The Western Users of SAS Software (WUSS) have the best acronym ever, and they're putting on an amazing conference in San Francisco this week. The conference kicked off today with conference chairs Kathryn Valdes and Ginger Carey’s announcement that the Pacific Northwest Users Group is merging with WUSS next year, adding six new states to the WUSS family!
Following that announcement, SAS VP of Sales Development and Product Management Randy Guard took the stage to talk about how analytic skills = competitive advantage.
“It’s a great time to be an analyst,” said Guard. “There’s a lack of analysts and a huge demand for talent.” And why not? As one of this morning’s panelists stated: “We’re either helping save money or make money.” Backing that up, the Wall Street Journal’s latest study of the best jobs in the US put “Statistician” in the top five..
If you’re reading this post, we’re likely preaching to the choir, but Guard shared some resources to help you find the right organizational alignment or “fit” at your company:
- The New Know – Thornton May
- Analytics at Work – Tom Davenport and Jeanne Harris
- Make the most of your analytic talent – SAS white paper
Need a little more inspiration? Here are two examples from Guard of analysts making a difference at their organizations:
- Dow Chemical – launched do-it-yourself analytics for their business users.
- Proctor & Gamble – uses data visualization to focus on exceptions, so it can replicate successes and head off flops.
More to come from WUSS, so stay tuned ….
