Launch Of New Product Puts SAS Software In Spotlight

The software company has had a bit of an identity crisis over the years, but hopes its new product line will change that.

SAS Institute president Dr. Jim Goodnight toasts what he calls the most important launch in his company's 28-year history --

SAS®9

.

Tuesday, software developers, customers and industry leaders came to hear about the newest version of SAS' analytic and business software.

The company says SAS®9 is easier to use and enables companies to make better business decisions.

"The economy has been challenging for a lot of organizations. So it's all about optimization -- what can they do better," SAS vice president Jim Davis said.

SAS software is used by all types of businesses, from banks, retail stores and pharmaceutical companies to the U.S. military and local universities.

North Carolina State University professor David Dickey uses SAS software to research ways of treating hog waste emissions.

"We have people going out there taking measurements of emissions on these farms and we then have to analyze all that data," Dickey said.

Despite the emphasis on SAS software, what people hear most about is SAS culture. It was even featured on CBS' 60 Minutes.

With its on-site day care and health care facility, SAS been one of

Fortune

magazine's best places to work for the past seven years.

Goodnight calls it the basis for his company's success.

"The culture is what helps create the great products," Goodnight said. "The idea that we want to have an environment here that fosters creativity and that creativity is what fosters the great products for us."

Products Goodnight believes will help businesses for years to come.

Nearly 4,000 people work at the SAS headquarters in Cary. Another 5,000 employees work at SAS offices around the world.