Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Wins Prestigious iF Product Design Award 2011

Hitachi VSP Achieves Global Recognition for Innovation, Environmental Impact, Storage Virtualization Functionality and Design Quality

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today announced that its flagship enterprise storage system, Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP), has won the renowned iF product design award for 2011. Presented to companies for outstanding design achievements, this distinct honor is awarded each year by an international jury of experts for outstanding excellence in design and innovation.

The iF product design award is based on clearly defined criteria including, environmental sustainability, architectural design quality, and overall functionality. Nearly 3,000 products submitted from 43 countries competed in 16 categories for a highly coveted iF product design award. With its advanced storage virtualization functionality, green IT design and high scalability in operation and storage capacity, Hitachi VSP was recognized by the judges for the 2011 Computers category.

“At Hitachi we are constantly delivering the highest level of design, value and quality in our solutions,” said Shuji Sugimoto, general manager of Storage Systems Development, Disk Array Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd. “The Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform represents an accumulated investment over many years to meet this level of design and product development and we are honored to be awarded for our efforts. This prestigious recognition sets the benchmark for superior design quality, functionality and environmental efficiency.”

Since announcing Hitachi VSP in September 2010, HDS has shipped many hundreds of units to nearly 300 customers worldwide who are now using the industry’s first 3 dimensional scaling platform. Customers benefit from being able to scale up, out and deep for unprecedented levels of agility and cost savings in their virtualized data centers. The data migration capabilities of Hitachi VSP greatly reduce outage windows, and page-level dynamic tiering simplifies and optimizes IT costs and performance by automating the movement of data to the most appropriate storage location.

Hitachi Data Systems is committed to providing environmentally efficient IT solutions and data centers through its design, manufacturing, and installation processes. The design of Hitachi VSP follows these standards by achieving environmental sustainability with its compact size and low power consumption. A repeated grid pattern of vents was designed to accommodate cooling needs without sacrificing ventilation efficiency. The quality of its design showcases the system’s scalability while also contributing to its aesthetic value.

About Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems provides best-in-class information technologies, services and solutions that deliver compelling customer ROI, unmatched return on assets (ROA) and demonstrable business impact. With a vision that IT must be virtualized, automated, cloud-ready and sustainable, Hitachi Data Systems offers solutions that improve IT costs and agility. With more than 4,300 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Hitachi Data Systems products, services and solutions are trusted by the world’s leading enterprises, including more than 70 percent of the Fortune 100 and more than 80 percent of the Fortune Global 100. Hitachi Data Systems believes that data drives our world – and information is the new currency. To learn more, visit: 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 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2009 (ended March 31, 2010) consolidated revenues totaled 8,968 billion yen ($96.4 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachi.com.