Teradata and SAS going steady

Teradata, the datawarehouse software specialist with its own NYSE listing as of a week ago, has announced a strategic partnership with business intelligence (BI) vendor SAS.

The two companies' products will get closer technical integration - including a joint centre of excellence - and benefit from joint marketing and sales pushes, the companies said at Partners, Teradata's user group conference in Las Vegas this week.

The SAS BI software will run inside Teradata enterprise datawarehousing environments; it has been running this way for a while for some customers.

Jim Davis, SAS senior VP and CMO, said: "It has gone better than anyone could have expected in terms of co-operation."

Warner Home Video, which has been working with SAS and Teradata in this way, has improved its forecasting model so that it now takes under one and a half hours instead of 36, the companies said.

Dan Vesset, VP business analytics at analyst house IDC, said: "This partnership of two former competitors brings together the respective strengths of both companies. In-database analytics is a key development that promises to improve efficiency and effectiveness of business analytic solutions."

Both vendors expect to continue to partner with others in this space and said that deals such as the one that will see SAP buy Business Objects only makes partnerships more important.

Other news saw the release of Teradata 12 and Teradata Relationship Manager Version 6, as well as data management and datawarehouse support services.

Teradata was previously a unit of NCR but was floated on the NYSE last Monday, just over 20 years since it first IPO'd as an independent vendor.

At a press conference, Teradata CEO Mike Koehler explained that one reason for the split was "because we are basically two different" types of company. Teradata has its datawarehousing focus while NCR - for a while in the 1990s itself a unit of AT&T - is known for self-service, and, for instance, it is a major player in banking ATMs.

He repeatedly played down chances of Teradata now being acquired by another large vendor or itself attempting a sizeable takeover, stressing an independence that "allows us to optimise our business" and concentrate on "organic growth".

Come back later this week for silicon.com's interview with Teradata CEO Mike Koehler, in which he discusses the spin-off from NCR and future growth.