Hitachi and SAP Strengthen Relationship , Form Global Services Partnership

Customers to Benefit from Bolstered Implementation Services,
Enhanced Solution Delivery and Increased Global Reach

TOKYO .- Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) and SAP Japan today announced Hitachi and SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) have expanded their partnership and Hitachi is now an SAP® global services partner. Hitachi and SAP will team worldwide to market and deliver SAP business applications together, combining Hitachi’s cutting-edge, high-reliability platform products and consulting services. The joint offerings will enable companies around the globe to boost competitiveness by optimizing their overall operations. Customers will benefit from bolstered implementation services, enhanced solution delivery and increased global reach.

The partnership is wholly focused on enhancing value for customer investments in SAP applications, and will first be expanded to North America, then China and Europe.
By collaborating in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, Hitachi plans to validate the integration of their middleware and platforms into SAP solutions , as well as develop new solutions. Hitachi will expand its corps of SAP consultants to approximately 2,080 globally by the end of 2011 to serve prospects and customers on a global scale.

“Hitachi and SAP have a long history of collaboration, and we are pleased to take our partnership to a new level as an SAP global services partner,” said Junzo　Nakajima, Vice President and Executive Officer, Hitachi. “We have leading implementation expertise in support of SAP applications in Japan and now look forward to intensifying these activities worldwide. Hitachi has been developing its business globally, not only in information business but also in areas such as electronics, electricity, transit and urban infrastructure. This agreement will help us to offer services in support of SAP applications in new and developing markets.”

SAP will leverage Hitachi’s deep industry-specific knowledge and technology expertise in creating solutions for customers across various industries.

“We are pleased that Hitachi has extended its partnership with SAP, becoming an SAP global services partner,” said Manfred Heil, SVP, Global Service Partner, Global Ecosystem & Partner Group, SAP AG . “Together, we will enhance value and accelerate growth for customers, which will reduce implementation costs while providing strong domain-centric solutions to transform business processes. This partnership demonstrates the value of SAP’s customer-focused ecosystem: teaming with partners to deliver value and innovation to customers.”