All global researches and surveys show that all kind of fraud, like procurement fraud, is rising and empowered by new dimensions in matter of vulnerabilities and attack methods. From traditional check tampering and skimming methods to cyber crime attacks, fraudsters become more sophisticated, with a powerful arsenal of technology in
This article describes how you can evaluate the Lambert W function in SAS/IML software. The Lambert W function is defined implicitly: given a real value x, the function's value w = W(x) is the value of w that satisfies the equation w exp(w) = x. Thus W is the inverse
I'm hard-pressed to think of a trendier yet more amorphous term today than analytics. It seems that every organization wants to take advantage of analytics, but few really are doing that – at least to the extent possible. This topic interests me quite a bit, and I hope to explore
When I think of the Western Users of SAS Software conference, I think of my first event in 1994. I was just starting to learn SAS and wanted to meet others in my region who were also excited about the software. Meeting and discussing SAS topics face to face at the
When you work out, you probably have a routine set of exercises that you do. But if you read health-and-fitness websites or talk to a personal trainer, you know that for optimal fitness, you should vary your workout routine. Not only does adding variety to your fitness regime help you
SAS® Insights is a section of the sas.com website devoted to being "your top source for analytics news and views." It contains articles, interviews, research reports, and other content from both SAS and non-SAS contributors. In a new article posted this week, we added three short videos containing practical advice
Analytics, statistics, operations research, data science and machine learning - with which term do you prefer associate? Are you from the House of Capulet or Montague, or do you even care? Shakespeare's Juliet derides excess identification with names in the famous play, Romeo and Juliet. "What's in a name? That which we call
I had the opportunity to interview an award-winning, fast-moving, consumer packaged goods (CPG) company in the early 2000’s. They were recognized as one of the best supply chain companies in the United States by all of the major retailers and their CPG peers. Indeed, it seemed every time a new
Today, we live in a polarized world that divides family members, friends, and business colleagues. It effects everything we do from the way we communicate with one another to how we handle business challenges. I have seen long time business colleagues have passionate discussions to defend their supply chain position
In conjunction with the International Institute of Forecasters and the Institute for Advanced Analytics at North Carolina State University, the 2016 Foresight Practitioner conference will be held in Raleigh, NC (October 5-6, 2016) with the theme of: Worst Practices in Forecasting: Today's Mistakes to Tomorrow's Breakthroughs This is the first
"Where do you go to get help with SAS?" It's a question I've asked users more times than I can remember. Some will tell me they take a SAS class or call SAS Technical Support, but the most common answer is "colleagues." There's no doubt fellow users are a great resource, but if you're only relying on colleagues at your
In my previous post, I discussed some of the challenges and costs organizations face when they’re stuck in Excel hell with no real data strategy. Now that we’ve discussed the problem, let’s dive into the solution. Every organization needs a data strategy with these building blocks: Your top priority is
My last post, Pitching analytics: recommendations on how to sell your story, discussed the steps I consider when winding up for an analytics pitch. In part 2 of this series I share the tips and tricks I have acquired for throwing strikes for during your analytics pitch. Like everyone, sometimes
Good news SAS users; you are a hot commodity. That’s the primary message Kirk Paul Lafler from Software Intelligence Corporation and Charlie Shipp of Consider Consulting Corporation delivered to a room full of users at MWSUG 2015. Citing figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a recent CNN Money
Creating a grocery shopping list can be overwhelming for a variety of reasons. Lack of experience, picky eaters, and new recipes can turn an ambitious cook into an overwhelmed procrastinator. In this blog post I’ll show you an easy SAS Enterprise Guide project that uses prompts to create a simple
I hear a lot of talk about income inequality in the US ("the rich get richer..." and such) - especially as elections approach. I also see a lot of graphs, and they all seem to define their numbers slightly differently. I'm not in a position to improve the way income
Over 400 enthusiastic SAS users gathered in San Diego September 9-11, 2015 for the 23rd annual WUSS 2015 conference. In this “digital age,” where so much of our communication is virtual and social, it was a treat to get out and meet SAS users face-to-face. The two and a half-days were packed
There are four key areas that require continuous investment in order to become demand-driven: people, process, analytics, and technology. However the intent of your demand forecasting process along with business interdependencies need to be horizontally aligned in order to gain sustainable adoption. Adoption alone doesn't necessarily mean it will be sustainable. As
With apologies to this candy advertisement from the 1980s: "Hey, you got your Lua in my SAS program." "You got your SAS code in my Lua program!" Announcer: "PROC LUA: Two great programming languages that program great together!" What is Lua? It's an embeddable scripting language that is often used
With all of the discussion about big data these days, it is easy to think that every problem is a big data problem. Yes, there is a lot of data out there these days, and of course we all love a nice big data set, but you don’t always need
We’ve all heard that dark leafy greens are good for us. Did you know that dark green leafy vegetables, calorie for calorie, are considered one of the most nutrient-dense foods available!
Bill Benjamin’s bestseller, Exchanging Data between SAS and Microsoft Excel: Tips and Techniques to Transfer and Manage Data More Efficiently, was pipped at the post as he narrowly missed the top spot to Implementing CDISC Using SAS: An End-to-End Guide, at last month’s PharmaSUG 2015 meeting in Orlando -- by one
I am noticing a trend. At the ASSA meetings in January (where economics, sociology and finance academics and practitioners gather to discuss their research) I was surprised to see how much “machine learning” was trending with economists. The session “Machine Learning Methods in Economics and Econometrics,” with papers by Susan
The cottage industry was based on workers buying raw materials, bringing them home and producing hand-crafted items to sell. The system worked, but was slow, tedious and expensive, producing goods that were affordable only by the rich. The Industrial Revolution changed all that. The factory system brought machines and workers
SGF 2015 was a blast with a focus on Visual Analytics, SAS Studio, Hadoop and more. Graphs were everywhere, and it was a banner year for ODS Graphics with over 15 papers and presentations by users on creating graphs using SG Procedures, GTL and Designer. Dan Heath, Prashant Hebbar, Scott
Everything’s bigger in Texas and that definitely held true at SAS Global Forum 2015. The conference was bigger and busier than ever, especially for the education industry. There were so many amazing presentations and announcements, that you may have missed a few -- here are the highlights. We had a several customer presentations on SAS Visual
One of the big topics at SAS Global Forum 2015 is the analytics skills gap. Tonya Etchison Balan of the Poole College of Management at NC State University presented a case study approach for teaching analytical skills. The motto at NC State is “Think and Do.” What that means is
With all the enhancements in demand management over the past decade, companies are still faced with challenges impeding the advancement of demand-driven planning. Many organizations are struggling with how to analyze and make practical use of the mass of data being collected and stored. Others are perplexed as how to
Have you ever peered intently into an unfamiliar data delivery directory, realized what was in it, rolled over onto your side, stared blankly into the distance, and dejectedly uttered something akin to: "Spreadsheets! Why did it have to be spreadsheets?" If so, then we are definitely on the same page.
Companies have become obsessed with product quality – and for good reason. Customer dynamics, their willingness to expose product quality issues socially on the web, and the ease with which they can jump to competitive products make quality a more important differentiator than ever before. Over the past 15 years,
