Teradata has remained a steadfast presence in the data world. Built on industrial strength database and massively parallel processing (MPP) that remains an industry standard, Teradata became synonymous with big iron and big data. Teradata has augmented an ongoing emphasis on enterprise data warehouse decision engines with a newer focus on analytics.

Teradata chief technology officer, Stephen Brobst, and senior vice president and general manager, Michael Koehler, share their company's focus and what it means for business landscape.

Brobst indicates that the growth area in data warehousing is in operational intelligence and enabling real-time enterprise with enterprise-wide business intelligence, or "active data warehousing." He explains that while a passive data warehouse focuses on reporting, an active data warehouse provides operational intelligence for execution of business strategy. And, says that Teradata customers are "focused on financial management, not financial reporting."

Koehler, meanwhile, points out that the company's business grew by 12% in 2004 and 9% last year. He believes that growth is because customers see a "return on (their) investment each step of the way." Most of Teradata's customers start small and grow.

Brobst discusses the importance of scalability and analytics, pointing out that Teradata analytic applications focus on customer relationship management, finance and performance management, profitability analytics, retail, demand chain management, and supply chain management. Plus, Koehler notes industry-specific solutions that allow customers to understand data, find new ways to leverage that data, and determine needs for new applications. Koehler notes "we understand that the way our customers derive value from detailed enterprise data varies by industry segment, and that each segment has unique business improvement opportunities."