User:S.D.WIKI/Parakaladraft

Kumar Parakala is a partner and head of IT advisory in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA) for KPMG. a company providing audit, tax, and advisory services in 152 countries.

Early life and Education
Parakala was born in Tanuku, Andhra Pradesh to Subba Rao Parakala and Subba Lakshmi. He completed his Master of Science in Economics from BITS Pilani, India and moved to Australia in his early twenties. Parakala holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration, Information Systems and Science. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and an adjunct Professor at the Central Queensland University. In his 20 years of professional career, Parakala has worked under senior management roles within public sector, healthcare, manufacturing and professional services.

Career
In the year 2000, Parakala joined KPMG, Australia and is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Advisory. He also heads the IT advisory for EMA. Prior to this, he was the National Chairman of the Australian Computer Society and a spokesperson for the IT industry. In June 2009, Parakala was appointed as member of Australian Information Technology Industry Innovation Council by Senator Kim Carr, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Parakala was the Global Chief Operating Officer for the Global IT Advisory practice for four years at KPMG before his current role. Parakala was also the Global Head of Sourcing between 2007 and 2010.

In 2008, Parakala was invited by President Clinton to work on the Clinton Global Initiative. In February 2011, he was appointed Director on the board of “Global Industry Council” International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3 - GIC).

Parakala is a columnist for the The Australian. He is a also writer on Forbes India.

Awards and Recognitions

 * In 2010, Parakala became one of the 45 Australians to have received the ACS honorary life membership award.
 * Leadership Excellence Award from the Queensland Government
 * SEARCC Outstanding Contribution Award
 * Invited by the Central Queensland University to become an Adjunct Professor in 2008