PARIS, FR, 4/26/2004 – Pick a number from one to six. Would you bet your business on a roll of the dice? Would you play Russian roulette with one bullet in a six-chamber gun? Executives in Europe and the United States are doing just that, according to a series of surveys by Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR).

Approximately two-thirds of top-tier executives at large U.S. companies and nearly 80 percent of the European executives surveyed consider the information that is available to them for making business decisions to be somewhat or not very accurate. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. executives and over half of their counterparts at European companies said that the lack of "right time information" has cost their company money.

"Remarkably, many companies continue to roll the dice when making decisions because they lack a solid foundation of enterprise data," said Herman Wimmer, vice president of Teradata for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "A company's information is a unique source of competitive advantage since it is a byproduct of its business operations and cannot be copied by competitors."

Yet, over half of the respondents in both the United States and Europe say a key reason for inaccurate or untimely information is a lack of data sharing across the enterprise. Over 90 percent of the executives in both the United States (96 percent) and Europe (94 percent) said they are forced to search for more information or try to reconcile different sources when making key business decisions.

"Corporate decision-makers are under tremendous pressure to meet market challenges and regulatory requirements. And yet many are making critical decisions with information that is inaccurate and incomplete," said Wimmer. "Executives need a single source of data for decisions. A centralized data warehouse is the key to making better, faster business decisions as Teradata customers, global leaders among them, already know."

Executives of both the United States (64 percent) and Europe (72 percent) see faster decision-making as the key benefit of having a single view of the business.

The 2003-2004 Teradata Report on Enterprise Decision-Making

There is a developing crisis in decision-making throughout the world. The cause is the deluge of data that businesses and governments rely upon to determine how to improve customer service, marketing, revenues and profits, corporate accountability, compliance with laws and regulations as well as logistics and security.

This report is based on a research study commissioned by Teradata,® a division of NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR). Findings reveal, for a second year, that getting to the right data at the right time and analyzing it fast enough to turn it into smart decisions remains a challenge for U.S. businesses. Other studies conducted in the past two years with international business and government participants show similar results.

In this report are findings such as:

• 73 percent of executives say the daily number of decisions continues to increase
• Almost all say data is increasing; 59 percent say data is doubling or tripling each year
• 56 percent say decisions are more complex than a year ago
• 53 percent say there is less time to make decisions
• More than 75 percent say that the top four casualties of poor decision-making are profits, revenue, a company's reputation and employee morale
• Respondents cited two keys to good decision-making – clear corporate vision to set a foundation for decision-making across the organization along with integration and sharing of information across the enterprise
• Enterprise data warehouse technology will improve many facets of business
• 59 percent say that data marts contribute to corporate governance problems
• Real-time decision support, defined as a few seconds to one hour, is important, said a majority of executives

Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), is the global technology leader in enterprise data warehousing, analytic applications and data warehousing services. Organizations around the world rely on the power of Teradata's award-winning solutions (www.teradata.com) to get a single, integrated view of their business to enhance decision-making, customer relationships and profitability.

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® data warehouses and IT services provide Relationship Technology™ solutions that maximize the value of customer interactions and help organizations create a stronger competitive position. NCR (www.ncr.com) is based in Dayton, Ohio.

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