ASIA PACIFIC, 23 August 2001 - Hitachi Asia Ltd.(“HAS”) today announced partnership with Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong Ltd (“HP”) where the Hitachi JP1 - Hitachi's system management software will integrate with the HP OpenView management suite of solutions for enhanced job and desktop management area. This partnership further strengthens HP OpenView's capability in the job and desktop management area and its position as the Enterprise Management Platform from systems, network, performance, storage and down to desktop.

HAS and HP have launched this collaboration business in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. Since this collaboration has been in good condition, HAS and HP agreed to expand this collaboration also in Hong Kong.

“We are pleased to expand our collaboration business of integrated solutions with JP1 and HP OpenView in the Hong Kong system management market, which bringbenefits to our mutual customers. ”, said Mr. Yoshihiro Miyoshi, Associate Director/General Manager, Information System Group, Hitachi Asia Ltd. “I am very pleased that this collaboration was well-received in the South East Asia region. I believe this collaboration will bring the same success in the Hong Kong market.”

“We are very excited that this collaboration between Hitachi JP1 and HP OpenView is expanded to Hong Kong in addition to Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand as we have previously announced.” commented Mr Yousuke Tsuyuki, General Manager of System Management Software, Software Division, Hitachi, Ltd. in Japan. “We believe that the integrated solution of JP1 and HP OpenView will strongly assist in the operations of customer's enterprise information system. We will render support on product development and maintenance services for JP1, as well as promotion to our local, Japanese and other , global customers,”he said.

This partnership allows JP1 and OpenView complementing each other and thus enriching each other's solution portfolio.

HP OpenView is the generic name given to a suite of software management solutions. Prominent members of the HP OpenView solutions include; OpenView Network Node Manager, a network management solution; HP OpenView Operations, which provides a single interface for centrally monitoring, analysing and forecasting resources utilisation in distributed or multi-vendor environments; And OpenView OmnibackII , an integrated solution for real-time and non-disruptive data backup and protection in a heterogeneous environment.

The Hitachi JP1 is the generic name given to a family of systems that use networks to centrally control software distribution, workload automation and client management. JP1 is largely customer-driven and can be tailored from a full-suite solution to various point solutions to cater to each and every individual client needs and requirements. JP1 was designed to facilitate the efficient management of entire corporate information systems and is applicable to different sized systems from small-scale systems to large-scale systems made of tens of thousands of clients. JP1 can be deployed to an environment where Windows and UNIX operating systems are used.

The merits of this cooperation are as follow:

• HP OpenView solution added to the JP1 line-up, expanding the range of IT system management. This allows IT departments to deliver the level of service needed to make their businesses more productive and effective. Additionally, the integrated solutions provide a tight linkage , allows customers to operate more effectively and gain a quicker return on investment
• Expansion of sales of each partners' products, increasing their sales opportunities by marketing both products to both companies' customers.
• Optimum management solutions offered to the customer, as each company complements the each other's products, enabling solutions to be implemented in the shortest timeframe.

“Ultimately the OpenView/JP1 combination will provide valuable IT system management solutions for the rapidly growing e-business marketplace. Customers may look forward to a best-of-breed solution brought about by the synergy of HP OpenView business-driven intelligence and Hitachi's JP1 job and desktop management solutions that will seek to drive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to the minimal,” said Michael Lam, Managing Director of Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen (US67.9 billion*) The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com
* At an exchange rate of 124 yen = 1 US dollar.

About Hitachi Asia Ltd. and Hitachi Asia (Hongkong) Ltd.
Established in 1989, Hitachi Asia Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., oversees the marketing, sales and procurement operations of Hitachi for Asia, excluding Japan. In addition to its regional headquarters (RHQ) in Singapore, the company has 20 other subsidiaries and offices spread across 10 Asian countries. Hitachi Asia Ltd. markets a wide variety of products including power and industrial systems, industrial systems and components, information systems and electronic components.

Hitachi Asia Ltd. has more than 800 employees and its sales totalled more than S$6.8 billion for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2001. Hitachi Asia (Hongkong) Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hitachi Asia Ltd.

For more information about Hitachi Asia Ltd. and Hitachi Asia (Hongkong) Ltd., please visit its website at http://www.hitachi.com.sg and http://www.hitachi.com.hk/.


And for more information about JP1, please visit at http://www.hitachi.com.sg/jp1.