Big data analytics drives breakthrough results for customers, revenue milestone for SAS
TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Business analytics leader SAS achieved record global revenue of US$2.87 billion in 2012. Dubbed big data analytics "powerhouse" by an independent research firm,1 SAS spent 2012 as it has the previous 36 profitable years: helping customers make precise, proactive, breakthrough decisions.
"In 2012, many companies began to rethink conventional ways of doing business when they realized big data analytics could deliver results almost instantaneously," said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. "When high-performance analytics can solve the world's toughest business problems thousands of times faster, there's no limit to what organizations can achieve."
SAS' 2012 predictive analytics offerings have momentum across industries and customer segments. SAS® Visual Analytics, particularly well received and lauded by analysts in July, August and earlier this month, is a new way to explore large amounts of data in an instant.
2012 was also a banner year for workplace culture recognition. Great Place to Work® named SAS No. 1 on its World's Best Multinational Workplaces list, capping a year in which SAS Belgium and SAS Sweden were also No. 1 on their countries' Best Companies to Work For lists. SAS, which has been ranked as one of Fortune's Best Companies to Work For in the US every year since the list's 1998 inception, was a top workplace in 17 other countries.
"The link is solid between SAS' financial performance and treating employees and customers well," Goodnight said. "When people feel trusted, the results are phenomenal. It's reflected in our commitment to innovation. It's deeply gratifying that we've created a great place to work, not just in the United States, but also worldwide."
Demonstrating steadfast commitment to innovation and customer service, SAS reinvested 25 percent of 2012 revenue into research and development. Altogether, SAS increased its workforce by 7 percent, ending 2012 with 13,442 employees worldwide.
INCREASES ACROSS REGIONS, CATEGORIES
Revenue grew worldwide despite continuing economic uncertainty in some regions. The Americas generated 47 percent of SAS' total revenue; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) 41 percent; and Asia Pacific 12 percent.
SAS Canada achieved another successful year increasing new software revenue by 11 per cent over 2011. In addition to strong financial results, the company was recognized for its exceptional workplace culture, being ranked No. 2 on The Great Place to Work Institute's Best Workplaces in Canada list. SAS Canada is celebrating a significant milestone this year: the 25th anniversary of the opening of its country office in Canada, which reflects the company's ongoing strength in the Canadian market and the increasing popularity of business analytics tools. To support its ongoing growth, the company plans to invest in top talent by increasing its workforce by more than 10 per cent across the country.
"SAS Canada is proud to be celebrating a quarter century of operations in Canada. This milestone demonstrates our commitment and proven track record in assisting our Canadian businesses and government customers achieve success," said Carl Farrell, President of SAS Canada and Executive Vice President of SAS Americas. "SAS Canada continues to be the analytics provider of choice, which is reflected by our strong 11 per cent gain in new software revenue. In 2013, we will continue to invest in our core offerings across Analytics, Customer Intelligence, Fraud, Information Management and Risk as companies coast to coast realize the benefits of using business analytics to solve increasingly complex challenges. As well, we will expand our expertise in Big Data technologies such as our industry-leading High-Performance Analytics and Visual Analytics solutions, which are making it possible for companies to gain valuable insight from the deluge of data that is becoming increasingly challenging for many to handle with traditional technologies"
In SAS' traditionally strong categories, such as analytics and business intelligence, increases outpaced the overall market growth rate. Customer intelligence, fraud detection, risk management, and supply chain posted double-digit growth. SAS Solutions OnDemand revenue jumped 15 percent, indicating customers' trust in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and enterprise hosting solutions from SAS. Revenue in the communications, education, energy and utilities, financial services, health care, hospitality and travel, life sciences, manufacturing, public security and retail industries all grew.
SAS® ANALYTICS DELIVERS RESULTS
SAS helps organizations everywhere harness data to provide insights that improve lives and business results. For example:
- Bank of America's Corporate Investment Group reduced the time required to process risk models, loan scores and loss forecasts, allowing more time to pursue new growth opportunities.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina helps hospitals identify and intervene with patients most likely to be readmitted.
- Singapore banking giant DBS spares 350,000 customers yearly the hassle of empty ATMs by understanding transaction patterns for each of its 1,350 ATMs.
- DSW knows which shoes to stock in specific locations to avoid stock-outs and markdowns, keeping customers satisfied and profits looking good.
- eBay's Dutch operation uses predictive analytics to improve every aspect of the user experience.
- The Hong Kong Efficiency Unit turns complaints into smart strategies that boost public satisfaction and improve citizens' quality of life.
- HP turns 2.5 billion customer transactions into insights that produce 20 percent incremental ROI across marketing campaigns.
- The Orlando Magic rivals the highest earners in the National Basketball Association, despite its smaller market.
- PSKW grew 140 percent three years running by being the only pharmaceutical marketer to analyze how coupons affect prescribing rates, helping branded drugs maintain market share against generic rivals.
- T-Mobile reduced churn by strengthening ties with influencers.
- Leaders in Italy's Valle d'Aosta region make more informed decisions about public finances.
- West Midlands Police - the UK's second-largest force - proved that cleaner data equals less crime.
ACQUISITION BRINGS ADVANCED ANALYTICS TO DIGITAL ADVERTISING
SAS acquires companies to enhance its offerings. In 2012, SAS acquired aiMatch's cloud-based ad server technology that helps publishers sell and manage online ad inventory. SAS' advanced analytics combined with aiMatch's technology lets publishers manage, forecast, optimize and measure ad inventory to maximize ad revenue.
PARTNERING YIELDS RESULTS
SAS continues to share its analytics expertise with partners globally. Teaming with leaders like Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, EMC Greenplum, IBM and Teradata, SAS provides superior analytics to customers including eBay, Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services, Cardinal Health, Australia's Medibank, UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs, and India's Maharashtra Tax Department.
OUTLOOK
SAS Visual Analytics quickly found traction after its March 2012 launch and will remain a focus in 2013. The big data visualization tool was hailed by analysts as customers embraced the value of easy, self-service data exploration. Creditreform, Cosmos Bank, Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, the Internal Revenue Service, SM Marketing Convergence, XL Group and others use SAS Visual Analytics to derive insight from their data.
SAS expects the demand for business insight from big data to increase through 2013. SAS High-Performance Analytics Server combines the speed of large scale in-memory software with the industry's most trusted advanced predictive analytics, offering near-real-time data mining, optimization, text mining and other features.
SAS will continue to emphasize industry-specific solutions, which are built on SAS' strong foundation of analytics and information management technologies. They help organizations unlock value and make better, faster business decisions.
"Dramatic reductions in processing times have bolstered new offerings such as visual analytics and high-performance applications for business. We're also designing and distributing these innovations on iPads and Android devices," said SAS Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jim Davis. "Our value proposition has never been stronger."
1 "Forrester Research, Inc., The Forrester Wave™: Big Data Predictive Analytics Solutions, Q1 2013."
ABOUT SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than 60,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2013, the Canadian subsidiary of SAS has been in operation since 1988. Headquartered in Toronto, SAS employs more than 300 people across the country at its Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City and Montréal offices. www.sas.com/canada
SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2013 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.
SOURCE: SAS Canada
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