Just got some time to begin playing with the 9.3 Enterprise Business Intelligence installation on my SAS laptop. As I was testing out the web applications, SASWebDoc opened but I couldn't get to the SAS login screen up to access the SAS Stored Process web application. First I started perusing my
In my last post, titled The Multichannel Campaign Management Triple Play, I talked about the three main customer challenges that we solve with our Customer Intelligence solutions – namely finding the best growth opportunities, taking the best marketing action, and then maximizing cross business impact. I promised I would be back to
When I write SAS/IML programs, I usually do my development in the SAS/IML Studio environment. Why? There are many reasons, but the one that I will discuss today is the fact that the application is multithreaded and supports multiple programming workspaces. The advantages of multiple programming workspaces I am always
Are you a self starter? Do you prefer to work alone or with a group? Are you strangled by structure or supported by it? I promise this isn’t a viral Friday afternoon quiz. I ask these questions as I’m indulging in some minor procrastination. I’ve been busy all day preparing
The Platform Development team in SAS R&D has a vision for how SAS applications will be built and deployed in the future. It’s a vision that accounts for recent trends in cloud computing, high performance computing, open APIs and smart phone app stores. It’s also a vision that promises to
Creating shared prompts to use across the various BI clients requires the use of SAS Management Console's stored process wizard. Editing these prompts after they have been shared requires some forethought. The important thing to consider when making any changes to a prompt's properties is the impact these changes could
Some people search the Internet for a set of topics and then use the number of search results ("hits") for each topic to rank the relative popularity of the topics. At the 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM), I had the opportunity to attend several talks by statisticians from Google and
As part of the staffing efforts for the new SAS Center for Health Analytics and Insights (CHAI), SAS recently hired Dr. Graham Hughes, MD, as the company’s first Chief Medical Officer (CMO). When I heard the news, I sent a few questions to Graham to learn more about the new
Take a quick look at the two graphs below. Which one appears to be the LEAST complex construction? You might initially suppose it’s the bottom one, nothing but bar graphs, and maybe just one bar graph, the tallest one on the
Is Google+ the new David to Facebook’s Goliath? In my opinion... No. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t becoming a viable social media channel that has made significant leaps and bounds in the way we approach social media networks. Let’s look at the “pluses” and minuses of the channel and
The new, third edition of Frederick Pratter’s Web Development with SAS by Example recently came out to great fanfare. Updated for SAS 9.2 and SAS Enterprise BI Server 4.3, Web Development with SAS by Example, Third Edition, introduces readers to Web programming using real-world examples and SAS Web programming tools. So
New in 9.2, SAS Folders are used to organize the metadata around various content and BI objects. I wrote about this many moons ago but the subject still comes up as more customers get started with the Business Intelligence architecture. As you can see in the initial SAS Folder structure,
I've previously described ways to solve systems of linear equations, A*b = c. While discussing the relative merits of the solving a system for a particular right hand side versus solving for the inverse matrix, I made the assertion that it is faster to solve a particular system than it
I'm currently enjoying the Australian "winter" as I travel around the region talking to SAS customers for the SAS Insight Series. It just so happens that I was in Perth, Western Australia for Australia's Census Night. Because I was in the country on this special day, I was compelled
There are many things that I enjoy in life, but cooking and analytics are two of the things that excite me the most. In my free time, one of my favorite things to do is experiment in the kitchen to try to come up with something new and different to
This week’s featured SAS author’s tip comes from SAS user extraordinaire Ron Cody. Honestly, because Ron has written so many SAS books, I could probably feature a year’s worth of tips from his work alone. To find something useful in any of Ron’s books, one merely needs to let the
In order to support a SAS Server Architecture, administrators must know where all the log files from the various SAS Business Intelligence services are located. By default, each service that generates a log will create it within the services' own configuration folder structure. For example, the metadata server log is
This article describes the SAS/IML CHOOSE function: how it works, how it doesn't work, and how to use it to make your SAS/IML programs more compact. In particular, the CHOOSE function has a potential "gotcha!" that you need to understand if you want your program to perform as expected. What
In a business environment that is increasingly global and technological, many businesses are finding themselves subject to two significant challenges: If your product or service can be “made,” it can be copied and someone else can make it cheaper and/or better. Customers are becoming ever more knowledgeable about products, vendors
When I was at the Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) last week, a SAS customer asked me whether it was possible to use the SGPLOT procedure to produce side-by-side bar charts. The answer is "yes" in SAS 9.3, thanks to the new GROUPDISPLAY= option on the VBAR and HBAR statements. For
At SAS, our marketing and R&D divisions work together with customers to develop software products. Droves of our developers attend SAS users group conferences to talk to customers, demo new technologies and get user feedback. We have three customer advisory boards who tell us how they’re using SAS products, what
Summer is moving along too fast this year. I haven’t read nearly as many books as I had planned but last week I finished Triptych by Karin Slaughter (a good read). After finishing the book I looked up the meaning of the word ‘triptych’ and the first definition was a
If you dabble (spend every waking moment) on Facebook like some people, you will have probably noticed that Facebook introduced, not only some new features in the last few months but, also new focuses. Most of these changes increase the usability of the channel (and ultimately drive old school users
The SAS/IML language provides two functions for solving a nonsingular nxn linear system A*x = c: The INV function numerically computes the inverse matrix, A-1. You can use this to solve for x: Ainv = inv(A); x = Ainv*c;. The SOLVE function numerically computes the particular solution, x, for a
It's always important to remember your fundamentals. Sort of like a basketball player who practices lay-ups and free throws for hours on end, you need the fundamentals in the midst of the game. Having the skills or knowledge in the heat of the moment - when it counts - is
Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, high-performance analytics is a product of many cumulative architectural, computational and analytical advances. The ability to solve complex business problems by applying algorithms from multiple disciplines to increasingly large volumes of data of all types - both structured and unstructured - is
This morning I’m having flashbacks about tutus and ballet recitals, high school musicals, local pre-dawn television interviews, and live SAS Press webinars. However, this time the butterflies have mostly migrated, there are no fun costumes, and I’m going to be seated behind my desk. And, most importantly, I’m feeling confident
Agility. I've been giving a lot of thought to the term while here in San Diego for the TDWI World Conference. "Evolving Your Agile BI Environment" is the theme of this year's event and "agility" has definitely been embedded in the conversations I have had with customers the past few
Since SAS is known as an innovative company, I jumped at the chance to hear advice from five SAS leaders on how to be more innovative. The following tips come from a recent panel discussion at SAS titled, “What does innovation look like to you?” Innovation is about solving problems,
I’m a data-entry freak. This was not always true. I have balked at the simplest online form, passing up great free stuff because it required entering data. But that all changed because of a free app for the iPhone. I wanted to drop a few pounds and decided to give
