New SAS® Solutions OnDemand Deliver Business Intelligence as a Service

SAS has rolled out five new business intelligence solutions as software-as-a-service offerings to complement SAS Solutions OnDemand: Web Analytics.

These on-demand versions of key products extend SAS' five-year-old hosted software business, which totaled $20 million in sales last year.

SAS Solutions OnDemand: Web Analytics, which enables organizations to leverage Web data to enhance customer service and retention and boost Internet marketing, will be joined by five new industry-ready OnDemand solutions:

• 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 -- 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.

Unlike other BI vendors SAS does not outsource infrastructure and support. With SAS Solutions OnDemand, customers have access to the most comprehensive business intelligence platform available today, created by the insiders who know these tools best, and deployed on infrastructure that has been specifically tuned for the solution.

Guaranteed system and solution availability
SAS Solutions OnDemand are used by companies ranging in size from multinational pharmaceutical and insurance giants to medium-sized healthcare, manufacturing and retail companies. These solutions offer an alternative channel for organizations that want to enjoy the full functionality and power of SAS through a proven delivery channel without committing the resources to purchase and deploy software in-house. Pricing for the SAS Solutions OnDemand ranges from tens of thousands to millions of dollars depending on the customer and the applications.

SAS guarantees system and solution availability. Companies can rely on the usability of the whole solution -- from design and development, to the infrastructure on which it runs, to the day-to-day performance and system availability.

In addition, certification by Systrust, an assurance service jointly developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), provides external validation that SAS meets or exceeds industry best-practices for network and data security.

Deloitte Consulting reported that the SAS Solutions OnDemand service-delivery methodology was an "optimal, repeatable and scalable process" that aligned very closely with Deloitte's own "Proven Approach Model" of best practices. Ernst & Young LLP granted an "unqualified opinion" and "assurance report" on SAS' network and access controls for May through October, 2005 based on its professional standards.

Software-as-a-service
"As other BI vendors just now enter this space, SAS continues to evolve its software delivery model to meet the needs of its customers," says Jim Davis, SAS' Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. "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."

On-demand software, sometimes referred to as software-as-a-service, is the next iteration of the application service provider (ASP) model. With on-demand software a vendor hosts applications on-site for multiple customers.

SAS rolls out five new BI offerings for clients who want the power of SAS without deploying in-house software.