SAS unveils 9.4 update, says it broadens reach of analytics

By Digital News Asia September 18, 2013

Update unlocks ability for businesses to choose between public, private or SAS-hosted cloud solutions
New SAS programming languages, tools and improved interfaces part of the SAS 9.4 update

SAS unveils 9.4 update, says it broadens reach of analytics SAS Malaysia has unveiled the SAS 9.4 update to its Business Analytics platform, saying that Malaysian businesses now have more deployment options for their analytics solutions.

On top of the traditional on-premise deployment, the latest update now unlocks the ability for businesses to choose between public, private or even SAS-hosted cloud solutions.

The latest update comes on the back of strong demand for powerful, robust analytics solutions to cope with the deluge of information that businesses and organisations globally are faced with, SAS Malaysia said in a statement.

The American Bankers Association for example revealed that businesses around the world process more than 10,000 payment card transactions in just one second alone. Consequently, IDC recently reported that the Big Data technology and services market in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan is projected to grow from US$258.5 million in 2011 to US$1.76 billion in 2016.

SAS Malaysia managing director Andrew Tan said he expects the local demand for analytics solutions to grow in tandem with that in the region.

“Malaysian businesses are struggling to manage the information they have today and want the ability to produce insights faster while managing costs related to information management,” he said. “SAS 9.4 with its cloud deployment option addresses the cost as well as speed issues.”

“SAS 9.4 brings with it a whole new level of flexibility which will give Malaysian businesses much easier access to SAS’ suite of analytics software.
SAS unveils 9.4 update, says it broadens reach of analytics
“As in any significant technology implementation, there are many aspects to consider in order to ensure a smooth progress, particularly when cloud deployment is involved. With SAS 9.4’s built-in cloud capabilities, companies can focus on unlocking the potential of their information troves in the quickest, most efficient and effective way catered to their unique needs and requirements,” Tan (pic) claimed.

With new SAS programming languages, tools and improved interfaces which are part of the SAS 9.4 update, Malaysian businesses can expect faster model development, deployment and response times for SAS’ solutions.

This is coupled with enhanced administration capabilities which would help to quickly and accurately highlight sources of failure, the company said.

One of the first products to build on the SAS 9.4 foundation and take advantage of cloud deployment is SAS Visual Analytics. The latest release of this data visualisation software, the third in just over a year, includes a wide range of upgrades.

“Businesses operating in highly-competitive industries such as banking, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), retail and insurance rely significantly on analytics capabilities to stay ahead of the competition,” said Tan.

“With the SAS 9.4 update, we have made SAS’ Visual Analytics more accessible than ever before. Now every employee can harness the power of analytics to make informed business decisions,” he added.

SAS Visual Analytics forecasting support, now with new scenario analysis capabilities, adds prescriptive analytics to existing descriptive and predictive analytics, helping organisations rapidly and easily move to more advanced uses of analytics.

Among the enhancements in SAS Visual Analytics:

Analytics: Support for scenario analysis and decision trees.

Reporting: More graphical themes and custom theme definitions, enhanced progressive filtering, ability to define custom graph templates, expanded report linking.