SAS Institute Company Brief










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Company Brief
SAS Institute

by Sherry Kercher

Docid: 00016540

Publication Date: 2009

Report Type: VENDOR

Preview

SAS Institute is one of the world’s largest software vendors, delivering
an extensive line of statistical analytics and business intelligence
software. While SAS has a strong presence in the financial services
sector, it also targets verticals such as government, healthcare,
communications, retail, and education. A privately-held company, SAS
employs a long-term strategy of focusing on customers, product research,
and a positive work environment. This company brief provides details on
the SAS’s Institute’s history and recent activity.

Report Contents:

Fast Facts

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Name: SAS
Headquarters
100 SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513-2414
Phone: (919) 677-8000
Toll-Free: (800) 727-0025
Fax: (919) 677-4444
Web: http://www.sas.com/
Type of Vendor: Software
Employees: 14,158 (2016)
Founded: 1976
Service Areas: Global


History

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SAS Institute, a recognized leader in business intelligence and
analytics, software, is one of the largest software companies in the
world. SAS, short for “Statistical Analytics System,” offers analysis
software that is used at more than 50,000 business, government, and
university sites in 126 countries. A privately-held company, in its 2014
financial year, SAS recorded revenues of more than $3 billion USD.

SAS was formed in Raleigh, NC, in 1976 by president and CEO Dr. James
Goodnight and senior vice president John Sall. Shortly after its founding,
the company released its base software product and established an alliance
with IBM.  In 1980, SAS established its current
headquarters in Cary, NC as well as European headquarters in the UK. 
In 1982, the company moved its European headquarters to Heidelberg,
Germany, and opened its first Asia/Pacific regional subsidiaries in
Australia and New Zealand. The company also established a partnership with
Digital Equipment. In 1983, SAS opened its first Asian subsidiary in
Singapore and expanded its European presence, establishing offices in
France and Denmark.

The next year, SAS branched beyond mainframes to develop software for
minicomputers. The company also acquired SYSTEM 2000 Data Management
software and released a project management software package. In 1985, it
forged an alliance with Hewlett-Packard; opened subsidiaries in Hong Kong
and Osaka, Japan; and launched software for econometrics, time series
analysis, interactive matrix programming, and linking PCs to mainframes.
SAS also released the initial version of SAS System for PC DOS. SAS formed
a partnership with Microsoft in 1986, and opened additional subsidiaries
in Japan, Norway, Malaysia, and Sweden. It also released statistical
quality improvement software. In 1987, SAS launched subsidiaries in Italy
and the Netherlands, as well as partnered with Apple Computer. It also
re-wrote SAS System in C programming language and introduced interfaces
for DB2 and SQL-DS data bases. The company formed an alliance with Sun
Microsystems in 1988, and announced its support for UNIX-based hardware.
It also established subsidiaries in Canada and Finland. 1989 saw the
introduction of JMP software for the Apple Macintosh, as well as the
creation of a joint software program with IBM. It also started providing
consulting services.

 In 1990, SAS partnered with Intel, and established subsidiaries in
China, Korea, the Philippines, Spain, and Switzerland. The company issued
its initial vertical market offering for the biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals industries in 1992, In 1993, SAS released software for
creating customized executive information systems. The next year, SAS
established offices in Austria and Portugal, as well as regional offices
in Boston, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Nashville, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. The firm also released new tools for data
visualization modeling. In 1995, the company established offices in South
Africa, Thailand, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, as well as regional
offices in Cleveland, Hartford, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Phoenix.

In 1996, SAS Web-enabled its software and formed alliances with Price
Waterhouse and KPMG Peat Marwick LLP. The following year, it bought Abacus
Concepts’ Statview software, a statistical analysis program geared toward
the life sciences market. In 1998, SAS allied with business and
information technology consulting from American Management Systems to
provide customized data warehousing and decision support systems to their
clients. In 2000, the company launched its Worldwide Software Services
Operations in Pune, India, as well as teamed with Nokia to WAP-enable its
business intelligence software. In 2001, SAS acquired UK-based campaign
management software maker Intrinsic, and launched IntelliVisor, a hosted
CRM solution targeted at retailers. It bought analytic management software
provider ABC Technologies in 2002, and acquired Marketmax, RiskAdvisory,
and OpRisk Analytics in 2003. It acquired marketing resource management
vendor Veridiem in 2006 for an undisclosed amount, and Teragram and IDeaS
Revenue Optimization in 2008. In 2010, it entered an agreement with
Accenture to jointly offer predictive analytics software for specific
industries. In 2012, the company purchased cloud-based ad server
technology firm aiMatch. In 2015, the company launched a new partner
program in order to more closely ally with other vendors. In September
2017, SAS and ICMS renewed their alliance to promote the use of analytics
by local governments in such areas as public health, utilities
management, fleet maintenance, and law enforcement. In 2018, SAP outlined
guiding principles for artificial intelligence and announced the creation
of an external AI ethics advisory panel. In 2019, SAS revealed that it is
investing $1 billion in AI over the next three years through software,
education, expert services, and other initiatives. In 2020, SAS reported
that it is committing to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It
is joining the global movement of companies who are aligning their
business with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees
Celsius.

Key Executives

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SAS Institute’s key executives include:

  • Jim Goodnight – Chief Executive
    Officer
  • John Sall – Co-Founder and Executive Vice President
  • Patricia Brown – Executive Vice President, Chief
    Legal Officer
  • Trish Dowty – Executive Vice President and Chief
    Corporate Services Officer
  • Don Parker – Executive Vice President and Financial
    Advisor to the CEO
  • Jenn Mann – Executive Vice President and Chief Human
    Resources Officer
  • Jay Upchurch – Executive Vice President and Chief
    Information Officer
  • Wm. David Davis – Executive Vice President and Chief
    Financial Officer

Major Products

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SAS provides data mining and data warehousing software as well as
specific industry-related software and support packages. Among the
industries SAS targets with its offerings are:

  • Aerospace
  • Automotive
  • Banking
  • Casinos
  • Communications
  • Education
  • Financial Services
  • Government
  • Healthcare
  • Health Insurance
  • Hospitality and Entertainment
  • Insurance
  • Life Sciences
  • Manufacturing
  • Media
  • Oil and Gas
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Retail
  • Utilities

Table 1 details SAS’s core product areas.

Table 1. SAS’s Core Product Areas
Product Area Description
Analytics SAS Analytics can be applied to business
challenges across many industries and departments. Components
include:

  • Data and Text Mining
  • Data Visualization
  • Content Categorization
  • Forecasting
  • Model Management and Deployment
  • Operations Research
  • Quality Improvement
  • Statistics
Business Intelligence SAS business intelligence software is
designed to integrate data from across an enterprise and deliver
reporting and analysis. Components include:

  • Enterprise Business Intelligence
  • Business Visualization
Compliance SAS delivers software to help
organizations meet either national or industrial compliance
regulations. Products address rules such as:

  • Anti-money laundering regulations
  • Basel II
  • Fair banking regulations
  • MiFID requirements
  • Sarbanes-Oxley
  • FDA’s 21 CFR Part 11
Customer Relationship Management SAS’ CRM tools provide users with
knowledge – based on customer data and interactions – to analyze,
create, and improve customer strategies. Components include:

  • Campaign management
  • Customer experience analytics
  • E-mail/mobile marketing
  • Event-triggered marketing
  • Marketing mix analysis
  • Marketing optimization
  • Marketing performance management
  • Marketing resource management
  • Real-time decision management
  • Web analytics
Data Integration Data integration systems are designed
to improve the flow of enterprise data. Components include:

  • Enterprise Data Integration
  • Data Access Engines
  • Data Quality
Financial Intelligence SAS’ Financial Intelligence software
provides a view into an enterprise’s financial data, and it offers
platforms to manage finance operations. Components include:

  • SAS Activity-Based Management
  • SAS Financial Management
  • SAS Profitability Management
  • SAS Strategic Performance Management
Foundation Tools SAS foundation products, available as
individual software modules, serve as the foundation for SAS
software. Modules include:

  • Base SAS
  • SAS AppDev Studio
  • SAS/CONNECT
  • SAS Enterprise Guide
  • SAS Information Delivery Portal
  • SAS Integration Technologies
  • SAS Grid Computing
  • SAS Intelligence Storage
Fraud Protection and Prevention SAS provides a Fraud Framework for
groups in industries such as banking, insurance, government, and
health insurance. Components include:

  • Detection and Alert Generation
  • Alert Management
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Case Management
Human Capital Intelligence SAS Human Capital Intelligence helps
organizations plan and optimize their work force. Components
include:

  • SAS Human Capital Management
  • SAS Talent Scorecard
  • Human capital budgeting and planning
  • Human capital predictive analysis and retention monitoring
  • SAS Human Capital Management Adapter for SAP
IT Management SAS IT Management uses SAS IT
intelligence to optimize IT resources, services, and financial
impact.

  • IT Charge Management
  • IT Resource Management
  • IT Service Level Management
OnDemand Solutions SAS provides SaaS and hosted versions
of its software. SaaS offerings include:

  • SAS OnDemand: Campaign Management
  • SAS OnDemand: Drug Development
  • SAS OnDemand for K-12
  • SAS OnDemand for Academics
  • SAS OnDemand for Professional Education
  • SAS EVAAS for K-12

Hosted versions include:

  • SAS OnDemand: Marketing Automation
  • SAS OnDemand: Web Analytics
  • SAS OnDemand: Marketing Mix Advisor
  • SAS OnDemand: Business Intelligence
  • SAS OnDemand: Digital Marketing
  • SAS OnDemand: Drug Development
  • SAS OnDemand: Physician Targeting
  • SAS OnDemand: Interaction Management
  • SAS OnDemand: Marketing Optimization
  • SAS OnDemand: Anti-Money Laundering
Performance Management SAS’ performance management software
provides ways to define corporate direction, measure and handle
progress, and garner knowledge to discover opportunities.
Risk Management SAS provides risk management software
to secure data and to monitor operations. SAS tailors its software
for vertical industries such as banking and financial services,
communications, energy, government, and insurance.
Supply Chain Intelligence SAS offers analysis tools to help
companies gain insight into the entire supply chain. Components
include:

  • Supplier Intelligence
  • SAS Demand-Driven Forecasting
  • SAS Quality Lifecycle Analysis
  • SAS Predictive Asset Maintenance
  • SAS Service Intelligence
Sustainability Management SAS for Sustainability Management is
designed to help organizations predict and respond to
environmental, social, and economic risks and opportunities.

Major Competitors

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SAS’s primary rivals include:

Recent Activity

In July 2020, SAS launched four new service offerings and updates to SAS
Customer Intelligence 360 with the goal of helping brands expand on the
value delivered through analytics with a hybrid marketing approach. These
new offerings include SAS 360 Digital Insight Service, SAS 360 Customer
Insight Service, SAS 360 Attribution Service, and SAS 360 Data Activation
Service. It also launched SAS Customer Intelligence 360 with updates to
help marketers adapt to current market conditions. In June, SAS allied
with PMG to establish Cloud Acceleration Centers with focuses in North
America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. They are working together to help
accelerate the move to the Cloud for SAS clients. In June, it also allied
with Microsoft through a technology and go-to-market strategic
partnership. They are migrating SAS’s analytical products and industry
offerings onto Microsoft Azure as the preferred cloud provider for the SAS
Cloud. In May, SAS launched COVID-19 Scientific Literature Search and Text
Analysis, which is a free visual text analysis environment that uses
artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to search tens of
thousands of research articles on COVID-19 to assist scientists.

About the Author

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Sherry Kercher is an editor for Faulkner Information
Services. She holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information
Science, and tracks and writes about storage, communication networks and
equipment, and Internet technologies.

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