SAS has had a good week.

 No. 1 in Analytics

The company remains No. 1 in advanced analytics -- per IDC and Forrester, not just according to marketers like me.

And we remain committed to innovation. Our data visualization offering, SAS Visual Analytics, is now used by more than 500 companies worldwide. And this momentum continues:  we just announced how universities are adopting it to better understand students, faculty and operations (SAS data visualization supports enrollment efforts, sets up students and schools for success).

SAS continues to invest in data management technology too. The latest version of SAS Data Management makes it easier for IT to manage big data and combine it from multiple sources, while also extending investments in Hadoop (see SAS Data Management: Big data simplified for business).

No. 2 Global Workplace

SAS was just named No. 2 on the Great Place to Work Institute's global list of best workplaces.  As SAS CEO Jim Goodnight comments on why SAS invests in its famed workplace culture, “It's one way we ensure we are delivering innovative software solutions to our customers.”

No. 3 Software Company a New Partner

And SAS just partnered with SAP, the world’s No. 3 software company by revenue (per the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest public companies)

SAS is the leader in analytics, while SAP is the leader in enterprise application software – crucial systems that help run many of the world’s largest companies. By combining the best of these two software leaders, this new partnership will benefit both SAP and SAS customers, as they work to transform big data into useful information for business decisions.

Orlando Conferences, More News

This week, SAS sponsored two conferences in Orlando, Fla. related to finding value from big data with analytics, data management and other critical technologies. SAS customers represent a who’s who of global business. The Analytics 2013 conference and Premier Business Leadership Series event feature many of them, discussing how big data analytics helps their organizations succeed.

In addition to sharing the latest analytics technology and business know-how, SAS also just announced results of two research studies:

• The first looked at consumers and their views on how businesses are doing with respect to targeted marketing (SAS study reveals that despite privacy concerns, consumers want to be understood).
• And the other looked at emerging cyberthreats to the banking industry (Banks lack ammo to fight cyberthreats, says report ).

Follow on Social Media

To follow updates the Series event in Orlando:

• Follow the #pbls13 Twitter hashtag and the official SAS Twitter account (@SASsoftware).
• Join The Premier Business Leadership Series LinkedIn group for discussions during and after the conference.