SAS Malaysia records RM49.1mil revenue for 2013

• 38.1% increase in new software revenue; 13.4% growth in total software revenue
• SAS Malaysia’s annual software revenue growth mainly fuelled by oil & gas industry

BUSINESS analytics software and services company SAS Institute said it recorded revenue of US$3.02 billion in 2013,adding that this marked its 38th straight year of record revenue.
 
Its local subsidiary SAS Malaysia was no slouch either, recording a 38.1% increase in new software revenue to RM13.9 million and a 13.4% growth in total software revenue to RM41.1 million, according to the company.
 
SAS Malaysia recorded total revenue of RM49.1 million versus RM36.2 million in 2012, SAS said in a statement.
 
Total software revenue includes revenue from new software deals plus that from on-going software licensing and maintenance fees, while total revenue further includes revenue from services and other streams, the company said.
 
The SAS Business Analytics platform posted the highest increase in sales to RM8.4 million, while revenue from its risk management platform went up to RM3.5 million.
 
[RM1 = US$0.30]
 
Its risk management solution is based on SAS software’s core functionality which covers the entire spectrum of risk types, including market, credit, and liquidity risk, the company said.
 
“The strong growth recorded on the sales of analytics solutions continues to demonstrate that data is an asset of growing importance to organisations,” said SAS Malaysia managing director Andrew Tan (pic).
 
“Over the last two years, SAS has delivered ground-breaking analytics technology which unlocks the value of data and we are poised to grow to new heights on the back of robust demand for SAS Malaysia’s powerful analytics tools – particularly in the business analytics platform – both from the public and private sectors,” he added.
 
SAS Malaysia’s annual software revenue growth was mainly fuelled by the oil and gas industry where streamlined, automated processes were introduced to help the industry predict and prevent machinery failure, as well as make strategic decisions faster and more accurately than their competitors.
 
SAS’ oil and gas software provides an integrated energy portfolio and risk management framework ranging from energy trading and risk management, credit risk management and trade surveillance, to regulatory compliance reporting, the company said.
 
Another key driver for SAS Malaysia’s revenue growth was the demand for analytics via SAS Visual Analytics, a new data visualisation software that brings business threats and opportunities into focus.
 
This was driven by sales particularly in the banking and telecommunication sectors. SAS’ still-growing customer base includes its partnership with U Mobile in April 2013, where the strategic business move allowed the 3G mobile operator’s executives to immediately access real-time consumer behaviour data for significantly more informed business decisions.
 
SAS Malaysia currently has more than 160 corporate clients across diverse sectors for its analytics solutions, Tan said.
 
“The market is changing rapidly and more companies are looking to analytics to provide them with visibility and clarity on the vast information that runs through their business, in making more cost-effective decisions,” he said.
 
2014 outlook
 
According to the IDC Predictions 2014 report, big data will grow by 40% in 2014, driven in large part by mobile devices, SAS Malaysia said.
 
The quest to drive valuable insights and real-time decision-making from this data avalanche will drive massive investments and create new data-centred analytics and content services, the company added.
 
Moving into 2014, SAS Malaysia said it would focus on customer intelligence solutions that help banks, telecommunications companies, airlines and e-commerce companies understand their customers in real-time and design the best action that drives bottom-line impact.
 
Fraud will also be a new area of focus for SAS Malaysia this year, in which new solutions will be introduced to close loopholes to combat financial crimes.
 
As industries seek to mitigate risks in money laundering, organised fraud rings, payment fraud, insurance fraud and so on, SAS Malaysia said it would help customers by introducing “solid protection tailored for specific industries” such as banking, insurance, healthcare or the public sector to safeguard data and networks, as well as funds and reputations.
 
SAS is also anticipating continued growth this year in:

• Data management, as companies with huge amounts of data struggle to prepare it for analysis. More and more companies are adopting the open-source Hadoop framework for data storage and processing. SAS said it works closely with partners and customers to help data scientists, business analysts and executives transform big data into knowledge and bottom-line results.

• Data visualisation, which allows everyday users to explore data by simply pointing and clicking. SAS Visual Analytics, installed at more than 1,400 sites worldwide, will gain new functionality in the months ahead, the company declared.

• Industry-specific solutions which address the unique needs of banks, insurers, retailers, government agencies, energy companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, telcos, hotels and more. In 2014, SAS will roll out new and improved solutions to address crucial business needs, from forecasting power demand, optimising retail channels and managing risk, to detecting and preventing fraud, and retaining customers and marketing effectively to them.

• SAS Solutions on Demand, as more companies look to cloud-based solutions to unlock the benefits of complex analyses. SAS offers 25 products in a cloud-based delivery model. These include solutions for drug development, education, anti-money laundering, fraud detection, marketing optimisation, customer intelligence, social media analytics and more.

IDC Predictions 2014 also reported that businesses will direct significantly larger amounts of resources towards big data analytic tools and solutions, with worldwide spending in 2014 likely to increase by 30%, surpassing the US$14-billion mark.
 
“Using analytics to deliver intelligent actions is not a new approach and we believe that progressive organisations have recognised this,” said Tan.
 
“Therefore, we at SAS Malaysia will continue to act as a key enabler to power the operations of different industries as well as help them anticipate and understand their stakeholders better with analytic applications and predictive technologies,” he added.
 
Data scientists education initiatives
 
The rising demand for analytics software and services is also creating a need for big data experts with data mining skills. A McKinsey Global Institute study forecasted a 50% to 60% gap between the supply and demand of people with deep analytical talent.
 
In addressing such an issue, SAS said it is focused on education to equip the 21st century workforce by supporting education through innovative products and services which improve teaching, learning and administration.
 
One of SAS’ education initiatives in 2014 includes a partnership with Sunway University to meet the rising demand for data scientists in Malaysia.
 
SAS Malaysia also introduced its Graduate Development Programme, an 18-month curriculum that it said gives real-world experience across industries and analytic solutions to fresh graduates.
 
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