Hitachi Looks to Expand IoT Reach

Integrates IT and consulting businesses

The giant Japanese conglomerate is combining its Hitachi Vantara enterprise IT business and Hitachi Consulting subsidiary to help fuel adoption of its Lumada Internet of Things (IoT) platform and other advanced technologies like Big Data, analytics, and the cloud.

The Lowdown:  The combined organization, which will keep the Hitachi Vantara name, will begin operations in January 2020, part of Hitachi’s larger efforts to accelerate growth as laid out in its 2021 Mid-term Management Plan.

The Details:  Hitachi officials expect the combination of the two subsidiaries will help drive the delivery of Hitachi Vantara’s offerings – including digital infrastructure and solutions, cloud-based products, and professional and managed services – in a more global fashion.

As part of the plan, Toshiaki Tokunaga, who is chairman of the board of Hitachi Global Digital Holdings, will become board chairman and CEO for Hitachi Vantara. Current Vantara CEO Brian Householder and Hicham Abdessamad, president and CEO of Hitachi Consulting, will take other executive positions.

The Impact:  The impact of the combined company will be felt by Hitachi Vantara’s channel partners. Enterprises and other organizations are turning to MSPs and other partners to help them integrate and manage their increasingly cloud-based, data-centric, and highly distributed IT environments. Hitachi Vantara offered a broad portfolio of technologies and products but lagged in the services area. Integrating with Hitachi Consulting will give it a more global services reach, with benefits that should cascade down to its channel partners.

Background:  Hitachi created Vantara in 2017 by combining its Hitachi Data Systems IT business, Pentaho data analytics unit, and Hitachi Insight Group, which was launched a year earlier to support its IoT efforts.

The Buzz:  “I’m confident that Hitachi Vantara will deliver even greater value for our customers and partners by reinforcing its digital business and solution delivery capabilities,” Toshiaki Tokunaga said. “The combined entity, in collaboration with Hitachi’s Global Social Innovation Business, will map to Hitachi’s 2021 Mid-term Management Plan, which outlines the expansion of its digital business, global market share growth, and the delivery of social, environmental, and economic value for customers and partners.”

“Hitachi Vantara was created to develop exceptional technologies to help our customers maximize the value of their data, from the data center to the cloud and out to the edge,” Householder said. “This is a great next step to bring two complementary organizations even closer together to help our customers and partners tap more broadly into the power of Hitachi to drive meaningful business outcomes.”

“As a consulting-led digital solutions company aligned to Hitachi’s social innovation strategy, we have been focused on delivering tangible business outcomes to our customers by leveraging Hitachi’s vast information technology and operational technology capabilities,” Abdessamad said. “This integration uniquely positions us to accelerate time to value for our customers and provide digital solutions at scale.”