Data is not only knowledge it is power, and more than that, it is the critical fuel for business growth. Of course, this is only the case if such data can be cost-effectively harnessed and transformed into meaningful information for the organisation. The trouble today is that while many organisations are spending more and more on additional storage for their data centres, the real value of this vital business information is being lost. It is becoming buried deeper and deeper in silos that are difficult to access and manage.

“Companies desperately need ways to overcome this growing challenge, before an inability to effectively access and utilise their stored data begins to cost them business, and possibly irreparably harms their organisations,” says Tony Reid, of Hitachi Data Systems UK, Ireland and SSA.

“Therefore, whether you are an IT executive that needs to adapt their IT architecture to cope with relentless change; a storage professional wanting to stay one step ahead of the latest innovations; or a business manager who depends on IT to improve efficiency and collaboration, you should be attending the Hitachi Information Forum.”

The Forum is due to be held for the first time in South Africa later this month, taking place in Johannesburg on the 16th October 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Rosebank, and again on the 18th October 2012, at the Table Bay Hotel at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.

With a host of local and international storage experts attending, the Forum is the ideal place to learn how best to make information truly matter. The keynote address will discuss ways to drive costs down and efficiencies up, as well as how to enable your business to scale and grow. Furthermore, there will be an examination of how to craft a ‘practical’ path to the next generation information centre. This is crucial, since whatever is proposed and deployed will need to be ‘cloud ready’ and be capable of handling the expected surge of ‘big data’.

Moreover, it should be remembered that data is probably second only to people as an organisation’s most important asset; therefore data protection is a genuinely hot topic. What will be discussed here goes well beyond the traditional disaster recovery and business continuity disciplines which typically only focus on recovering at another location. True data protection, which encompasses many different types of failure scenarios that can impact an organisation’s ability to do business, will also be discussed. This will include considering the importance of data protection in the cloud, whether it works and where it makes the most sense.

“In today’s business world, risks have multiplied, capacities have exploded, regulations have increased and the value of your data has skyrocketed. The Forum will provide an understanding of exactly why data protection as an overarching strategy should be your company’s focus, rather than the focus being placed on the individual technologies that comprise the various solutions,” states Marc Trevenen, managing director at Shoden Data Systems.

He adds that the Forum is the ideal place to chat about these and other hot topics with key Hitachi Data Systems customers and to hear from the top brains within Hitachi Data Systems, as well as input from key analysts at both Gartner and the IDC.

There will also be a focus on the journey to the real time economy; organisations today are being driven to operate in a ‘real-time economy’ due to the changing expectations of customers, who expect quicker response times and better levels of customer service. However, in the digital world, traditional ways of working that used to keep the customer at a distance are no longer good enough. Those organisations that are going to sustain their success well into the future are the ones that are focusing on putting the customer at the heart of the business.

“It is for this reason, more than any other, that information – and how it is protected, stored, retrieved and accessed – has never been more important,” concludes Trevenen.

Editorial contacts
Melinda de Gee
083 212 9840
Melinda.degee@shoden.co.za

About
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 virtualised, automated, cloud-ready and sustainable, Hitachi Data Systems offers solutions that improve IT costs and agility. With more than 5,400 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.

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 2010 (ended March 31, 2011) consolidated revenues totalled 9,315 billion yen ($112.2 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.
© Hitachi Data Systems Corporation 2012. All Rights Reserved. Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Hitachi Data Systems is a registered trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the United States and other countries.