SAS® Resellers Bring Value to Customers

How small and medium-sized businesses are gaining quick business impact with SAS

By Miles Mahoney

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are often underserved when it comes to technology offerings, either due to pricing constraints or lack of resources. However, SMBs make up a huge percentage of businesses worldwide, which is why SAS has expanded its traditional direct sales force to include resellers. 

Resellers – also known as VARs (value-added resellers) – are companies that can specialize in certain markets or geographies and provide objective counsel to organizations about what hardware and software are needed to improve performance. VARs sell products and offer consulting services. 

Through the SAS global reseller program, we are better able to deliver technologies to these smaller companies. Plus, customers now have easier access to the breadth of SAS software offerings through resellers that are:

• Closer to the customer geographically, which is helpful for implementation and troubleshooting purposes.
• Focused on the customer's business area, which gives customers more targeted technology solutions that offer a greater, and quicker, impact on their businesses. 

As Vice President of Global Alliances and Channels, I've seen how resellers can help SAS reach out to a broader base of customers across the globe. For example, a business seeking better control over its inventory management system may contact a local reseller to find out which technology offerings would meet its needs. The reseller not only provides this level of counsel but also manages presales discussions, implementation and ongoing support. In addition, a SAS reseller can give SMBs a comprehensive, integrated technology package that includes SAS software and hardware from leading partners such as IBM, HP or Sun. 

SAS also partners with VARs that are specialized in certain industries. Through our relationship with COMSYS, a leading IT staffing and solutions company, we recently helped a pharmaceutical company integrate and analyze research data for potential new drug applications.  Because COMSYS had both the industry and SAS BI experience needed, we arranged a meeting with the customer. COMSYS was able to help the customer choose the best and most comprehensive SAS solution to meet the company's needs. 

As a recognized leader in the pharmaceutical industry, COMSYS spoke directly to the customer's business pain in a language the customer understood. COMSYS also acted as a customer advocate to ensure that all technical questions were addressed, legal paperwork was signed and required services – such as installation and knowledge transfer – were provided.

The SAS Reseller Program is a combination of technical, training, sales, marketing and account management support that gives small and midmarket customers access to the benefits of SAS software through indirect channels. SAS resellers can offer data integration, intelligence storage, advanced analytics and traditional BI applications within a comprehensive platform. As a result, resellers no longer need multiple vendors to implement a proven, scalable and fully integrated business intelligence solution for their customers. They can do it all with SAS.

Bio: Miles Mahoney is Vice President of SAS Global Alliances and Channels.