Hitachi Data Systems Appoints UK Channel Sales Director

Hitachi Data Systems, provider of Application Optimized Storage solutions, and wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today announced the appointment of Andrew Fitzgerald as UK channel sales director. Fitzgerald joins Hitachi Data Systems from European technology integrator and services provider, SCC.

Fitzgerald arrives with over 18 years experience in the storage industry. At SCC, he set up and ran the enterprise storage group, managing strategic relationships including Hitachi Data Systems, HP, and VERITAS. Under his leadership, the company's storage division grew into one of the UK's largest storage resellers. Prior to joining SCC, Fitzgerald held senior management positions within the UK storage divisions of Sun Microsystems, Compaq, and Digital.

Commenting on his appointment, Fitzgerald said: "Hitachi Data Systems is positioning itself for significant growth of indirect sales. This, together with the July announcement of channel optimized, functionality rich storage systems for the midrange market - the TagmaStore NSC, AMS, and WMS product lines - makes it a really exciting time to be joining the company. I will be working to support, strengthen, and build collaborative relationships with the channel in order to ensure we are the vendor of choice for our key partners."

Andrew will report to Jonathan Grantham, UK sales director, Hitachi Data Systems, who commented: "Andrew has great credentials and brings a wealth of knowledge to our team. His insight into the storage market and the needs of our channel partners and their customers will be invaluable in growing our indirect sales business. We are delighted to welcome him to the UK team."