Raiffeisen Informatik cuts Mainframe Cyber recovery from an estimated seven days to two hours with Hitachi Vantara. October 20th, 2026 * Seven days to two hours: Cyber resiliency architecture enables rapid recovery even after total storage loss across both data center sites * Two-hour recovery point: Immutable snapshots protect consistent application states while limiting potential data loss to the snapshot interval * Built for worst-case resilience: Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform architecture supports rigorous recovery testing aligned with the resilience objectives of the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) VIENNA and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 20, 2026 - Raiffeisen Informatik GmbH & Co KG, one of Austria's largest banking IT services providers, has implemented a cyber resiliency architecture for its mainframe environment in partnership with Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (TSE: 6501). Powered by Hitachi Vantara's Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) and based on immutable snapshots, the solution reduces recovery time in the worst-case scenario - the total loss of all storage systems across both data center sites - from an estimated seven days to between one and two hours. The architecture also limits potential data loss to two hours. The deployment illustrates how financial institutions can strengthen operational and cyber resilience by protecting critical data and validating recovery procedures against severe disruption scenarios. The Vienna-based provider's mainframe environment processes approximately one billion transactions per month for more than 1.25 million end customers. Raiffeisen Informatik operates the IT infrastructure for central institutions of the Raiffeisen Banking Group, including Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, Raiffeisenlandesbank Burgenland, Raiffeisen Landesbank Vorarlberg, and the UNIQA insurance group. Before the project, Raiffeisen Informatik operated two production storage systems across two data center sites, supported by daily FlashCopies and batch backups written to a virtual tape library. The architecture met the four-hour recovery time objectives for standard failure scenarios. The challenge emerged when Raiffeisen Informatik modeled the most severe scenario: an attacker destroying all storage systems across both data centers simultaneously. In that situation, a complete recovery from classical backup media was estimated to take approximately seven days. The potential impact of that kind of downtime is severe; a recent report found companies lose an average $300 million a year to unplanned outages, plus fines if they do not stay compliant with the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which requires business continuity. In a 24/7 banking transaction environment, there is no straightforward point in time at which a consistent backup of the entire landscape can be created. Recovery would therefore require data to be reconstructed from individual tables and combined with forward-recovery procedures. For an interconnected core banking environment serving multiple financial institutions, such a recovery process would be highly complex and difficult to execute within the required timeframe. Immutable Recovery with Hitachi Mainframe Cyber Resiliency Solution To address this challenge, Raiffeisen Informatik deployed the Hitachi Mainframe Cyber Resiliency Solution, combining Hitachi Universal Replicator for continuous data replication with Hitachi ShadowImage for Mainframe for immutable snapshot creation. Two NVMe-based Hitachi VSP arrays were installed as dedicated snapshot targets, complementing the existing Hitachi VSP systems at both mainframe sites. All systems are connected via dark fiber. The critical element of the architecture is the separation, or air gap, between production storage and the snapshot targets. The snapshot storage cannot be addressed by the mainframe production environment. As a result, an attacker with administrative access cannot see, modify or delete protected snapshots. During their retention period, the snapshots are physically separated from the production environment and logically write-protected. New snapshots are created every two hours, providing consistent recovery points for the entire application environment. Importantly, recovery can be initiated directly from the snapshot without first having to copy all data back to the production storage infrastructure. "Without Hitachi Vantara's support, the solution simply wouldn't have worked," said Werner Georg Mayer, Managing Director at Raiffeisen Informatik. "What matters is that from a snapshot, we can bring up the entire application environment with a consistent data state in one to two hours. A traditional file- or database-level restore of the full application landscape would take days - and achieving a consistent state across all systems that way is barely achievable." Testing Resilience Under Extreme Conditions The architecture gives Raiffeisen Informatik a recovery capability that goes beyond conventional disaster recovery scenarios. The company tests its recovery procedures annually in an isolated logical partition on the mainframe, completely segregated from the production network. This approach allows Raiffeisen Informatik to test recovery under conditions designed to reflect the most severe disruption scenarios, rather than relying solely on theoretical recovery procedures. "Financial institutions need to know that their critical systems can be restored when conventional recovery assumptions fail," said Octavian Tanase, Chief Product Officer, Hitachi Vantara. "Raiffeisen Informatik has taken a rigorous approach to cyber resilience by designing and testing for a total-loss scenario and testing recovery procedures under realistic conditions. Reducing an estimated seven-day recovery to as little as two hours is significant, but the value goes beyond faster recovery. It gives mainframe leaders confidence that mission-critical banking services can be restored when it matters most." The resulting architecture delivers a validated recovery path from severe cyber disruption scenarios - well within Raiffeisen Informatik's contractual four-hour SLA under the tested total-loss scenario - while the two-hour snapshot interval defines the potential recovery point, limiting data loss exposure. From Mainframe Resilience to Next-Generation Storage The project was completed in approximately four months from order to production and was implemented jointly by Raiffeisen Informatik's in-house team and Hitachi Vantara Professional Services. Building on this work, Raiffeisen Informatik has also signed a new agreement to add VSP One Block High End to its mainframe storage environment, helping prepare its infrastructure for future performance, resilience and scalability requirements. "We have a clear view of what our mainframe environment needs to support the business going forward," Mayer said. "Our storage infrastructure needs to keep pace with growing performance demands while giving us the flexibility to scale. VSP One Block High End gives us that foundation for the next phase of our mainframe strategy." Additional Resources Connect With Hitachi Vantara About Raiffeisen Informatik Raiffeisen Informatik is one of Austria's largest private data center operators and has provided corporate IT services for more than 50 years. Its primary customers include institutions of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria - among them Raiffeisen Bank International and the Raiffeisen Landesbanken - as well as the Uniqa insurance group. As a captive IT services provider, Raiffeisen Informatik has end-to-end responsibility for IT operations across mission-critical banking workloads. More info on https://www.raiffeiseninformatik.at/ About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara is transforming the way data fuels innovation. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Vantara provides the data foundation the world's leading innovators rely on. Through data storage, infrastructure systems, cloud management and digital expertise, the company helps customers build the foundation for sustainable business growth. To learn more, visit www.hitachivantara.com. About Hitachi, Ltd. Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi aims to be a global leader in continuously transforming social infrastructure through digital, contributing to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates worldwide across four sectors - Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries - as well as a Strategic SIB Business Unit focused on new growth areas. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates value by combining data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Revenues for FY2025 (ended March 31, 2026) totaled 10,586.7 billion yen, with 606 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 290,000 employees worldwide. Visit Hitachi Vantara LLC at www.hitachi.com. HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACT Bastiaan van Amstel Hitachi Vantara [email protected] +31 610 964 023

Hitachi Vantara names Yasser Elgammal ANZ partner director. Tue, 20th Oct 2026 (Today) Hitachi Vantara has appointed Yasser Elgammal as ANZ Channel Partner and Alliances Director, covering Australia and New Zealand. He will lead the company's channel and alliances strategy in the region, with responsibility for partner relationships, routes to market and partner-sourced business. His remit also includes working with customers on AI, data modernisation, hybrid cloud and cyber resilience. The appointment strengthens Hitachi Vantara's regional leadership team as it looks to expand its partner ecosystem across ANZ. Channel partners remain a core route to market for many infrastructure and data suppliers in the region, particularly as customers seek external advice on newer technology deployments. Elgammal brings more than 25 years of experience across sales, alliances and partner management in the technology sector. His background spans enterprise software, cloud, SaaS, cybersecurity, data, AI and infrastructure. Most recently, he was head of sales and vendor alliances at Dicker Data, where he delivered double-digit growth in revenue and profitability, according to Hitachi Vantara. Before that, he was regional sales director at VMware, leading a commercial sales team focused on enterprise accounts. Earlier in his career, Elgammal was national sales manager at APC by Schneider Electric, where he oversaw Australian business strategy, the sales organisation, the partner ecosystem and national go-to-market execution. His experience spans distributors, resellers, service providers, systems integrators and technology alliances. Partner focus Peter Bocquet, senior director, APAC partners and alliances at Hitachi Vantara, outlined the reasons for the hire. "Yasser Elgammal is an exceptionally experienced and trusted leader in alliance and sales management who will support our strategy in working with partners to provide enterprises with solutions that empower them to reduce complexity, drive innovation, and extract maximum value from their data infrastructure," Bocquet said. He linked the appointment to customer demand for AI-related advisory services. "With the advent of AI, customers are looking to partners for their market insight, their technical knowledge and skills, and strategic advice. Elgammal has a successful track record and capability in consulting with customers while also building, scaling and leading partner relationships for a wide range of technology firms. We expect his experience to be invaluable as we scale strategic partner partnerships and support customers with an ecosystem of expert partners to guide them on their AI journey," he said. The comments reflect a broader trend across the enterprise technology market, where vendors are relying on channel partners to help customers combine infrastructure, services and consulting around AI and data projects. In Australia and New Zealand, distributors, resellers and systems integrators have become a key part of that process as businesses reassess data estates, cloud environments and security settings. Regional remit Elgammal said his immediate focus would be on strengthening partner relationships and making it easier for organisations to work with Hitachi Vantara. "There is a significant opportunity to accelerate Hitachi Vantara's partner-led growth across ANZ. Our partners are fundamental to how we take our technology to market, create new opportunities and deliver meaningful outcomes for customers," said Yasser Elgammal, ANZ Channel Partner and Alliances Director at Hitachi Vantara. He added that customers increasingly want partners that can combine technology with services and sector knowledge. "As organisations increase investment in AI, data modernisation, hybrid cloud and cyber resilience, they need more than technology. They need trusted partners that can bring together the right technology, expertise and services to solve complex business challenges. "My priority is to make Hitachi Vantara easier to partner with, deepen our strategic relationships and create more opportunities for our partners to grow alongside us. We already have an exceptional partner base across ANZ, and I'm excited about what we can achieve together. When our partners grow, Hitachi Vantara grows," Elgammal said. Hitachi Vantara is Hitachi's data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary. Its parent company reported revenue of 10,586.7 billion yen for the financial year ended in March, with 606 consolidated subsidiaries and about 290,000 employees worldwide.

Two japanese heavyweights collaborate for physical AI. Key Takeaways * Hitachi and FANUC have formed a joint venture to accelerate "physical AI" - the integration of machine-learning algorithms directly into manufacturing robots. * The collaboration will use Hitachi's HMAX Industry AI platform together with FANUC's AI-enabled robot series (e.g., CR-35iA, R-2000iC). * Initial deployments will occur in Hitachi's own factories, where the system will learn to handle irregular-shaped parts and automate rapid change-overs. * Early benchmarks suggest up to a 30 % reduction in cycle time for mixed-batch operations and a 20 % increase in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Introduction: why physical AI matters. Physical AI blends perception, reasoning, and actuation so that robots can adapt to unstructured shop-floor conditions without human re-programming. In a market projected to exceed $12 billion by 2028 (MarketsandMarkets), the technology promises to close the gap between flexible human labor and high-speed automation. Japan's two industrial titans - Hitachi Ltd. and FANUC Corp. - have announced a strategic partnership aimed at delivering that promise at scale. Partner strengths. Hitachi's HMAX Industry AI Platform. * Processing power: 4 x NVIDIA A100 GPUs per server, delivering 312 TFLOPs FP16. * Edge capability: On-premise inference latency < 20 ms for vision-based tasks. * Data ecosystem: Integrated with Hitachi Vantara's Lumada data lake, supporting up to 10 PB of sensor streams. FANUC's ai-enabled robot portfolio. | Model | Payload | Axes | Integrated AI | Typical Cycle Time (Pick-Place) | | CR-35iA (collaborative) | 35 kg | 6 | Vision-AI module (2 MP camera) | 1.2 s | | R-2000iC (industrial) | 200 kg | 6 | FANUC iRVision AI (4 MP) | 0.8 s | | M-710iC (high-speed) | 10 kg | 6 | Edge-AI controller (Intel Xeon) | 0.5 s | How the collaboration works. * Data Capture - Sensors on FANUC robots stream video, force, and joint-state data to Hitachi's HMAX edge nodes. * Model Training - HMAX leverages its GPU cluster to train convolutional-recurrent networks that recognize part geometry and predict optimal grasp points. * Deployment - Trained models are pushed back to the robot controllers for real-time inference, enabling autonomous pick-and-place of irregular parts. * Continuous Learning - Production change-overs generate fresh data, which HMAX ingests to refine models without halting the line. Pilot use cases. * Irregular-shaped component handling: In a trial at Hitachi's Niigata plant, the system successfully sorted 12 mm-to-45 mm mixed-size metal blanks with a 96 % success rate, compared with 68 % for conventional PLC logic. * Dynamic change-over: When the product mix switched from 100 mm to 150 mm shafts, the AI reduced re-tooling time from 45 min to under 12 min. Industry impact. * Productivity: Early field data indicate a 30 % cut in cycle time for mixed-batch operations. * Quality: AI-driven vision reduces mis-picks, lowering scrap rates by 0.8 % (equivalent to a 15 % improvement). * Scalability: Because the AI runs on Hitachi's edge hardware, the solution can be replicated across multiple sites without reliance on cloud latency. Comparison with competing approaches. | Approach | Hardware Dependency | Latency (ms) | Typical OEE Gain | Required Expertise | | Traditional PLC + Fixed Vision | Low (PLC only) | 150-200 | 5-10 % | Medium | | Cloud-Centric AI (e.g., Azure IoT) | High (stable broadband) | 80-120 | 15-20 % | High | | Hitachi-FANUC Edge AI | Moderate (edge GPU) | < 20 | 20-30 % | Low-Medium | Future roadmap. * 2025: Expand to Hitachi's automotive component lines in Tokyo, targeting 40 % OEE uplift. * 2026: Introduce self-optimizing motion planning for FANUC's high-speed M-710iC series, aiming for sub-0.4 s pick-place cycles. * Beyond 2027: Open the AI platform to third-party OEMs via a SaaS model, leveraging Hitachi's global data-center footprint. Bottom line. The Hitachi-FANUC alliance represents a pragmatic step toward truly autonomous factories. By marrying Hitachi's high-performance HMAX AI stack with FANUC's proven robot hardware, the partnership delivers measurable gains in speed, flexibility, and quality - key metrics that manufacturers chase in today's competitive landscape. As the pilot programs scale, the joint solution is poised to become a benchmark for "physical AI" deployments worldwide.