Companies Enhance Relationship to Further Increase the
Quality and Reliability of Open Data Availability Solutions
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California SANTA CLARA, California and TOKYO - February 14, 2001 — VERITAS Software Corporation (Nasdaq: VRTS), The Data Availability Company, Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Hitachi Data Systems, today announced that the companies are expanding their relationship to further increase the quality and reliability of open-systems solutions for enterprise customers who require a heterogeneous, standards-based approach to maximizing data availability in the data-intensive environments traditionally serviced by Hitachi. The three companies have formed a Global Storage Management Agreement, which calls for the coordinated integration and testing of the companies' storage solutions, in order to architect highly interoperable data availability configurations that ensure increased flexibility for the end user. As part of this Global Storage Management Agreement, Hitachi will offer the latest versions of a wide range of VERITAS Software products and professional services to its customers around the globe. The companies will also unite in joint product integration and certification efforts.
"This new alliance further demonstrates Hitachi's strong commitment to partnering efforts that maintain our dedication to storage and open SAN solutions in a multiplatform environment," said Hiroaki Nakanishi, managing officer and group executive, Information and Telecommunication Systems Group, Hitachi, Ltd. "VERITAS Software is the leading company in providing software solutions that work across multiple operating systems and hardware platforms. Together we will lead the charge in developing superior storage innovations for global enterprise customers worldwide."
"This is a tremendous partnership opportunity for VERITAS Software," said Gary Bloom, president and chief executive officer, VERITAS Software. "Hitachi is a top-tier disk-array provider worldwide with a complementary strategy to VERITAS Software, which is leading the industry in providing nonproprietary, multivendor storage and SAN-management solutions. This alliance also increases our presence in the Japanese domestic market - an area of planned expansion for VERITAS Software."
"Hitachi Data Systems has strong relationships with enterprise customers worldwide and understands very well their requirements for better ways to manage their rapidly growing volumes of business data," said Jun Naruse, chief executive officer, Hitachi Data Systems. "Under the strengthened alliance between VERITAS Software, Hitachi and Hitachi Data Systems, we expect to play a leadership role in helping customers take advantage of the vast technological resources that these companies can bring to bear in developing solutions for a wide variety of storage management issues."
"The Global Storage Management Agreement represents a strong complementary fit between Hitachi, an open-systems hardware vendor, and VERITAS Software, an open-systems software vendor," said Paul Mason, vice president of Infrastructure Software Research, IDC. "The agreement provides more choices for mutual Hitachi and VERITAS Software customers to enable them to obtain complete interoperability of industry-standard solutions."
The focus of this enhanced alliance is to provide substantial new benefits to VERITAS Software and Hitachi's mutual customers. Hitachi and Hitachi Data Systems will offer solutions that combine VERITAS Software with the Hitachi Freedom Storage™ line of products, which includes the enterprise-class, multiplatform Lightning 9900™ Series and the open-systems-class Thunder 9200™ storage systems and equivalent models in the Japanese market. The three companies will partner on a wide range of VERITAS Software products including, but not limited to,VERITAS Software data availability solutions such as VERITAS Backup Exec™, VERITAS Cluster Server™, VERITAS Foundation Suite™, VERITAS Global Data Manager™, VERITAS NetBackup™, VERITAS SANPoint Control™, VERITAS Storage Migrator™, VERITAS Storage Replicator™, VERITAS Volume Manager™ for Windows NT and related software. Joint integration efforts will also enable the companies to provide customers with integrated, multiplatform storage solutions. In a further effort to provide finely tuned storage and SAN solutions, Hitachi plans to provide additional test and development hardware to the VERITAS Software labs and also plans to create a VERITAS Competency Center in the United States.
Together, Hitachi and VERITAS Software have outlined plans for increased support staff dedicated to supporting joint-customer needs and to create awareness about the joint solutions. Hitachi will employ storage professionals around the world dedicated to meeting the needs of mutual customers. This alliance will ensure customers receive the complete hardware and software storage solution they require - when they need it - through coordinated sales and support. Hitachi and VERITAS Software will work to provide customers with an industry-standard storage solution that delivers improved return on investment and is ideally suited to their business needs.
In addition to the global relationship announced in this press release, Hitachi and VERITAS Software are strategically aligned to work on additional initiatives. These initiatives will be announced in the future.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1999 (ended March 31, 2000) consolidated sales of 8,001 billion yen ($75.5 billion). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
Committed to helping customers exploit the value of information technology for success in the Internet economy, Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), is a leading provider of business solutions for the world's most information-intensive corporations. For further information on Hitachi Data Systems, access www.hds.com.
VERITAS Software Corporation (Nasdaq:VRTS) provides essential data availability software solutions that enable customers to protect and access their business-critical data for Business Without Interruption™. The company's corporate headquarters is located at 1600 Plymouth Street, Mountain View, CA 94043. (650) 335-8000, fax: (650) 335-8050, e-mail: vx-sales@veritas.com, Web site: www.veritas.com.
VERITAS Japan K.K. is the Japanese subsidiary of VERITAS Software Corporation (U.S.) and markets VERITAS Software products within Japan, in addition to providing support and training courses for VERITAS Software products.
Contacts: PR
Amber Winans, Public Relations, VERITAS Software (805) 782-4358, amber.winans@veritas.com
Erin Jones, Public Relations, VERITAS Software (805) 783-4528, erin.jones@veritas.com
Dave Galiotto, Investor Relations, VERITAS Software (650) 318-4047, dave.galiotto@veritas.com
Atsushi Konno, Hitachi, Ltd. 81-3-3258-2056, atsushi_konno@hdq.hitachi.co.jp
Bob Neudecker, Hitachi Data Systems (408) 970-4450, bob.neudecker@hds.com
Terry Kubo, Hitachi America, Ltd., (650) 244-7902, tatsuya.kubo@hal.hitachi,com
1 At an exchange rate of 106 yen to the dollar.
This document may include estimates and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of our products and services, our ability to maintain the quality of our end-user customer and partnering relationships, and our ability to manage our business effectively, that could cause the actual results we achieve to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. For more information regarding potential risks, see the "Factors That May Affect Future Results" section of our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q on file with the SEC. Copyright © 2001 VERITAS Software Corporation. All Rights Reserved. VERITAS, VERITAS SOFTWARE, the VERITAS logo, Business Without Interruption, VERITAS The Data Availability Company, VERITAS Backup Exec, VERITAS Cluster Server, VERITAS Foundation Suite, VERITAS Global Data Manager, NetBackup, VERITAS NetBackup, SANPoint, VERITAS SANPoint Control, VERITAS Storage Migrator and VERITAS Storage Replicator and VERITAS Volume Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation in the US and/or other countries. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. Freedom Storage, Lightning 9900, and Thunder 9200 are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems.
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