The tPCT, with IT services partner Viglen, decided on a Hitachi storage and replication solution and were able to reduce storage from 55 down to 4 servers, thereby saving on data centre space and administrative costs. Savings were also made by transferring the data electronically.

According to Hitachi, its Adaptable Modular Storage 500 (AMS 500) system with 12 terabytes of usable data and Hitachi TrueCopy Extended Distance Software is in place at the tPCT's new headquarters and a second identical system, powered by its own generator, provides backup from a community hospital. High-performance asynchronous replication between the two sites is made possible through the Hitachi TrueCopy Extended Distance Software and Hitachi Data Systems's Hi-Track Monitor tool provides remote monitoring and maintenance.

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Huge assets will be tapped to improve its cash flow by 5.0 billion yen, the company said, but did not specify whether it was selling some of its assets.

With the help of cost-cutting measures, the company aims to achieve a consolidated operating profit ratio of 5 percent in the year to March 2010 as it had previously pledged, nearly triple the operating profit margin of 1.8 percent achieved in the year to March 2007.

To achieve its target profit growth, Japan's biggest integrated electronics maker said it will try to build a stronger foothold on the Chinese flat TV market, while ccontinuing its cost-cutting efforts in the hard disk drive business, which has been incurring losses until recently.

In a bid to improve profitability at its flat panel TV business, Hitachi, along with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and Canon Inc. recently forged an alliance in the segment.

Hitachi said it will strengthen control and supervision of its operations through the use of its so-called Future Inspiration Value (FIV) approach, an in-house index obtained by subtracting the cost of capital from after-tax operating profits.

Under this method, if a segment recording negative FIVs for two straight years is deemed to be requiring attention, and if it fails to turn in profits within two years after its restructuring plan is approved, the company may consider withdrawing from such business segment.

Hitachi said it aims to achieve positive FIVs at key operating segments such as the hard disk drive business in the year to March 2009, in line with an earlier plan, and at its flat TV business in the year to March 2010.

yasuhiko.seki@thomsonreuters.com

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Hitachi president Kazuo Furukawa told a news conference that he was not considering buying the business from GE, with which the Japanese company has a tie-up in nuclear power plants.

Earlier this month Hitachi reported widening losses due to problems in its flat-panel business, but forecast a return to profit in the current year.

The Japanese company has no plan to give up its loss-making television businesses -- both LCDs and plasma displays -- despite an expected delay in its recovery until next year, Furukawa said.

"The business will further expand globally," he said.

"Although we are facing a hard time now, we are determined to make it a robust business," he said.

Hitachi's flat-screen TV business, which has weighed down its overall earnings, is expected to stay in the red for the current year to March 2009 and return to the black the following financial year, he said.

Earlier this month, Hitachi said losses related to its flat television business came to 100 billion yen ($968 million) for the year to March 2008, adding to Hitachi's overall annual net loss.

afp

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SOA Consortium Announces Hitachi Ltd. Has Joined

Becomes First Japanese Company to Join SOA Advocacy Group

Technology Editors

NEEDHAM, Massachusetts (BUSINESS WIRE) - May 27, 2008 - The SOA Consortium today announced that Hitachi, Ltd. has joined the SOA Consortium. They are the first Japan-based organization to join. The SOA Consortium is an advocacy group of end users, service providers and technology vendors committed to helping the Global 1000, major government agencies, and mid-market businesses successfully adopt Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) by 2010. SOA Consortium sponsors include Cisco, HP, IBM Corporation, SAP AG, Savant, Sparx Systems and Sun Microsystems.

"We are delighted to welcome Hitachi to the SOA Consortium. Their experience and ties to the Japanese market and beyond will be invaluable as we strive to bring the message of SOA as a business agility story to this fast-growing community," said Richard Mark Soley, Ph.D., executive director, SOA Consortium.

"We have seen increasing demands of SOA towards agile enterprise systems in Japan as well as in the worldwide market," said Masahiro Kitano, Corporate Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer, Information and Telecommunication Systems, Hitachi, Ltd.

"The SOA Consortium is a valuable place to share best practices, case studies, and experiences of SOA. The collective knowledge will be beneficial to all the parties who need to prepare for tomorrow's business and/or technology changes. With Hitachi Consulting in the U.S., another consortium member from us, Hitachi is happy to work as an SOA advocate in Japan."

About The SOA Consortium

The SOA Consortium is an advocacy group of end users, service providers and technology vendors committed to helping the Global 1000 successfully adopt Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) by 2010. SOA Consortium founding enterprise members include Fortune 200 companies in Financial Services, Travel, Manufacturing, Retail and Telecommunications.

Sponsors are Cisco, HP, IBM Corporation, SAP AG, Savant, Sparx Systems and Sun Microsystems, Inc. Participants include Fortune 1000 corporations, major government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Any organization may join the SOA Consortium. The SOA Consortium is managed by the Object Management Group.

For more information, please visit http:/ www.soa-consortium.org or email info@soa-consortium.org.

Note to editors: SOA Consortium, OMG and Object Management Group are trademarks of Object Management Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Object Management GroupStephanie Covert, +1-843-737-0637 info@soa-consortium.org