Hitachi announced that is has signed two new partnerships in Saudi Arabia with Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS) and Business Management Company (BMC), as part of the vendor's strategy to strengthen its presence in the Kingdom. Both MIS and BMC will work with customers across the various tiers of Hitachi Data Systems solutions, from low-end and modular storage to high-end enterprise.

"The Saudi market remains a huge, for the most part untapped, opportunity, as the market sees growth and development in every business sector - not only oil and gas, but also education, healthcare and construction. It's a market that demands focus, investment and insight - which is why Hitachi Data Systems has chosen to partner with two very powerful players in the industry, who have not only a long-standing presence in the Saudi market, but also the resources and capabilities to work with customers to establish world-class storage infrastructures," said Tony Ward, general manager & sales director MENAT at Hitachi Data Systems (Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan).

Escalating storage growth from new applications coupled with regulatory demands continue to pressure organizations' IT budgets and expose inefficiencies in traditional storage architectures. Hitachi's portfolio of storage innovation forges closer alignment between service-level requirements and business-critical applications. The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V is a state-of-the-art platform which provides industry leading performance, scalability and availability that meet the business-critical application needs of customers.

Sami Al Mulla, general manager, BMC, said: "We serve chief organisations in the Saudi government, financial, oil and gas and telecommunication sectors, working with the top technology vendors. There is a clear potential for success in this partnership with Hitachi, as it combines the strength of Hitachi's technology with our market know-how and customer base."

Sheikh Ibrahim Al Moammar, vice president, MIS, said: "Saudi businesses are experiencing tremendous growth, and need reliable data storage and management infrastructure to serve increasing demands for scalability and security. This is a market where oil revenues are predicted to hit $16.6 trillion by 2030. This scale of economic growth will be the foundation of a business environment that is of global standards and technology requirement for the best in the market. We're excited about partnering up with HDS for the Saudi market, and to kick off a solid roadmap for strengthening the presence of Hitachi solutions."