Business Intelligence on Demand: SAS Expands Array of Hosted Software Services

Posted 10:07 a.m. May 10, 2006 — Updated 10:07 a.m. May 10, 2006

CARY, N.C. — SAS

, encouraged by $20 million in sales for on-demand versions of its software in 2005, is expanding its lineup of hosted product offerings.

The privately held software firm said Tuesday it would offer a variety of hosted services ranging from anti-money laundering to business intelligence.

Online sales make up just a fraction of the $1.68 billion in revenues SAS reported last year. However, global demand for software as a service, or hosted, offerings is exploding. Analyst firm IDC projects the market will generate nearly $11 billion in revenue by 2009.

The embrace of a hosted sales strategy reflects a determination by SAS to "evolve" to meet customer demand and market opportunities.

"As other (business intelligence) vendors just now enter this space, SAS continues to evolve its software delivery model to meet the needs of its customers," said Jim Davis, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at SAS. "SAS Solutions OnDemand incorporate SAS' full business intelligence capabilities and deliver the power of SAS to meet business challenges. We will continue to evolve this service to meet the demands of our customers."

New products designed to supplement the already offered OnDemand Web Analytics suite include (descriptions provided by SAS):

"SAS Solutions OnDemand: Business Intelligence - helps an organization derive intelligence from customer, operational, financial and other data

"SAS Solutions OnDemand: Supplier Relationship Management - helps companies analyze and optimize their spending on raw materials and supplies

"SAS Solutions OnDemand: Marketing Automation -- helps improve marketing response rates and revenues through easily managed, sophisticated, timely and personalized customer communication

"SAS Solutions OnDemand: Veridiem MRM (market resource management) - helps companies understand the return on investment from marketing activities such as advertising, promotions, incentives, direct mail, events and the Web

"SAS Solutions OnDemand: Anti-Money Laundering - delivers a monitoring system that helps financial services organizations comply with regulations and reduce the risk of illegal money-laundering activities"

SAS said the web hosting infrastructure and support would be provided by SAS rather than outsourced.

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