I've been working on a SAS program that can add content to the SAS Support Communities (more on that in a future post). Despite my 20+ years of SAS experience, there are a lot of SAS programming tricks that I don't know. Or that I use so infrequently that I
Utilities, like all large organizations, spend a lot of time and resources on strategy. But how do utility analytics leaders ensure that their efforts are connected to this high-level vision? On June 28th in Los Angeles, a small gathering of utility executives and analytics leaders met to discuss and explore
What information should you make easily available from the top page of your website? This Venn diagram might help you decide! Have you ever gone to a website to try to find some information, and had a (expletive) difficult time trying to find that info? I think there is often a
Do you have a need for real-time, streaming analytics? What technology are you considering? How are you going to enable rapid development and deployment of your analytical models all in real-time? SAS has partnered the the Hortonworks HDF team to develop a nifi processor that allows SAS machine learning models and
The fourth and final post in the series about a state government center of analytics concentrates on the big question – what value does analytics bring to business? (Links to previous entries are at the conclusion of this post.) While this “show me the money” question can be answered in
Modernization is a term used to describe the necessary evolution of information technologies that organizations rely on to remain competitive in today’s constantly changing business world. New technologies – many designed to better leverage big data – challenge existing data infrastructures and business models. This forces enterprises to modernize their approach to data
Two of my favorite string-manipulation functions in the SAS DATA step are the COUNTW function and the SCAN function. The COUNTW function counts the number of words in a long string of text. Here "word" means a substring that is delimited by special characters, such as a space character, a
Last week I posted an article on displaying polar graph using SAS. When the measured data (R, Theta) are in the polar coordinates as radius and angle, then this data can be easily transformed into the XY space using the simple transform shown below. x=r*cos(theta * PI / 180); y=r*sin(theta * PI
I've noticed fewer and fewer people smoking these days, and was wondering who the last holdouts are. Let's run some numbers and find out... Back in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s it seems like almost everyone smoked. You hardly ever saw the "cool kids" such as James Dean without a cigarette -
For the fourteenth year, the International Institute of Forecasters, in collaboration with SAS®, is proud to announce financial support for research on how to improve forecasting methods and business forecasting practice. The award for the 2016-2017 year will be two $5,000 grants, in Business Applications and Methodology. Criteria for the
Being able to communicate effectively is the most important of all life skills. Communication can make or break our world. It can build up healthy and productive relationships or break them forever. For example, how many times each one of us has experienced quarrels that are just a result of
Strengthens and stretches legs, knees and ankles. Stretches groins, spine, chest, lungs and shoulders. Stimulates abdominal organs and aids in digestion. Improves balance and increases stamina. Revolved Twist/Side Angle Pose (Sanskrit: Parivrtta Parsvakonasana) From High Lunge pose with left foot forward, place hands at heart center. Make sure the front
The online SAS Support Communities are a vibrant source of information and interaction for over 90,000 registered participants. Here you can ask (and answer) questions, grow (and share) your SAS expertise, and explore these collection points for other resources (like hot tips, articles, blogs, and events) relating to the community
Regardless of the industry and the company size, companies today have access to a huge amount of data. In order to convert this Big Data into useful insights, analytics strategies aligned with business objectives are required, supported by technology, commitment of the top management and a cultural shift that involves the entire organization. A
The Distributed SAS 9.4 LASR Analytic Server provides a massively parallel processing solution for working very quickly with huge volumes of data. LASR was built from its earliest invocations to provide for incredible scalability and growth. One of the primary criteria which drives the considerations of scalability is load management.
Absent a strong executive presence, most mature organizations will continue to muddle through data integration.
Many computations in elementary probability assume that the probability of an event is independent of previous trials. For example, if you toss a coin twice, the probability of observing "heads" on the second toss does not depend on the result of the first toss. However, there are situations in which
How many companies are using Hadoop as part of their master data management initiative? Come on, raise your hands! Well, maybe a better question is this: How many companies are using Hadoop for enterprise data? From what I have seen, Hadoop is coming along quite nicely. However, it may not be the
SAS Author Derek Morgan is a programming rock star… in more ways than one. Not only has he been a professional SAS programmer in the pharmaceutical industry for almost 30 years and written two editions of The Essential Guide to SAS® Dates and Times, Derek also plays electric bass in
When a person feels sufficiently wronged to lodge a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), there’s likely to be some negative sentiment involved. But is there a connection between the language they use and the likelihood they will be compensated by the offending company? At the upcoming Sentiment
Disclaimer: before you get overly excited, PROC EXPAT is not really an actual SAS procedure. Sadly, it will not transfer or translate your code based on location. But it does represent SAS’ expansion of the Customer Contact Center, and that’s good news for our users. Here’s the story behind my
They say age is a relative thing. With this graph, you can tell how old (or young) you are, relative to everyone else. (I'll let you decide whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing, hahaha!) Nathan Yau recently posted a graph on flowingdata.com that allows you to
At this stage our organization has already defined the business objectives for Data Governance programme (step 0) and started to manage business terms, as described in step 1. Step 2: tracking data flow in organization Data Governance is not only related to understanding the data – it also focuses on
Last week I blogged about how to draw the Cantor function in SAS. The Cantor function is used in mathematics as a pathological example of a function that is constant almost everywhere yet somehow manages to "climb upwards," thus earning the nickname "the devil's staircase." The Cantor function has three
Data monetisation is a hot topic these days. Especially for people like me watching the movements of early adopters – companies who are using data to create new revenue streams or even create new businesses to capture those revenue streams. DataStreamX is a notable start-up whose sole business is cashing
Editor Len Tashman's Preview of the Summer Issue of Foresight Clarity and effectiveness of communication are key to success – so says a recent survey by the National Association of Business Economists (NABE), which reported that industry leaders and hiring managers considered communication skills to be the single most important
There are many situations where it is beneficial to display the data using a polar graph. Often your data may contain directional information. Or, the data may be cyclic in nature, with information over time by weeks, or years. The simple solution is to display the directional or time data
Paul Goodwin is Professor Emeritus of Management Science at University of Bath, and one of the speakers at this fall's Foresight Practitioner Conference (October 5-6 in Raleigh, NC). His topic will be "Use and Abuse of Judgmental Overrides to Statistical Forecasts"-- an area in which he has contributed much of
We live in a complex world that overflows with information. As human beings, we are very good at navigating this maze, where different types of input hit us from every possible direction. Without really thinking about it, we take in the inputs, evaluate the new information, combine it with our
Mix up your strength training routine with the RFC's Workout of the Month! July's featured equipment is the BOSU. The BOSU was originally created to improve athletic performance, however, it quickly entered mainstream gyms as well as rehab facilities due to it's versatility as a balance, stability, and core strength tool.
