This is an exciting and busy time for the SAS Global Forum 2015 content and delivery teams. They have worked hard to finalize the content, enhance your scheduling experience and ensure that attendees have access to as much of the conference content as possible. Please set aside some time in
Happy New Year! For many the New Year means new beginnings which also means change. But change is hard. We’ve all heard that before, yet still we’re surprised when confronted with the prospect of change and just how challenging it can be. One of the reasons is that most of
In my book Simulating Data with SAS, I discuss a relationship between the skewness and kurtosis of probability distributions that might not be familiar to some statistical programmers. Namely, the skewness and kurtosis of a probability distribution are not independent. If κ is the full kurtosis of a distribution and
We asked our partners at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research to comment on what they are seeing in terms of trends that will impact the hospitality industry in 2015. Cathy Enz, full professor in strategy and The Lewis G. Schaeneman Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management at the
One of the significant problems data quality leaders face is changing people's perception of data quality. For example, one common misconception is that data quality represents just another data processing activity. If you have a data warehouse, you will almost certainly have some form of data processing in the form
“Here’s Johnny!!!” and well sometimes John and sometimes Jonathan and sometimes Jon. In the real world, you sometimes need to make matching character strings more flexible. This is especially common when merging data sets. Variables, especially names, are not always exactly the same in all sources of your data. When
The Internet of Things is going to be driven by innovative business models as much as by innovative technology. In order to ground the following discussion, I found it helpful to create this visual depiction of the IoT that defines and distinguishes the key elements that enter into these business models.
Have you ever thought about retiring in another country, where your money might go further? Well here's some quantitative data to help you make an informed decision! ... First, to get you in the mood, here's a picture of my friend Erik checking out the prices at a pedal-powered food
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with James Haight of Blue Hill Research regarding the Internet of Things and how it is and will impact manufacturers. We also dipped our toes into other topics, including text analytics and the interesting combination of all these trends. The conversation was captured
By now, we have all heard about the Internet of Things (IoT), or the Industrial Internet. Across industries, organizations are attempting to instrument and measure all critical business systems and assets in an effort to drive improved production and service delivery. It is estimated that by 2020, companies will spend
You’ve heard about the smart grid, but what is it that makes the grid smart? I’ve been working on a project with Duke Energy and NC State University doing time-series analysis on data from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) that illustrates the intelligence in the grid as well as an interesting
In my last post, I pointed out that we data quality practitioners want to apply data quality assertions to data instances to validate data in process, but the dynamic nature of data must be contrasted with our assumptions about how quality measures are applied to static records. In practice, the
Back in the day when the prison system forced inmates to perform "hard labor", folks would say (of someone in prison): "He's busy making little ones out of big ones." This evokes the cliché image of inmates who are chained together, forced to swing a chisel to break large rocks
In the SAS DATA step, all variables are scalar quantities. Consequently, an IF-THEN/ELSE statement that evaluates a logical expression is unambiguous. For example, the following DATA step statements print "c=5 is TRUE" to the log if the variable c is equal to 5: if c=5 then put "c=5 is TRUE";
Why do people steal ATMs? Because that's where the money is!!! While the old "smash-n-grab" remains a favorite modus operandi of would-be ATM thieves, the biggest brains on the planet typically aren't engaged in such endeavors (see Thieves Steal Empty ATM, Chain Breaks Dragging Stolen ATM, An A for Effort). And of
Since the launch of Communities on SAS, hundreds of SAS employees have been among you. Some SAS employees made themselves known by selecting a telling user name (such as Cynthia@SAS), but others remained camouflaged or incognito, keeping their secret identities like the SAS superheroes they are. That's about to change.
Everyone is always looking for test data. Business analysts want it for demos and prototypes. Software developers want it for development and unit testing. Testers want it for system and integration testing. I’ve written many programs to generate test data over the years, as have many other SAS users. Generated
Utilizing big data analytics is currently one of the most promising strategies for businesses to gain competitive advantage and ensure future growth. But as we saw with “small data analytics,” the success of “big data analytics” relies heavily on the quality of its source data. In fact, when combining “small” and “big” data
Have you ever wondered whether the area where you live is a good location for producing solar power? Let's create a SAS map to help find out! To get you in the right frame of mind, here is an awesome picture of some Arizona sunshine, that my good friend Eva
At the beginning of my book Statistical Programming with SAS/IML Software I give the following programming tip (p. 25): Do not confuse an empty matrix with a matrix that contains missing values or with a zero matrix. An empty matrix has no rows and no columns. A matrix that contains
In my previous post, I talked about how the Internet of Things promises new ways to use sensor and machine data by creating a highly efficient world that demands constant analysis and evaluation of the state of events across everything that surrounds us. I have also explained why it is
New Year to me is always a stark reminder of the inexorability of Time. In a day-to-day life, time is measured in small denominations - minutes, hours, days… But come New Year, and this inescapable creature – Time – makes its decisive leap – and in a single instant, we
@philsimon on the need to recognize DQ differences.
By now most of us are at least aware of the fact that too much sugar isn’t good for us. But you may not be aware of some of the hidden sources of sugar like "not so sweet" foods such as pasta sauce, salad dressing, ketchup and bread. Some other
Data simulation is a fundamental technique in statistical programming and research. My book Simulating Data with SAS is an accessible how-to book that describes the most useful algorithms and the best programming techniques for efficient data simulation in SAS. Here are five lessons you can learn by reading it: Learn strategies
It’s common at the start of a new year to create a long list of resolutions that we hope to achieve. The reality, of course, is by February those resolutions will likely be a distant memory. The key to making any resolution stick is to start small. Create one small
We now live in the era of ‘big data’, where data and its analysis have become crucial to the modern economy. In fact, "big data is the new 'corporate gold'," according to Mark Wilkinson, managing director of SAS UK & Ireland. A recent study by Cebr found that companies in
A common task in SAS/IML programming is finding elements of a SAS/IML matrix that satisfy a logical expression. For example, you might need to know which matrix elements are missing, are negative, or are divisible by 2. In the DATA step, you can use the WHERE clause to subset data.
It’s that time of year again when we look back and consider how accurately and extensively the SAS story was covered in the media over the past year. It’s not always a simple or predictable story, but it is usually interesting. Consider some of these threads: How did companies or
To get into the mood for this blog post, you should first listen to the music video of The Who singing My Generation... I guess everybody has 'their generation' and here in the U.S. the most famous generation has been the Baby Boomers. Many companies have tried to design products they
