Summit Notebook

from MediaFile:

Tech Summit Q&A, day 2: Symantec CEO talks privacy

Online security was a theme on day two of the 2011 Reuters Global Technology Summit.

Enrique Salem, the CEO of software security maker Symantec, suggested ways consumers can protect their privacy:

Tech M&A was also on the table.

Neil Rimer of Index Ventures gave his two cents on Microsoft buying Skype.

Reuters: "Does the Microsoft-Skype deal make sense?"

Rimer: "Yes, I think so. I think it is a phenomenal property that still is relatively underexploited. And a lot of the most promising plans that we had when we were investors in Skype still haven’t been carried out, so I still think there is a ton of opportunities ahead"

Alphabet-shaped recovery? Try bathtub-shaped

We’ve all heard discussions on what letter of the alphabet the economic recovery will look like. Will it be “V” shaped — as in, a sharp plummeting, followed by an equally sharp upswing? Or more “U” shaped — a downturn followed by a flat period before the recovery starts? Is the lightness we’re witnessing in the economy the mid-point in a more extended recovery process, mirroring the letter “W”? And heaven forbid, let’s not even think we might be stuck in an “L” shaped economy, with no near or medium-term hope of improvement.

We asked the chief executives of Sybase and Symantec, our first two guests at the Reuters Global Technology Summit, what they thought the recovery graph might look like.

Sybase CEO John Chen said he remains cautious about the overall economic outlook despite talk of a “green shoots” rebound and the idea that tech spending has hit a bottom. So it’s unlikely to be a V-shaped recovery or even a W-shaped recovery, Chen said. He think the economy is going through a U-shaped recovery, although it might be a year or more before we begin to climb up the right side of the “U.”

Symantec CEO Enrique Salem discarded the alphabet soup comparisons entirely in favor of even more creative analogies. “A bathtub shape? Or an Olympic pool-shape?” Salem said.

A bathtub-shaped recovery graph is similar to a U-shape, except the period of flat growth is longer. As for what an Olympic-pool shaped recovery might look like, Google was unable to provide an explanation (Salem was probably kidding about that one, but I am no economist, so don’t blame me for not knowing).

Whatever the recovery’s shape, Salem said he’s confident customers will continue to buy security products.

Meanwhile, Bernstein’s IT hardware analyst Toni Sacconaghi said the economy will be slow and flat for an extended period before getting back on track. Kind of like the dreaded “L” shape, even? “I can’t even think of a letter,” Sacconaghi said.

It’s mating season again for Tech and Telecoms

Hear that distinctive call of the software maker wooing its kind? See the mobile carrier flirting with its rival in the corner? Our guests at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit keep talking about consolidation in their industries.

Some of them expect their markets to winnow out to a handful of players. Others say slim valuations may give their companies more reasons to seek joint manufacturing partnerships. Either way, it’s hard to ignore the romance. Here are some of the things we have heard this week:

I’m not so sure that companies go away as much as there is manufacturing capacity and R&D alliances. I think that’s what we’re going to see as opposed to the absorption of companies. … I think we’re going to see several of those. Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter

I do believe you’re going to see continued consolidation in this industry. That should not be surprising to anybody. Over the long term, networks are commodities … what you need is more and more scale and more and more cost efficiencies. Virgin Mobile USA CEO Dan Schulman

I expect the rate of consolidation in our industry to increase. There will be very few big IT companies … I absolutely believe you will be down to less than 10 big companies. Symantec COO Enrique Salem

(Photo of penguins in courtship ritual from Reuters)

Symantec: We protect, you decide

Some companies have thousands of ways to gauge their performance. Symantec figures it out on two fingers: loyalty and market share.

When asked how Symantec measures customer loyalty, Chief Operating Officer and President Enrique Salem told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York on Monday:

Here is his answer:

We work with a company called Satmetrix, and it’s called the net promoter score. It’s a real simple metric. You ask one question: Would you recommend Symantec? And so, if they say yes, then you give it a score — 1 to 10. If you’re a 9 to 10, you’re a promoter. If you’re 6 or lower, you’re a detractor. If you take promoters minus detractors, that gives you a net promoter score. It’s not a complex thing. If you worked at a company, it’s “would you recommend your friends to work there.” If you did, you’d be a promoters, if you didn’t , you’d be a detractor.

We can then go and look at the groups of folks who say no and say “why not?” And when they say no, there are specific reasons. And when they say yes, we’d like to figure out why you say yes. And it usually [is] innovative products, quality or great support. And and when they say no, it comes down to quality, support or ease of doing business. So at the end of the day we are driving those two metrics – loyalty and market share.

It’s simple, really. Almost like Ross Perot explaining the deficit.