a massive shift that is unlike
anything I have seen in my over 25 years in the technology
industry,” said Takashi Watanabe, Japan Country Manager, Okta. “The
role Okta plays in securing access to every kind of technology,
whether it’s cloud apps and infrastructure or on-premises
technology, is pivotal to organizations operating in a secure,
efficient, and productive way today, and into the future. I’m
excited for what the future holds.”
“We sincerely welcome Okta Japan’s launch,” said Tomohiro Owaki,
General Manager, IT Strategy Dept., DeNA Co., Ltd. “Since we
deployed Okta’s single sign on service in 2012, we have expanded
our usage to include multifactor authentication and identity and
access management, maintaining our secure and efficient operation.
For Japanese companies accelerating the shift to cloud under the
current COVID-19 situation, Okta’s value is proven more than ever
before. We look forward to enhanced support and wider service
portfolio going forward.”
“We would like to congratulate Okta on the opening of Okta Japan
office,” said Tateishi Ryuya, Specialist, IT Development Dept.,
Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd. “With Okta solutions,
we have managed to achieve a critical mission of IDM/SSO system
deployment within a short lead time. In collaboration with Okta, we
would like to promote the importance of identity management and
contribute to leading the financial industry into Zero Trust
security deployments in Japan.”
Okta’s launch in Japan comes on the heels of continued momentum
for the organization. In its second quarter of fiscal year 2021,
Okta grew its total customers to 8,950 organizations, and recently
announced a major milestone in cloud reliability and uptime,
offering 99.99% uptime to all customers in every region of the
world at no additional cost. Earlier this year at Oktane20 Live,
Okta’s annual conference, Okta announced Okta Platform Services,
Okta Workflows, and Okta Devices, as well as a $10 million
philanthropic commitment from Okta for Good and the launch of the
Nonprofit Technology Initiative.
Supporting Reference Quotes
Technology Partners
Box:
“We are delighted to welcome the opening of the Okta Japan
office. We expect that the establishment of a full-fledged business
base in Japan will accelerate the business development in the
country. As a global alliance partner of Okta, Box Japan will be
able to offer and promote the best-of-breed solutions and services
more than ever before. As an essential service in the cloud era, we
want to contribute to the new normal and business in Japan by
supporting diverse working processes and improving work efficiency
with Okta.”
-- Katsunori Furuichi, Representative Director and President,
K.K. Box Japan
Slack:
“Congratulations on the establishment of Okta Japan and its
full-scale entry into the Japan market. Regardless of industry or
size, the Japanese companies demand the New Normal working style
with productivity and flexibility. We expect that an increasing
number of companies will deploy Okta as their authentication
platform for collaboration, and a seamless work environment is to
expand. We are confident that our partnership will bring additional
value to our customers and their business life in Japan.”
-- Seiji Sasaki, Country Manager, Slack Japan K.K
Zoom:
“We would like to sincerely congratulate Okta for the launch of
the Japan office. Under the current environment where remote work
is a mainstream trend, we believe that Okta’s technology will
enable customers to securely and efficiently access any
technologies whether they are cloud-based or on-premises. This is
an incredibly critical solution for enterprises which will drive
innovation in Japan enterprise technology landscape. Zoom has been
partnering with Okta as a partner worldwide, and we will contribute
to Japan’s new working style together with Okta.”
Cybozu:
“We sincerely welcome our alliance with Okta. Through the
solution, a variety of cloud services are seamlessly connected to
our service, and by the enhanced scalability, we believe we provide
additional value to customers who are expanding their data usage.
Accelerating our collaboration with Okta moving forward, we will
provide the optimized solutions for our customers.”
-- Keita Kuriyama, Executive Officer, General Sales Manager,
Cybozu, Inc.
Distribution Partners
Hitachi Solutions, Ltd.:
“We sincerely welcome the opening of the Okta Japan office.
Since we started our domestic distributor agreement with Okta in
September 2018, Hitachi Solutions has been utilizing Okta to
support many customers shift to the cloud. We are honored to have
been able to work with Okta to launch in the Japanese market.
Looking forward, we will be strengthening our collaboration with
the Okta Japan office to expand the market share of Okta Identity
Cloud and the cloud business market in Japan as a whole.”
-- Atsushi Kihira, Corporate Officer, General Manager, Smart
Life Solution Division, Hitachi Solutions, Ltd.
Macnica Networks:
“We sincerely welcome the launch of Okta Japan. The promotion of
cloud usage, IT environment change driven by teleworking, and
achieving Zero Trust have become critical challenges to Japanese
customers. We are assured that Okta can address these challenges by
providing optimized solutions, and the launch of Okta Japan and its
continuous investment into Japan market will be the foundation for
offering valuable services to customers. As Okta's distributor and
Zero Trust solution provider in Japan, we will try to actively
promote business in collaboration with Okta and its partners, to
contribute to Japanese customers.”
-- Jun Ikeda, President, Macnica Networks Corp.
NTT DATA:
“We would like to congratulate Okta on its Japan office launch.
We have been providing customers with Okta services through 'BXO
Managed Workspace Security (BMWS)', the workspace solution based on
Zero Trust that prevents various security risks. Okta’s Japan
office launch enables us to strengthen our collaboration, through
which we will respond to expanding needs for Zero Trust
environment.”
-- Keiji Mizobuchi, Head, Digital Business Solutions Division,
Business Solutions Sector, NTT DATA Corporation
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the
enterprise. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to
securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the
right time. With over 6,500 pre-built integrations to applications
and infrastructure providers, Okta customers can easily and
securely use the best technologies for their business. Over 8,950
organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Slack, Teach for
America and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of
their workforces and customers.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200901006101/en/
Sam Katzen press@okta.com
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