Hitachi offers data management solution with mid-market channel focus

The new products include Hitachi Essential NAS Platform and Hitachi High-performance NAS Platform 3000 Series as well as a new version of the Hitachi Content Archive Platform.

Simon Elisha, newly appointed chief technologist, Hitachi Data Systems told CRN that the focus in storage over the last 10 to 15 years has been on structured data, however there is a growing need to reign in unstructured data.

“The products will help gain control of unstructured data,” he said. “We are now seeing a proliferation of files generated by end-users, such as emails, which are fundamental to the running of the business but create challenges in terms of managing data.”

Elisha claimed as corporate IT infrastructure becomes increasingly complex, CIOs are faced with the high cost of managing siloed unstructured data. The products in the Hitachi Data Discovery Suite allow businesses to archive information in what Elisha refers to as a "capital cost deferment plan".

“What this means is the content archival system is not a fixed unit, storage is allocated as you need it. That way when a business needs more storage, using thin provisioning, it can buy only what it needs at a given time,” he said. “CIOs are able to manage costs by consolidating data and reducing duplicate copies.”

While the suite has been developed with enterprise requirements in mind, Elisha asserted that the solutions are also relevant to the mid-market space.

“The channel can be really active as many mid-market businesses need the storage capabilities of large organisations but don’t have the budget,” he said.

The chief technologist provided the example of a superannuation firm that requires the data storage capabilities of a major bank, but doesn’t have the scale or budget to do so.

“That’s where the channel comes in,” he added.