Get started with drive

Good morning Berlin – it’s conference time. As exhausting as these days tend to be, they are certainly exciting, and I simply love them! I already had the chance to talk to some of the conference participants yesterday during our traditional welcome party, this year at Potsdamer Platz, in the heart of Berlin. On my way back to the hotel I found myself whistling a simple tune that I identified as “Wind of Change” by the Scorpions. Pure coincidence? I don’t think so. Wind of change was the hymn of the ’89 revolution and Berlin was its epicenter. Everyone knew that after the wall had come down the world was subject to radical change, and people were positive about it.

Today, many industries are in profound transformation processes. In contrast to last spring, when everyone was just wondering how to best weather the economic storm, experts in business and IT this year are displaying a kind of “future’s in the air” attitude. It seems that everybody is willing to ride the tiger. Companies are out to fully exploit the potential of cutting-edge analytical technologies to manage the change that comes both from economic challenges and new business models fuelled by technical progress. And, as Hermann Wimmer and Mike Koehler will point out at their opening sessions later this morning, we are in pole position to support these efforts. Teradata has proven that it can help companies to grow even in tough economic environments and will continue to do so – wherever the ride will take us.

Yesterday, we started out riding the “Trabi”, the cult vehicle of the former GDR that we took for our sightseeing tour through Berlin.

I do hope though that the cars of the future won’t have much in common with it. By the way: amidst a fundamental ongoing change process, the automotive industry is a remarkable example of new drive in every sense of the word. A lot of ideas that have been around for a while are now on the verge of becoming reality. And this is not only about innovative engineering but about entirely new mobility concepts, influenced by new web and mobile communications technologies – a “smart-phonisation” of individual cars and traffic management. Looking out of my window I find that is some way away yet, at least here in Berlin. But for now, let’s get started – with drive!