The Teradata 2002-2003 Report on Enterprise Decision-Making Reveals Executives Make More Decisions, with Less Time, Flooded in Data

DAYTON, Ohio, Nov. 7, 2002 -- Seventy-three percent of 113 top-tier executives queried at U.S. companies with revenues exceeding $500 million revealed that the number of decisions they make is on the rise. At the same time, 54 percent reported that the amount of data is at least doubling, and 55 percent say there is less time to make decisions. The findings were released today in The 2002-2003 Teradata Report on Enterprise Decision-Making.

According to Ruth Fornell, chief marketing officer of Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), "Making decisions in time to control the performance of the business, including the outcome of profits, customer loyalty, margins or any other key measurement, is getting harder for many executives. They suffer from information overload and often can't interpret data in a timely manner."

Other survey findings reveal that the top three casualties of poor decision-making are profits (80 percent), revenue (78 percent) and employee morale (73 percent).

Of those who reported there's less time to make decisions, 55 percent said they "missed opportunities," 29 percent reported their "competitive position" had been negatively affected and 26 percent said it hurt "profitability."

A key culprit in poor decision-making is the housing of data in separate silos (or data marts) throughout an enterprise.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said their data is stored in 11 to more than 100 separate silos. Another 35 percent cannot estimate the number of data marts at their companies.

"If a company does not even know how much data it has, or where all its data is housed, it adds up to `data dysfunction.' The company cannot tap the right data at the right time. Our survey also shows that 68 percent admit that data marts contribute to problems in corporate governance," added Fornell.

Queried companies understand that data warehousing can provide timely access to the right data for decision support. Eighty-seven percent said data warehousing "will improve long-term competitive position/growth." Eighty percent cited "improvements to customer service." Seventy-nine percent said "company profitability" would improve.

"Data marts can be unlocked, and timely decision support can be accessed. Data warehousing is an answer. Companies need solutions that deliver the right data at the right time to make the right decisions. These decisions do not just reside at the top of the organization. Important decisions that can affect corporate profits, customer loyalty and even supply chain efficiency are increasingly being made at many levels of an organization. Getting the right tools in the hands of all decision-makers empowers the entire organization," she concluded.

About The Teradata 2002-2003 Report on Enterprise Decision-Making

The Teradata study was fielded by BuzzBack online market research Sept. 17-22, 2002. One hundred thirteen executives were queried who hold the title of "director" or higher at U.S. companies with annual revenues exceeding $500 million. Eighty percent of respondents work at companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion.

Detailed results are included in The 2002-2003 Teradata Enterprise Decision-Making Report, available in the media center at www.teradata.com (http://www.teradata.com/mediacenter/edm.asp).

About Teradata Division

Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), is the global leader in enterprise data warehousing and enterprise analytic technologies and services. For more information, visit www.teradata.com.

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) is a leading global technology company helping businesses build stronger relationships with their customers. NCR's ATMs, retail systems, Teradata(R) data warehouses and IT services provide Relationship Technology(TM) solutions that maximize the value of customer interactions. Based in Dayton, Ohio, NCR (www.ncr.com) employs approximately 30,500 people worldwide.

NCR and Teradata are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.

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      CONTACT: Teradata Division
               NCR Corporation
               Dian Terry, 937/445-2225
               dian.terry@ncr.com