SAS(R) Mobile dashboard boosts greater business use of BlackBerry, iPhone,
Windows smartphones

Enterprises see how SAS "on-the-go" improves and speeds decision making

SAS GLOBAL FORUM, SEATTLE, April 12 /CNW/ - A new smart-phone-based interactive dashboard application from SAS, the leader in business analytics (http://www.sas.com/businessanalytics/) software and services, allows business leaders to make better data-driven decisions while mobile.

Announced today, SAS Mobile combines the power of SAS with the portability of BlackBerry, Apple iPhone and Windows-based mobile devices. Users of SAS Mobile applications navigate through displays with interactive graphs, tables and charts. Alert features notify them of changes in key measures.

"Smartphone applications are increasingly about providing value to business users," said Chris Ambrosio, Executive Director for the Wireless Practice at Strategy Analytics. "As the number of mobile professionals using smartphones continues to grow, enterprises are looking for new ways to use the intelligence of these devices so that decisions can be made without delay and the business derives greater value from its mobile investment."

Strategy Analytics, a technology research firm, expects global smart phone sales to nearly double during the next five years, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 percent through 2014. As of 2009, the Blackberry leads with a 40 percent market share and iPhone follows with a 30 percent market share, according to Strategy Analytics.

How SAS Mobile works

SAS Mobile is not a generic application with static screens. An enterprise simply creates custom SAS dashboards with company-specific metrics, displays and formatting. Those dashboards are then made available so the right people have data for mobile decision-making and collaboration.

For example, a BlackBerry user receives alerts, clicks to display the mobile dashboard, uses drill-down to analyze alerts and then selects quick "one-click" access to contact others for appropriate actions. SAS Mobile extends SAS to bring value and insight to users not tied to desks. This includes outside sales representatives who value alerts on payment delays, product back orders, or revenue vs. target reports.

iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices will be supported in the initial release. SAS currently provides HTTP/HTTPS support for Wireless Markup Language (WML) and WAP to deliver SAS BI and analytical content to wireless devices. The dashboard builder, expected for delivery in September as part of SAS(R) Enterprise BI Server (http://www.sas.com/technologies/bi/entbiserver/index.html), uses Flash technology and runs from most browsers.

Today's announcement was made at SAS Global Forum (http://support.sas.com/events/sasglobalforum/2010/index.html), the world's largest gathering of SAS customers, attended by more than 3,000 business and IT users of SAS software and solutions. More information on announcements at the event, including screenshots and videos, is available here (http://www.sas.com/presscenter/sgf10/).

On the go at German airport

One SAS customer, Fraport, has already realized the value of SAS in a small, mobile device. Fraport manages the Frankfurt Airport in Germany.

"With more than 148,000 passengers and nearly 6,000 tons of freight daily, we need to supply our managers with near-real-time information to optimally manage our large and complex operation," said Dieter Steinmann, Senior Manager of Business Systems at Fraport.

"Our system, integrating numerous data sources, allows our operations staff to access the SAS applications with either BlackBerry handhelds or desktop PCs. Mobile devices are critical in our airport environment where decisions are made over 18,000 square meters. We now deliver key information to the people who need it most, even if they are sitting in a truck on a taxiway," he said.

SAS applications integrate information on past and future flights, passengers, employees, delays, weather and more - all extracted from operational applications - giving a common overview of flight operations, said Steinmann. Whether in-office or roaming the airport, managers have an overview of all key performance indicators in near-real time, including average luggage delivery times, flight delay causes and security levels.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics (http://www.sas.com/businessanalytics/) software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 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(R).

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. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (C) 2010 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

For further information: Editorial Contact: Steve Polilli, [email protected], [phone], Visit the SAS Press Center www.sas.com/presscenter