Tommy Wald, BBA 1983
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President and CEO, RIATA Technologies Inc.
Although many students understand the importance of setting goals in college, many often just go through the motions. This was not the case for Tommy Wald, 1983 graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a dual BBA degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) and Accounting. During college, Tommy was reading Inc. magazine’s yearly list of the top 500 fastest growing privately held companies and vowed that he would someday make that list. His most memorable moment occurred in 2000 when his company, RIATA Technologies Inc. (formerly NetForce Technologies Inc.), made that list for the first time. He said, “I always followed the list and decided that when I made it [on that list] that I had finally arrived. Then I came to realize that it is not just about getting there, but how long you can last.” His story began when he came to UT-Austin in 1978.
Originally planning to major in accounting, Tommy took an MIS (known then as DPA) entry-level elective course in BASIC and realized that he had a knack for programming punch cards. He decided to double in MIS and Accounting because he saw that computers were going to change the face of business. Upon graduating, he was attracted to IT consulting and joined Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. as a senior consultant. Then, after a stint as Director of Operations for Select Marketing (currently Harte-Hanks), his entrepreneurial “bug” kicked in.
The son of a store owner, Tommy saw firsthand the rewards of being self employed, what he calls “the most satisfying thing you can do.” After earning his “street MBA” from working in the Big 8, he used his consulting and report writing skills to start the company BackUp-BackUp out of his house in 1993. At that time, the new 40 gigabyte hard drives were becoming too large to back up with floppy disks, so they took portable units to companies to provide backup solutions. BackUp-BackUp started doing larger projects and got into networking, eventually expanding into Novell Networking in the mid-1990s. That change led to the creation of his network support company NETForce Technologies, which made the Inc 500 list two years in a row and was rated the fastest growing Austin company for five years. NETForce was re-launched as RIATA Technologies and currently focuses on Internet security and Tier 1 solutions. Today, RIATA is a firm of 23 people with $6 million in revenue. In his role as President and CEO, Tommy said the most rewarding aspect is the opportunity to create a positive work environment for his employees and help them provide for themselves and their families.
What advice does Tommy have for current MIS majors? (1) Never underestimate the value of good writing and presentation skills, (2) focus on learning the business—then the technology, and (3) building a good team is paramount to success. He says that an MIS professional’s real distinction in the marketplace comes from the ability to understand the business of IT. “There are a lot of talented programmers, but the business route offers more opportunities. CIOs want technical people who can understand ROI and corporate governance. You will find a lot of change out there, so take as many electives as you can to focus on the business side of IT.” Tommy will likely continue on his route of entrepreneurship and continue to create opportunities in IT.
When he isn’t busy starting and running successful companies, Tommy volunteers in his community and church, enjoys music, and keeps healthy by jogging and working out. He continues to keep in touch with friends from the DPMA (now MISA), and even does business with some of them now.
