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posted on 30 June 2008 09:22

Stoke Poges, U.K. 30th June, 2008: Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and the leading provider of Services Oriented Storage Solutions , today announced that Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT) has deployed Hitachi technology to ensure the safe storage of electronic data records for its 156,000 patients.

In addition to gaining a robust disaster recovery solution, the tPCT has streamlined its storage from 55 to four servers, saving on power requirements and management resources.

Originally formed by the merger of four separate PCTs, Bradford and Airedale’s storage platform was fragmented, and nearing the end of its life. The tPCT therefore took the opportunity of an imminent site move to review its infrastructure and storage requirements. The ageing backup servers at its headquarters were slow and disparate, meaning staff often found it difficult to locate essential pieces of patient data, diagnostic information and medical charts.

The system needed to reliably store such critical data as well as hosting the tPCT’s various intranet sites which provide round-the-clock access to essential data for travelling community nurses and GPs. Bradford and Airedale also needed to complement its business continuity plan with a robust disaster recovery solution to ensure that even in the event of an emergency, medical personnel could access the resources they need to save lives.

Working with IT services partner Viglen, Bradford and Airedale selected a Hitachi storage and replication solution. By deploying this and migrating its data to the new system, the tPCT was able to reduce server numbers by 93 per cent and save the IT team valuable administrative resource and data centre space. Transferring data electronically from the legacy servers at its old headquarters to the Hitachi system at its new base, instead of relocating the servers manually, also enabled Bradford and Airedale to save a specialist mover’s fee of £50,000.

Harvey Smith, UK Partner Manager at Hitachi Data Systems, said: “As a Primary Care Trust supporting the health and wellbeing of a diverse population, Bradford and Airedale has to ensure seamless, uninterrupted services to its staff and patients. Without this the quality of care that the tPCT provides would be compromised. Hitachi’s technology and Viglen’s experienced delivery have ensured a powerful and cost-effective solution.”

Martin Powis, Head of IT and Telecoms at Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust, said, “Providing secure data storage to support essential health services to the public is no easy task, but with Hitachi Data Systems technology and support we’ve been able to streamline our storage environment and make sure our critical data is safe in the event of a disaster.”

The solution deployed by Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust included two Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage 500 (AMS 500) systems each with 12 terabytes of usable data and Hitachi TrueCopy Extended Distance Software. One was deployed at the tPCT’s new headquarters, with the second providing backup from a community hospital powered by its own generator. Hitachi TrueCopy® Extended Distance Software enables high-performance asynchronous replication between the two sites. Remote monitoring and maintenance is provided by Hitachi Data Systems’s Hi-Track Monitor® tool.

About Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust
Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT) is responsible for the provision of healthcare services to a population of 156,000 in the North East of England and allocates Department of Health funding to support hospitals, GPs, dentists and specialist nursing in Bradford and the surrounding area. Bradford and Airedale was given Teaching PCT status when formed from four smaller PCTs in 1996 and since then, in its teaching hospitals and other facilities, doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals have been able to learn and improve essential skills.

About Viglen Limited
For more than three decades Viglen has been, and continues to be, a leading British provider of innovative technology solutions to the education sector. With a heritage and pedigree second to none. Viglen is today one of the fastest-growing ICT solutions companies, offering a totally integrated, end-to-end ICT service. Viglen Storage Group, a division of Viglen Limited provides a complete range of storage infrastructure solutions. http://www.viglen.co.uk.

About Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation provides Services Oriented Storage Solutions that enable heterogeneous storage to be dynamically provisioned according to business needs and centrally managed via industry-leading Hitachi storage virtualisation software. As an integral part of the Hitachi Storage Solutions Group, Hitachi Data Systems delivers storage infrastructure platforms, storage management software, and storage consulting services through direct and indirect channels in over 170 countries and regions. Its customers include nearly 60-percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, visit the company's Web site at 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 390,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) consolidated revenues totaled 11,226 billion yen ($112.2 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials, logistics and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

^{[Formatted by Wendy Matthews.]}