Hitachi has completed the merger of Hitachi Vantara and Hitachi Consulting, first announced in September.
The company has grand plans for the enlarged Hitachi Vantara, which will focus on digital transformation and vertical solution sales. For example, it cites Lumada Manufacturing Insights, which “integrates silos of manufacturing data and applies AI and machine learning to evaluate and enhance overall equipment effectiveness”.
“A barrage of data and technology is disrupting enterprises and industries the world over,” said Toshiaki Tokunaga, chief executive officer and chairman of the board, Hitachi Vantara. “Through the integration of Hitachi Consulting, the new Hitachi Vantara will be uniquely equipped with the capabilities our customers need to guide them on their digital journeys. We’re going to be the company that helps customers navigate from what’s now to what’s next.”
Hitachi Vantara role and positioning
We can see how Hitachi Vantara’s IT products and consulting services can fit in with these activities, providing IT underpinnings across the group’s business units.
In other words Hitachi Vantara will look to sell its storage products as part of a larger deal, set in a market context relevant to one or more of its business units. Competitors, such as HPE or NetApp, could bid for the storage systems element but would not be able to match the rest of Hitachi’s offering, putting them at a disadvantage. This is Hitachi Vantara’s hope.
Competitors may suggest that as part of a larger business Hitachi Vantara may lose specialist storage technology expertise, putting it at a disadvantage.
Social Innovation Business
In a press release announcing the merger completion, Hitachi said the new Hitachi Vantara will “play a key role in advancing Hitachi’s 2021 Mid-term Management Plan, which aims to make the company a global leader through “Social Innovation Business.”
This strategy is outlined in Hitachi’s 2021 Mid-term Management Plan. This is based on three trends; increasing urbanisation, ageing workforces, and climate change-led resource shortages.
Hitachi aims to use its product, IT and operational Ttechnology capabilities across its mobility, smart life, industry, energy and IT business units. Hitachi is focusing them on providing good economic results while meeting, environmental and social values.
The company wants make its products better suited to urban populations. This means providing safe, comfortable and environmentally-friendly railway transportation systems and services. It means designing smart cities to be more convenient and environmentally-friendly. This encompasses smart health therapy kit, city water supplies, energy generation, transmission and management, connected cars and connected home electronic appliances.
