More than 4000 users at SAS Global Forum 2013 have previewed software capabilities powered by SAS 9.4 — the upcoming release of the SAS platform that promises to fuel new waves of innovation for both SAS and its customers.

The initial release of SAS 9.4 platform will be available in June for both new and current customers of SAS.  Key features include deep architectural changes in the platform itself as well as sweeping enhancements across analytics, business intelligence, data management and high-performance analytics product lines.

It's a natural fit for us to talk about SAS in architectural terms:  the SAS foundation, the SAS platform.  And that's never been more true than with this initial release of SAS 9.4.  In the months ahead, SAS will be delivering families of products and solutions and additional platform capabilities, all built on a platform with these four cornerstone values:

1. More streamlined management, deployment and user access to SAS software, making it easier for organizations to integrate analytical results into their decision-making processes
2. Enhanced administration capabilities, including features that help pinpoint sources of failure and improved interfaces for administrative tasks
3. Faster development, deployment and response times for SAS solutions through new SAS programming languages and tools, standardized programming interfaces and tighter interfaces with distributed computing and storage technologies
4. More choices of where and how you want to deploy SAS:  on-premises, hosted,  or in private and public cloud

These  papers presented at SAS Global Forum 2013 provide a deeper look into the technology behind SAS 9.4,  some of its new features and functionality and the benefits they can deliver to your business.

More information on SAS 9.4 will be available during the next few months.