Copyright©2013http://jtonedm.comJamesTaylor
JimDaviskickedofftheannualSASanalystevent.SASseestheirworkonin-memoryanalyticsinrecentyearsasanothermajorchangeinthewaycompanieshandledataanddevelopanalytics,especiallywhencombinedwiththeirworkontakingadvantageofthiswiththeirnewvisualanalyticsinterfaces.This,hesays,isgoingtobeathemethroughoutthedayandthroughout2013moregenerally.
SASnumbersgoodagain–37yearsofprofitablegrowth–andtheyareclosinginon$3Binrevenue.Revenuecomes70%fromexistingsubscriptionrevenueandsplits47%Americas,41%EMEAand12%AsiaPacific.Newsalesgrowth(doubledigit,upto25%)camefromAsiaandsecondarilyfromtheUSwithEurochallengesandrecessionholdingbackEurope.FinancialServicesisstillnearly40%ofrevenuewithgovernmentandservicesfillingoutthetop3.13,500employeesnowworldwideandcontinuedpartnerimpact(abouthalfthetop50dealsand34%ofincrementalrevenue,aboutthesameaslastyear)withAccenturethetoppartner.
ProductgrowthcameinanumberofareassuchasAdvancedAnalytics(8.8%growth,30%ofrevenue),MarketingAnalytics(14.7%growth),Risk(14.9%),SupplyChain(19.9%)andFraudwithawhopping22.4%growth.
SASiscontinuingtodriveitshostedbusinesswithhostingfacilitiesaroundtheworld(US,Canada,Brazil,Amsterdam, France,Germany,Japan,India,Singapore,Australiaplanned). BusinessisgrowingrapidlyinthisgroupandSASisinvestingheavilyinboththehardwareandpeoplerequiredtosupportthesedealsaswellassoftwarefunctionality.
Fromasalesperspectiveanalytics,datamanagementandfraudseemtohavebroadappealwhilefraudandcustomerintelligenceshowedstronggrowthintheUSforinstance.StrongSMBgrowth,lotsofnewinsidesalesteamswithafocusonanalytics,BIanddatamanagementformidsized. KeyGTMinitiativesintheUSincludefocusonvisualanalytics,informationmanagement,customerintelligence,fraud/financialcrimesandriskmanagement.SASseesastrongfunnelfor2013andfeelsstronglythatHighPerformanceAnalyticswilldriveextragrowthandempowerbetterindustrysolutionstoo.
Lotsofnewreleasescomingin2013includingmanyreleasesofsolutionstotakeadvantageoftheHighPerformanceAnalyticsplatform,SAS9,4inQ2,criticalnewDecisionManagementandrulescapabilitiesinQ2/Q3.Moreonsomeofthecriticalreleasesastheconferencecontinues.
JimtouchedonsomeofthecompetitorslikeSAPHANA(in-memorybutnotseenascompetitiveonadvancedanalytics),Microstrategy(goodmobileandreporting,notsomuchonadvancedanalytics),QlikView/Tableau/Spotfire(nicevisualizationinterfaces,notsomuchcompetitioninotherareas).EachonehefeelshassomeofwhatSAShasbutnonehaveallofit,especiallytheanalyticscomponentthattiesin-memorytovisualization.SASfeelsthatithasdifferentiationbecauseit’sanalytics supportlargeamountsoftraditionaldataaswellasBigDataanddeliverreactive(reporting,OLAP)aswellasproactiveanalytics(optimization,forecasting,predictiveanalytics).InparticularhefeelsthatSAS’focusonin-memoryanalyticsratherthananinmemorydatabasepositionsthemtodrivetheiradvancedanalyticsacrosslargerdatasetsandBigData.
Onelastthing.SAShaslaunchedatrybeforeyoubuyforVisualAnalyticsandtheHighPerformanceAnalyticsserver,allrunningonAmazonwebservices. Verygoodresponse,lotsofinterestandthousandsoflegitimateprospects.
DrGoodnightwrappeduptheintrosessionwithalivedemooftheVisualAnalyticsproduct, includingsomeoftheintegratedforecastingandpredictiveanalytics.