Released on = February 13, 2007, 3:50 am

Press Release Author = Prajith Menon / MutualPR

Industry = Electronics

Press Release Summary = Hitachi Data Systems Corporation a wholly owned subsidiary
of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today unveiled the results of a survey conducted
amongst CIOs from the Asia Pacific region

Press Release Body = Bangalore, 9th February, 2006,- Hitachi Data Systems
Corporation a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today unveiled
the results of a survey conducted amongst CIOs from the Asia Pacific region.



IT costs today are escalating due to increasing demands for data and information.
CIOs will are under greater pressure to justify IT investments based on business
value rather than cost avoidance. It is no surprise then, that the survey, which
polled 100 respondents from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand, India, Korea and Indonesia reveals that 64 percent of respondents said
that the best thing vendors could do to support them was to build ROI assessments
for their storage investments.



"Applications and the storage environments that companies depend upon have become
critical drivers of business processes and decisions that impact organizational
growth and profitability," Said Michael Cremen, senior vice president and general
manager, APAC, Hitachi Data Systems. "At the same time, CIOs are challenged with
the task of justifying their IT investments. This is why Hitachi Data Systems works
closely with its customers to objectively assess, analyze, design, and economically
justify the most appropriate storage architecture to meet their requirements."



A Focus for 2007: Meeting Business Needs and Managing Cost



Cost and management issues continue to be a concern amongst IT leaders within
organizations in the region. Going into 2007, 45 percent of respondents indicated
reducing storage management costs as a key challenge they would like to address,
while 38 percent of respondents believe that ensuring their IT infrastructure will
meet business needs will continue to be an important focus for the coming year.



The following are some of the business issues which will be of focus, and CIOs will
be trying to balance these requirements while managing costs:

Business continuity: Every CIO fears the potential loss of company data, and as a
result, revenue in the event of an emergency. Ensuring all files are backed up and
kept safe in a separate location is of paramount importance, and this will be borne
out in 2007 as more and more organizations put business continuity plans into place.

Security: Regardless of industry, a company's employee base will continue to use a
multitude of applications. It is the CIO's responsibility to ensure the data
supporting these applications is secure but still easily accessible when needed.
With increasingly strict rules governing data security, and penalties for improper
management, achieving the balance between security and usability is going to have a
place near the top of the priority list.
Increase in regulation: The number of regulations companies must comply with is
multiplying, creating exponential growth in the amount of data that needs to be
stored. This is an opportunity for companies to mine and manage their most important
assets.


The Next Three Years: Dealing with Convergence and Interoperability



As companies continue to leverage technology to meet business needs, gearing up the
company IT environment will continue to be of importance. According to the survey,
38 percent of respondents believe that the convergence of technologies will have the
biggest influence over storage growth in the next three years. In addition, 39
percent of the respondents believe that in the next three years, the biggest concern
of CIOs will be to manage increasingly complex IT environments with minimal
resources. This is especially with the increase use of various technologies from
different vendors as well as shrinking IT resources.



Within this context, 42 percent of respondents believe that an important factor
influencing business success is the interoperability of technologies from different
vendors, while 23 percent think that adopting a centralized approach to management
as well as a future proof IT infrastructure are equally important factors.



This is especially crucial as the trend for mergers and acquisitions among companies
across a range of industries is likely to continue in 2007. This adds complexity as
CIOs integrate the different IT infrastructures. Using a vendor which offers common
management across heterogeneous storage devices will help in this instance. It will
also alleviate the problem of different IT skills in the IT department which can be
an inhibitor to an efficient and easy integration.





About Hitachi Data Systems

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 3,200 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.



About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading
global electronics company with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal
2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9
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.




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