Solution Center is part of SAS expansion plans in collaboration with Avnet Technology Solutions to support its growing customer needs

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 APRIL 2008 – SAS Malaysia, the market leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services, today announced the opening of a SAS Solution Center in Kuala Lumpur, in collaboration with Avnet Technology Solutions, to support its channels and alliances partners and customers.

Located at SAS Malaysia’s office in Plaza Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, the Solution Center is part of SAS’ latest go-to-market strategy to expand its market reach via its channels and alliances program to meet the surging demand for analytics in corporations across the local industries.

Jonathan Lee, head of Alliances and Channels for SAS Malaysia, says the SAS Solution Center makes up an important part of the support structure for its growing number of business partners.

The key purpose in setting up the SAS Solution Center is to provide a facility that enables SAS Channel partners to showcase SAS Business Intelligence (BI) solutions and facilitate proofs of concepts and product benchmarking for their customers and prospects. Ultimately, it is for channel partners to demonstrate to their customers the full potential of their BI investments.

The SAS Solution Center will host a full suite of SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform technology and specific SAS BI solutions that cater to the manufacturing, telecommunication and public sectors and other vertical industries.

“Besides incorporating the necessary technical expertise to run SAS’ leading-edge BI solutions, the SAS Solution Center will also be utilized to promote BI implementation best practices and industry-specific knowledge that help customers attain quicker ROI through the incorporation of analytics into their business operations," said Lee.

Powered by Avnet and IBM

The SAS Solution Center will run on IBM System x servers supported by Avnet, a SAS technology partner, leading global solutions distributor and long-term distributor of IBM products and services worldwide.

With a comprehensive portfolio of technology solutions offerings, Avnet will provide a range of services to help SAS maintain existing hardware and software maintenance. The System x is one of IBM's most popular servers for the small and medium business (SMB) segment. The affordable servers are Intel® or AMD®-based and run under Windows® or Linux®. They are suitable for use as file, Web or database servers and for supporting network infrastructure and some business applications. “SAS and its channels will benefit from the IBM System x proven server and storage solutions backed up by Avnet's deep knowledge and expertise in this area,“ said Chiew Yue Lam, general manager of Avnet Technology Solutions Malaysia.

According to Chiew, the partnership with SAS is driven by Avnet’s global dedication to accelerate the success of its channel partners and alliance. “The SAS Solution Center is a result of a commitment by both parties to support our channel partners in addressing the needs of the BI solutions users more effectively,” he said.

Under the collaboration, Avnet will provide the necessary hardware support for the SAS Solution Center and assist in providing accurate hardware sizing recommendations to match customers’ BI requirements.

“Avnet has consistently partnered with topnotch IT vendors to support the development of the Malaysian IT industry and to meet the increasing demand for cutting-edge IT infrastructure, services and solutions ranging from server and storage consolidation to virtualization, system implementation, systems management and data migration,” explained Chiew.

SAS is the leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services. Customers at more than 44,000 sites use SAS software to improve performance through insight from data, resulting in faster, more accurate business decisions; more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; compliance with governmental regulations; research breakthroughs; and better products and processes. Only SAS offers leading data integration, storage, analytics and business intelligence applications within a comprehensive enterprise intelligence platform. Since 1976, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW^®. www.sas.com

Avnet Technology Solutions is an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) representing US$6 billion in annual revenue for fiscal year 2007, with locations in more than 30 countries. As a global technology sales and marketing organization, Avnet Technology Solutions has sales divisions focused on specific customer segments and a select line card strategy enabling an exceptional level of attention to the needs of its customers and suppliers.