Kuala Lumpur, (May 18, 2022) – SAS boldly stakes its future on a powerful cloud analytics platform and AI-driven, cloud-first industry solutions. It’s the analytics and AI leader’s cloud-first approach that eases customers’ digital transformations. And SAS’ cloud momentum is building: Despite the pandemic’s pressure and uncertainty, SAS’ global cloud revenue jumped 19% in 2021. With results like this, SAS is deepening its broad industry portfolio with solutions that support life sciences, energy and martech.  

According to McKinsey & Company, 70% of companies using cloud technology plan to increase their cloud budgets. The public cloud computing market is projected to grow to $800 billion by 2024, with implementations across all industries – retail, media, telecom, education, banking, insurance and more.  

What’s driving this investment? Forrester Consulting’s new Total Economic Impact^™ study, shows organizations deploying SAS^® Viya^® on Microsoft Azure SAS® Viya® on Microsoft Azurecan see significant returns in as little as 14 months. In fact, one company more than tripled its investment in three years, results that will be explored during the May 18 webinar, Driving 204% ROI With SAS Viya On Microsoft Azure. 

Journey to the cloud 

SAS’ cloud-first transformation didn’t happen overnight. Using its decades-long legacy as a bridge to the future, step No. 1 was to develop SAS^® Viya^® as a cloud-first analytics platform. That endeavor ran in sync with ongoing strategic partnership investments, including Microsoft Azure. More recently, SAS joined new partner Cosmo Tech to fortify its digital twin simulation capabilities.   

“We transformed our portfolio to be cloud-native and cloud-portable so customers can accelerate their move to the cloud and expand their use of analytics, machine learning and AI,” said Bryan Harris, SAS Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “At the end of the day, we want our platform and industry solutions to be a critical part of every customer’s analytic innovation.”

Because SAS is both cloud-first and cloud-agnostic, helping customers manage the complexity of analyzing intense data in the cloud is second nature. “Our customers don’t need to stress about data complexity or the details of running analytic workloads in the cloud, because SAS gives them the expertise they need,” said Jay Upchurch, SAS Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer – who also leads the SAS cloud business. “SAS analytics in the cloud gives our customers a distinct advantage, whether they’re using SAS Viya or an industry solution.” 

SAS helps progressive customers see results in the cloud more easily 

SAS’ commitment to cloud and AI innovation lives in its customers’ success. Among them: 

- Georgia-Pacific uses SAS^® Analytics for IoT powered by SAS Viya on AWS and is digitally transforming its manufacturing and commercial operation. By using SAS, Georgia-Pacific saw a 30% reduction in unplanned downtime in its factories and was able to catch supply chain issues earlier to ensure commercial deliveries arrived on time and in full. 
- Inland Revenue New Zealand has digitally transformed using SAS Viya. This makeover helped the agency boost compliance, save taxpayer money, and improve customer experience.   
- Iveco Group, a global truck manufacturer, digital transformed using SAS Viya. SAS analytics in the cloud helps Iveco Group reduce truck recalls by proactively fixing customer issues before they become major problems.  
- The North Carolina Collaboratory analyzes IoT sensor data from COVID-19 vaccine storage freezers to strengthen cold-chain integrity and improve dosage delivery, particularly to underserved and rural communities.   

Other customers embracing the transformative power of SAS Viya include Kellogg’s, Ahold Delhaize, and the State of Idaho. In 2021, SAS realized the most cloud revenue growth from customers in Asia Pacific (48% growth) and EMEA (29% growth).  

SAS differentiates itself with broad portfolio of AI-infused industry solutions 

SAS’ experience and expertise in industry and horizontal solutions is unmatched, with new solutions being built continuously. The newest additions include:  

- SAS 360 Match. As streaming media giants face headline-grabbing subscription losses, SAS delivers technology to help them put consumers’ desires front and center. This martech solution delivers a first-party, cloud-based ad serving platform, fully integrated with other SAS technologies, including customer data platform, marketing planning and strategy, and customer journey optimization. It streamlines the entire customer engagement process – from advertising, to marketing, to customer engagement and, ultimately, conversion. 

- SAS Clinical Enrollment Simulation Cloud. The pandemic gave the world a front-row seat to the importance of clinical trials in developing live-saving vaccines and treatments. This new software-as-a-service offering, built on SAS Viya, enables life sciences and contract research organizations to virtually simulate the outcome of complex clinical trial enrollment processes. Available later this year on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, it leverages a powerful discrete event simulation (DES) engine to model the clinical trial enrollment process as it evolves over time, facilitating improved insights to guide enrollment strategy and meet contracted patient targets. The result is faster, more strategic clinical trial enrollment planning. 

- SAS^® Grid Guardian AI. The IoT analytics solution helps energy companies reduce costs, protect workers in the field and improve energy grid reliability. By applying edge computing, AI and machine learning to the radio frequency (RF) emissions flowing from overhead power distribution equipment, SAS helps energy companies better understand when overhead equipment failures might occur so they can prioritize maintenance schedules to boost safety, reliability and uptime. 

SAS Hackathon teams innovate with SAS in the cloud 

The SAS Hackathon is an incubator for innovation and a test bed for AI in the cloud. Hackathon teams use SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure, along with open-source tools, to help solve some of the world’s toughest social and economic challenges. 

This year’s SAS Hackathon featured 64 teams, representing 135 organizations and 75 countries. An Indonesian team used advanced analytics to help the local government in Jakarta optimize distribution of COVID relief to millions of micro, small and medium enterprises. Another team from Wisconsin used AI to analyze the outcome of foreclosure policies and procedures in Milwaukee County with the goal of identifying and eliminating potential inequity, bias and racism. 

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