Economy got you down? Pull back up with SAS®

The long-term effects of the global financial crisis are still unclear, but one thing is certain: Your organization cannot dodge this downturn with complacency and business as usual.

How can you use business analytics from SAS to help keep profits from falling and customers from fleeing? Start by answering the six questions we ask about your company’s information.

After you have those answers, consider how much you’d gain from a 400 percent increase on last year’s net income. Peter Turney explains how that’s possible.

Finally, you can learn a lot from the successes of analytic leaders in other industries:

• The travel industry on how to better manage revenue.
• The banking industry on losing – and keeping – customers.
• The telecom industry on cutting costs by 30 percent and improving marketing response rates.

I’ve heard many SAS customers say that cross-industry exchanges at SAS conferences are invaluable, and the popularity of the book Competing on Analytics supports those claims. In the photo on this page, I’m talking to Thomas Davenport, co-author of that book, at The Premier Business Leadership Series in Las Vegas.

I’m convinced that book was successful – in part – because it tells so many real-world stories. You might not be a professional baseball team or an international casino, but you can replicate their successes with analytics.

Keep that in mind when you read this issue of sascom, and take the time to consider what you might learn from a leader in meat processing or the world’s third-largest firefighting organization. The lessons could help you survive a downturn.

sascom Editor-in-Chief Alison Bolen talks with author Thomas Davenport at The Premier Business Leadership Series in Las Vegas.