Concurrent Taps Steve VonderHaar to Head Up Its Hong Kong and Beijing Operations

Concurrent--a company best known for its VOD solutions, but which now positions itself as a provider of "solutions that enable the seamless delivery, management and monetization of video on any screen"--announced Tuesday that it is expanding its operations in the Asia Pacific region, in order to further what it calls its "global three-screen strategy," and that it has hired Steve VonderHaar to head up its office in Hong Kong and its operation in Beijing (note: it also maintains an office in Tokyo that is headed up by Oasamu Nakamura). "Concurrent's open, commercial and intelligent approach to multiscreen video solutions is an excellent fit for the Asia Pacific market, which is integral in our global growth strategy," Concurrent president and CEO, Dan Mondor, said in a prepared statement. "Consumers worldwide are driving the need for ultimate flexibility in video delivery, and Concurrent's end-to-end multiscreen solutions make it possible. We are pleased to have Steve leading our efforts in the region."

According to Concurrent, VonderHaar has extensive experience in leading sales and business development organizations targeting the Asia Pacific region. Among other things, he directed 3Com's efforts to drive product into the telecommunications, MSO and managed services business, and, Concurrent says, scored significant account wins in Korea, Australia and China. Prior to his stint at 3Com, according to Concurrent, he spearheaded storage sales throughout the Asia Pacific region at Adaptec, achieving annual growth rates of over 200%. And most recently, as VP of sales at Newisys, Concurrent says, he orchestrated that company's first China-based partner revenue stream.

In explaining its decision to expand its Asia Pacific operations, Concurrent cited research from SNL Kagan which claims that digital TV operators in the region are facing "invigorated" competition and are therefore rolling out advanced services--such as PVR, VOD and HD--to drive subscriber growth and increase ARPU. The company said that Asia is also the largest consumer of mobile video, making it a "natural fit" for its three-screen strategy.

Concurrent claims that its solutions are deployed by major service providers in 265 markets around the world, supporting over 33 million digital households, and collecting and correlating data from over 700 million transactions per month.