Teradata CEO Mike Koehler discussions spinoff from NCR, competition
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
LAS VEGAS — It has been one year since Teradata Corp. split from NCR Corp. to become an independent company.
Since then, the Miamisburg, Ohio data warehousing and analytics company has seen a bevy of new competitors flock to its market, has watched its stock price shrink from $30 to about $16.50 a share, and was recently the focus of Wall Street speculation about a possible takeover by software giant SAP.
At Teradata's annual technology conference for business partners here this week, CEO Mike Koehler took time to answer some questions about his company, which has about 5,900 employees in Ohio, Atlanta, San Diego and elsewhere.
Q. What have been the highlights and the lowlights of the split with NCR?
A. As far as the spinoff goes, I'd have to say the good news is it's been very uneventful. And any time you're going through something of this magnitude ... you want it to be uneventful.
Q. When you split, you said among the biggest benefits would be the ability to move more quickly and control your own destiny. Has that happened?
A. We've released more (new products) in the last nine or 10 months or a year since we spun from NCR than we'd had over the past several years. So there has been some pretty good evidence of us being a little nimbler and more aggressive ... innovating faster. That's been very positive, not just in the market but internally inside the company as well.
Q. You've also attracted a lot more competition lately, with Oracle and Hewlett-Packard (led by former NCR and Teradata chief Mark Hurd) teaming up in the data warehousing business just a few weeks ago, (and) Microsoft moving in as well.
A. Yep. Yep. But the competition is a good thing.
Q. Maybe. But when Oracle announced it was getting into the data warehousing and appliance business, your stock took a big hit from investors worried about the growing competition. Should employees and shareholders be worried (about your stock)?
A. (Laughing) There have been a couple other things going on too (with the stock market). I think in today's environment it's hard to read. I can't make a comment on that.
Q. What about the other end of the spectrum? A month or so earlier, your stock went up on speculation about (a possible takeover) by SAP. Is your company for sale, or would you be interested in selling?
A. (Laughing) Teradata wasn't spun off from NCR to be sold. We have a brilliant future ahead of us.
Q. There were some questions about your research and development spending, but it sounds like you are doing some interesting R&D. How important has R&D and finding new products become in this business, especially given the new competition?
A. It's the most important thing. Intellectual property is at the core of being in this industry. It's kind of like you can't have an automobile dealership without having a car.
Q. You have a new headquarters building in the Dayton area — Miamisburg, yet you and other executives are in Atlanta and at your R&D facilities in San Diego. Is that still working out?
A. Yeah. We've operated this way for probably the last six-seven years ... having headquarters in Dayton, Ohio and half the management team in Atlanta, the rest in San Diego.
Q. How often are you in the Dayton area?
A. I'm there at least once a month ... (for) two, three, four days.
