This year’s winners of the Best Paper Award at SAS Belux Forum 2010 have been given a trip to SAS Global Forum 2011 in Las Vegas. Attending any SAS users group event is an exciting opportunity to meet other SAS users and learn new ways to use SAS, but this trip for Ragna Préal and Véronique de Vooght will add the additional delight of traveling to the glamorous city of Las Vegas.

I decided to include Ragna and Véronique in our interview of people with SASonality (after all, they have a love for SAS users, innovate with SAS, and give back by presenting - SASonality).

1. Why did you write your paper for SAS Belux Forum?

   IMA is a health care organizations initiative. IMA worked with a provider from 2002 to 2009 for data processing by hardware transfer. In 2009, IMA decided to switch to a comprehensive solutions provider operating within a full SAS environment managing security, ETL, DWH and supporting multiple setting and location data analysis. Our SAS account manager asked if we were interested in giving a presentation to the Belgium SAS forum.

   The presentation gives an overview of the IMA structure and emphasizes the advantages of a SAS environment and the possibilities and difficulties of implementing it. The Permanent Sample (EPS) is the largest IMA project and serves as a concrete example that’s not too complicated but is recognizable and easy to tell.

2. What drew you together as partners?

   We worked together setting up the new IMA structure and environment:

   Véronique, as coordinating Program Manager having an overall view on all IMA projects, and Ragna as coordinator of the EPS and an experienced SAS user. We are each other’s backup for just about everything we do, our partnership in the presentation is a reflection of the way we work on a daily basis.

3. What is your title: developer, programmer, analyst, etc.? How do you use SAS at your organization?

   Véronique: I am the Program Manager of IMA. I am responsible for the daily supervision and coordination of all projects of IMA. I am also responsible for the general follow up of IMA.

   Ragna : I am Business Unit – IT and EPS coordinator. I spend most of my time on the Permanent Sample. I keep it up and running and manage the needs and questions of the EPS partners: the overall work of a project leader on a never ending project that will be expanding in context and technical development.

4. What makes you uniquely Ragna or Veronique?

   Véronique: My partner and I have two daughters. In addition to our devotion to our daughters, we share a passion for wine. Together we have established a small wine shop.

   Ragna: I am married, and we have one girl of twelve. My family and I like to swim, and I enjoy horseback riding. I really like logic games.

5. Will you be presenting SAS Global Forum 2011?

   As health insurance is a hot topic in the US now, and the Belgium system is the underlining topic in our presentation, we hope to be selected.

6. Have you ever visited the United States before? What are you excited about or nervous about? Do you have tours arranged during your trip?

   Véronique : I have never been to the US.

   Ragna: I visited the US 16 years ago. I spent a few days in New York, then a week in Atlanta and finally 14 days in Florida. I traveled from Orlando through the Everglades to Miami. We loved the Everglades so much that we stayed for five days even though we’d initially planned to pass through and spend one day.

7. What is the most interesting SAS project that you have ever worked on?

   We built a complete SAS environment from the ground up with very highly skilled SAS analysts as the decision makers, business-experts on the health-care system in Belgium, and a new hosting firm with no SAS experience at all. Some informatics specialists are looking at the IMA technical and logical set-up with surprise at its simplicity: We used very simple rules and methods for receiving the data from the health insurance organizations, and the Belgian health care system re-imbursement is unique, allowing easy information retrieval. Last but not least, we have the advantage that there are only around 11,000,000 Belgians, which makes the size manageable.

8. What do you read to keep you on your professional toes?

   In our business, we have to keep up with regulations, new laws and a little bit of politics.

9. What do you read or watch for enjoyment?

   Véronique : I am a very regular reader, the style of my reading material varies enormously. The last book I’ve read and recommend all is the Millennium trilogy from Stieg Larsson

   Ragna : I read novels and crime roman’s. I love movies of all kinds. “Lost” was the best television I’ve seen in years. My favorite movies are the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the three “Matrix” movies.

For more information about Veronique and Ragna's project, you can download their presentation. Don’t get thrown by the title page, the slides are in English. Do you have questions you’d like to ask of these SASonalities?

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