What Hitachi is doing...could just include Sand in the future.
Hitachi Data Systems UnveilsStrategic Blueprint for Enterprise Information
Management Solutions
February 18, 1999 08:09 AM
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1999-- New Products,
Integration of NT Servers, Key Industry Alliances, and $300 Million Hitachi, Ltd.
Investment to Position Hitachi Data Systems as High-Value Information
Management Solutions Provider
Hitachi Data Systems today unveiled its new high-level strategy for providing
comprehensive, scalable enterprise information management solutions.
The new strategy is closely tied to Hitachi, Ltd.'s decision to designate Hitachi
Data Systems as its premiere vehicle for delivering a full array of enterprise
management solutions to the international corporate marketplace.
Several key steps have been taken in the last 60 days to finish building and
refining this phase of the strategy. Hitachi, Ltd. and Electronic Data Systems
(EDS) -- Hitachi Data Systems' two shareholders -- agreed to Hitachi Data
Systems acquiring EDS' shareholding in Hitachi Data Systems, thereby making
Hitachi, Ltd. the sole shareholder ; Hitachi, Ltd. also announced it will merge
Hitachi Data Systems' operations with those of sister company Hitachi PC ; and
Hitachi, Ltd. has invested an additional $300 million in Hitachi Data Systems.
Commenting on these steps, Hitachi Data Systems Chairman and CEO Yoshihiro
Koshimizu said, "Hitachi Data Systems will now be better able to deliver and
deploy, on any scale, innovative products as a solutions provider. By adding
Hitachi PC's product lines, plus the customer relationships and channels they
have developed, we feel our business will benefit in many ways.
"Their assets will allow us to broaden the range of platforms we support while
accelerating the development of our solutions-providing capability. And the
additional investment will be particularly helpful in expanding our services
offerings."
Hitachi Data Systems is moving aggressively towards its next-millennium
business model that will provide customers with a broader range of information
management solutions -- not only through its own direct sales force, but also
through a complementary, expanded universe of channel partners and business
alliances.
"The stage is now set for us to become a true enterprise solutions provider," said
Koshimizu. "We have evolved from being primarily a hardware vendor into a
genuine solutions provider.
"While we will continue to manufacture high-performance computer systems and
storage devices, the difference today is that they are not just isolated pieces of
hardware, but rather integral parts of a solution suite flexible enough to meet the
many and varied critical business problems faced by our customers.
"As global information management requirements grow increasingly critical to
corporate profitability, and even viability, Hitachi Data Systems is committed to a
strategy that ensures the most robust, comprehensive solutions available."
This initial phase of the new Hitachi Data Systems strategic direction is rooted in
a broad spectrum of resources and addresses product, service, and distribution
programs in four key areas -- Enterprise Servers; Enterprise Storage; Professional
Services; and Industry Alliances.
Enterprise Server Strategy
While Hitachi Data Systems currently -- and uniquely -- offers two mainframe
product lines, each featuring a different technology, CMOS for Hitachi Data
Systems Pilot Series(TM) and ACE (Advanced CMOS ECL) for the Hitachi Data
Systems Skyline Series(TM), the future will see a seamless fusing of the two
highly scalable and granular product lines. These S/390(R)-compatible processors
will be complemented by powerful NT and UNIX servers.
All enterprise servers, regardless of operating system, will be designed in
conjunction with surveyed customer requirements, will have compressed product
cycles, will feature customary Hitachi engineering precision, and will aspire to be
the most reliable and available processors in the marketplace.
Enterprise Storage Strategy
Hitachi Data Systems' storage strategy recognizes that customers want solutions
that allow them to access and control their data without being tied to proprietary
technology that limits their business options.
The Hitachi Data Networking Architecture (DNA) provides the overall structure for
implementing this strategy, bringing storage and network protocols together in a
way that will enable customers to access their data on any computer, any time,
anywhere. Within this architecture, the company will be able to deliver open
solutions in many environments, including Storage Area Networks (SANs) and
Network Attached Storage (NAS).
Key to these solutions is a growing number of industry alliances in areas such as
networking and communications. And the foundation for all this is Hitachi Freedom
Storage(TM), the first family of SAN-ready subsystems to reach the marketplace.
It is ideal for customers whose business needs require that their data be
distributed throughout the enterprise, and yet be managed from a central location.
Professional Services Strategy
Hitachi Data Systems has provided a range of technology and integration services
in the past, and will build very aggressively on this base for the future. Hitachi
brings unique skills and experience that are key in providing ERP infrastructure, as
well as integration projects that require combining multiple software, hardware, and
service technologies.
A major portion of the $300 million investment funding will be applied to the
Services area which will support significant growth in new skills and core
competencies. Hitachi will also widen its focus on providing integration services
that leverage such key partners as Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, Cisco, and CA.
Industry Alliance Strategy
As noted above, Hitachi Data Systems is aligned with such industry leaders as
Cisco, CA, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP, and is continuing to forge value-added
relationships with other key vendors. Particular emphasis is being placed on
developing enterprise-wide solutions that optimize the capabilities and unique
value of each alliance relationship.
Said Koshimizu, "Not only must we continue to offer our own set of leading-edge
products and services, but we must also find unique ways to integrate the offerings
from industry-leading software, peripheral, and service companies with our own so
we can provide our valued customers 'one-stop shopping' for their information
management needs."
Face of the Future
"The Hitachi Data Systems of the future, then, will be a company with a diverse
list of hardware and software alliance partners," added Koshimizu. "It will be a
company that sells solutions to its core of world-class Fortune 1000 customers
through a professional end user sales and service organization and to the same
companies at other levels through a select group of channel and OEM partners.
"It will be a company that provides the marketing eyes and ears for Hitachi, Ltd.
and that will be able to fully leverage Hitachi's formidable R&D engine to deliver
exciting, elegantly engineered products to our customers. It will be a company like
no other."
About Hitachi Data Systems
Committed to providing advanced enterprise computing solutions, Hitachi Data
Systems markets high-performance enterprise servers, storage systems, and
professional services worldwide.
Hitachi Data Systems meets its customers' computing needs with the broadest
line of the highest performance enterprise servers in the world, including the
Hitachi Data Systems Skyline Series(TM) and the Hitachi Data Systems Pilot
Series(TM), as well as the Hitachi Freedom Storage(TM) subsystems which
provide multiplatform support across S/390(TM), UNIX(R), and NT environments.
Owned by Hitachi, Ltd. HIT (a), Hitachi Data Systems has its headquarters in
Santa Clara, Calif. The company employs approximately 2,300 people and
operates in 30 countries worldwide.
(a) Hitachi Data Systems will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd.
on or prior to April 21, 1999.
Note to Editors: Hitachi Data Systems news releases are available on the World
Wide Web at hds.com.
Hitachi Data Systems Skyline Series, Hitachi Data Systems Pilot Series, and
Hitachi Freedom Storage are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation.
S/390 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed
exclusively through X/open Company Limited. All other brand or product names
are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their
respective owners.
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