SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – November 7, 2005 – Hitachi America, Ltd., Hitachi Data Systems, and Hitachi Consulting, three business units of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today jointly announced their support for the next-generation Microsoft enterprise application platform featuring Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005, and BizTalk Server 2006. Together the three Hitachi businesses will enable thousands of customers around the globe to optimize their corporate infrastructure for applications based on the new Microsoft application platform.
Support by Hitachi America, Hitachi Data Systems, and Hitachi Consulting for the Microsoft application platform includes the availability of industry-leading server and storage systems optimized for SQL Server 2005, as well as a worldwide team of consultants who are ready to help customers deploy SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006. Additionally, the Hitachi businesses have joined Microsoft in conducting a multi-city road show to educate customers on how to implement highly reliable, high-performance applications utilizing the companies' combined technologies and expertise. Today's announcement builds on Hitachi's successful alliance with Microsoft. Globally, Hitachi is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
"As one of the leading global providers of information technology and services, supporting some of the largest SQL Server implementations in the world, Hitachi shares with Microsoft a common goal to provide corporate customers with high-performance, trusted platforms for building the reliable, mission-critical systems of modern business," said Paul Flessner, senior vice president of Server Applications at Microsoft Corp. "Together we are delivering on that vision through the combined innovation of our next-generation Microsoft application platform, including SQL Server 2005, as well as the proven performance of Hitachi server and storage systems, and the deep expertise of Hitachi's consulting team."
Hitachi America, Ltd., a leading provider of advanced server technology, today unveiled the BladeSymphony enterprise-class blade platform. The BladeSymphony family delivers superior performance, modular scalability, and flexibility for SQL Server 2005 environments, including the first Itanium R 8-way symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) blade implementation, to match a range of application requirements. Together, BladeSymphony and SQL Server 2005 enable companies to reduce total cost of ownership and protect customers' long-term IT investments. BladeSymphony is a product of Hitachi, Ltd., which will be sold by the Server Systems Group within the Information Systems Division of Hitachi America, Ltd. For more information, please visit www.bladesymphony.com.
"In today's dynamic market, companies require an IT infrastructure that can adapt and grow with their business while protecting their current investments," said Kazuhiro Akimoto, vice president and general manager of Hitachi America, Ltd. "We are proud to work with Microsoft in delivering high-performance servers, including our new BladeSymphony blade platform, which are optimized for the new Microsoft application platform and offer the flexibility and scalability that our mutual customers demand."
Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., is a leading provider of storage solutions for enterprise and mid-range businesses and the winner of the SQL Server 2005 Partner Award for Storage. Its Services Oriented Storage Solutions™ solutions complement SQL Server 2005 by enabling customers to match their application requirements to storage attributes, providing application-centric management of the data that drives their businesses. Hitachi Data Systems offers unmatched scalability and performance to support the largest enterprise SQL Server environments through its tiered storage architecture. It also enables the business continuity and operational resilience that that these environments demand through proven data protection solutions, including Hitachi's unique replication technology.
"Enterprise and mid-range companies, alike, depend on the ability to manage, access, and protect the information that supports their critical business applications," said Hu Yoshida, chief technology officer of Hitachi Data Systems. "We have delivered on those requirements for thousands of Microsoft SQL Server customers around the globe, and today our customers include the world's largest BizTalk and SQL Server installation, as well as the world's largest combined SAP and SQL Server installation. We look forward to building on this success through our support of the next-generation Microsoft application platform featuring SQL Server 2005."
Hitachi Consulting is the business and IT consulting company of Hitachi, Ltd. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Hitachi Consulting is recognized as a leader in delivering practical business strategies and technology solutions on the Microsoft application platform. Hitachi Consulting has participated in more than 50 conferences and events around the world and completed over a dozen projects to help prepare the market for the new Microsoft application platform release today.
"To remain competitive in today's economy, organizations are looking for ways to seamlessly integrate business processes, applications and information to gain greater operational efficiency and improved business insight," said Brian Biglin, vice president, Microsoft Alliance, at Hitachi Consulting. "We are excited to provide our customers with solutions that capitalize on the significant enhancements to the Microsoft application platform, which will help improve operating efficiency and business decision making throughout the enterprise."
The Information Systems Division of Hitachi America, Ltd. provides a range of solutions and services to the information technology marketplace. Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, and consumer electronics, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information, visit http://www.hitachi.us.
Hitachi Data Systems leverages global R&D resources to develop storage solutions built on industry-leading technology with the performance, availability and scalability to maximize customers' ROI and minimize their risk. By focusing on the customer's perspective as we apply the best hardware, software, and services from Hitachi and our partners, we uniquely satisfy our customers' business needs.
With approximately 2,900 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct and indirect channels in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries and regions. Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at http://www.hds.com.
As Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. We leverage decades of business process, vertical industry, and leading-edge technology experience to understand each company's unique business needs. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.
Hitachi Consulting's client base includes nearly 30 percent of the Fortune 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement. For more information, call 1.877.664.0010 or visit http://www.hitachiconsulting.com.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Website at http://www.hitachi.com.
Blanc & Otus Public Relations
Cece Lee
(415) 856-5176
vrodriguez@blancandotus.com
All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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