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Hitachi Data Systems is looking to expand its business consulting practice and bring more partners on-board.

Director of consulting and solutions, Michael Cunningham, said the increased focus on green technology and the industry skills shortage were areas of concern.

"The compound growth of data is averaging 50 per cent and 30 per cent of datacentre energy consumption is in storage," he said. Cunningham also noted a rapid increase in the need for rapid discovery capabilities within environments.

Hitachi's consulting practice had been set up a year ago, he said, as a value-added service helping clients achieve better investments in areas not immediately related to storage.

The consulting team includes a barrister to focus on compliance issues, a defence veteran of 20 years, and an external storage manager. Hitachi has also recently brought Matt Povey into the team as an expert on the broadcast industry, and Chris Foote as a principal business consultant with experience in service delivery and process optimisation.

The two new recruits brings the team's total headcount to six but there are plans to expand this further with experts in environmental management, risk and compliance, telecommunications, and resources. The focus for the next 12 months would be to engage channel organisations.

"Some partners are ready to offer value-add services, and we're committed to doing the knowledge transfer to build the capacity within those partners so they can offer the same value," Cunningham said.