STORAGE

SANTA CLARA, CA -- A new independent survey of data center managers conducted by Wit SoundView Corp., a New York-based investment-banking firm, has ranked Hitachi Data Systems (NYSE:HIT) as the leading storage systems vendor. In this survey, Hitachi Data Systems received the highest customer-satisfaction ranking among 14 storage hardware and software vendors. This survey confirms results reported earlier this year by Wit SoundView and Find/SVP, in which Hitachi Data Systems decisively outranked its competitors in customer satisfaction. "We have completely changed our culture to be a customer-focused company," said Dave Roberson, COO at Hitachi Data Systems. "The results of this survey provide more evidence that our efforts are paying off. We will continue to emphasize our high-touch service and support, while maintaining a mutual respect and trust relationship with our customers." The high level of customer satisfaction accorded Hitachi Data Systems in the new Wit SoundView survey was closely related to the increase in spending on storage systems expected by survey respondents. Users were asked if they intended to increase or decrease their spending on products from each of the 14 vendors. Hitachi Data Systems had by far the best ranking in this category among storage hardware vendors. In assessing the factors comprising customer satisfaction, the survey ranked seven storage hardware companies on leadership, performance, function, reliability, price and overall satisfaction. As the overall leader, Hitachi Data Systems outscored all competitors and led by wide margins in performance and reliability. Moreover, 100 percent of the users responding to this part of the survey said that their opinion of Hitachi Data Systems had improved during the past year. Wit SoundView stated that the survey was conducted at Gartner Group's recent Storage '01 Conference. More than 350 non-vendor organizations, mostly in the United States, were surveyed. The full text of the report is available on the Hitachi Data Systems Web site at http://www.hds.com/pdf/WIT2001survey.pdf.