SAS Institute has its annual user conference 2016 in Las Vegas, SAS® Global Forum, and it is the largest conference ever with more than 5 000 attendees. Users and analysts from all over the world hear about use cases from all industries - from customers, partners and SAS. The demo area displays new technology and solutions, and our important consulting partners are aligning their offerings with SAS. We also experience great opportunities to network with our peers worldwide.
What happens in Vegas is all about analytics, and how analytics in action creates value in business processes cross industries. Industries like banks and insurance companies have used analytics for years, but analytics is rapidly moving into other industries. It is happening now, it is happening fast. During the conference first day, we heard about real use cases that creates tangible business value. Not tomorrow, but today!
More emphasis on capabilities
Lessons learned from my first day in Vegas is probably that we should emphasis less on technology but more on capabilities, and that we should use the right tool for the job. SAS Institute has a strong offering because SAS provided capabilities to succeed with analytics. However, an important new capability from
SAS is open API’s and support for Hadoop distributors. This enables innovation because developers can work outside SAS with other technologies and access capabilities provided by SAS, like third party applications calling SAS analytical models.
SAS in the market for 40 years and more to come
SAS celebrates its 40th year anniversary this year, and the company has grown profitability every year. Some analysts could argue that the era of SAS is over and that new entrants will take lead and influence the next 40 years. I am willing to take a real “Las Vegas bet” and bet my salary that they are wrong.
My argumentation for this is that the new capabilities in SAS will enable rapid innovation with better support for the analytical life cycle. SAS will continue to support the user community with necessary analytical capabilities and respond to requirements. SAS business- and technology partners will continue to deliver high value to our clients.
Presenting SAS® Viya – next generation of analytics
Today SAS announced a new modern architecture that is future ready, SAS® Viya. SAS solutions on Viya attract and retain the next generation of analysts and
enable everything from start-ups to large enterprises with actionable analytics.
Which competitor can catch up and compete with SAS? SAS is, without discussion, the market leader, and the company will continue to lead way for the next 40 years. Businesses that rely in SAS will get a competitive advantage over companies that struggles with their analytical strategy.
Interested in learning more about SAS® Viya?
SAS® Viya – a new, open architecture – built for analytics innovation
