Hitachi merges consulting unit with data services line Vantara
Japanese multinational Hitachi has retired its Hitachi Consulting brand two decades on from inauguration – the unit now integrated with data services division Hitachi Vantara.
Hitachi has commenced the decade by dropping its Hitachi Consulting brand, with the enterprise to be integrated with the conglomerate’s data services division Hitachi Vantara to form a 12,000-strong unit of digital and consulting experts. Hitachi Consulting was launched at the turn of the century in a bid to capitalise on market developments and the growing demand for advisory offerings from large IT players.
In the years since its establishment, Hitachi Consulting has grown its global headcount to greater than 5,000 consultants and technologists in Asia, the Americas and Europe, with much of its growth driven by acquisitions. Shortly after founding, the business picked up Grant Thornton’s Chicago-based consulting wing, followed two years later by a 400-strong team from Arthur Andersen Business Consulting.
Now – following on from a plan announced in September – the unit has given way to the Hitachi Vantara brand, itself established in 2017 through the merger of Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi Insight Group and Pentaho – a move mirrored recently in China when Hitachi rolled a number of its local companies into one. Such manoeuvrings, the firm says, are part of a strategy to create a digital transformation powerhouse.
“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,” said Toshiaki Tokunaga, a three-decade Hitachi veteran who has been selected to lead the new venture as chairman and CEO. “We’re going to be the company that helps customers navigate from what’s now to what’s next.”
According to the firm, Hitachi Vantara will combine the consulting-led digital solutions and vertical industry expertise of Hitachi Consulting with Hitachi Vantara’s IT domain expertise, allowing its customers to “develop practical, scalable digital strategies and solutions that transform operational processes, improve customer experiences and create new business models to drive innovation and growth.”
And like Hitachi Consulting before it, the firm intends to support the new Hitachi Vantara unit through aggressive investments in line with the company’s ‘2021 Mid-term Management Plan’ for growth creation according to ‘Social Innovation Business’. This longer-term strategy seeks to leverage the firm’s expertise to address social issues such as urbanisation, ageing workforces, and climate-related challenges.
“Hitachi Vantara was created to develop exceptional technologies to help our customers maximise the value of their data,” said Brian Householder, now President of Digital Infrastructure.“This is a great next step to bring two complementary organisations even closer together to help our customers and partners tap more broadly into the power of Hitachi to drive meaningful business outcomes.”