Butler Group confirms SAS outperforms the market in performance management

SAS enables managers to shorten the distance between measurement and action

CARY, N.C. (Aug. 16, 2004) — In a new report on corporate performance management, Butler Group, an independent IT research and analysis organization based in the UK, placed SAS, the leader in business intelligence, in pole position in the performance management market.

“In our recent evaluation of corporate performance management vendors, SAS was ranked as outperforming the market,” wrote Tim Jennings, research director for Butler Group, in a report titled Corporate Performance Management, A New Approach to Business Control and Planning. “SAS has been able to demonstrate its ability to bring robust, focused solutions to market, delivering a strong CPM solution that has both functional depth and breadth.” SAS was awarded best-in-class capability in Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Data Management, confirming Butler Group’s view that “the SAS®9 platform gives industry-leading power to fuel even the most ambitious corporate performance management strategies.”

SAS gives organizations the power to evolve quickly by enabling action on all factors that contribute to performance, rather than merely planning and observing the results. “There is disagreement in the market on the definition of performance management,” said Jonathan Hornby, worldwide performance management strategist at SAS. “Some believe it includes only planning and financial reporting and stops there. SAS goes way beyond this with its vision of performance management. We can provide actionable insight and foresight into what drives outcomes, be that from a quality angle, human or IT capital, customer behaviors or the supply side. Our goal is to help with focus, alignment and agility – wherever you are in an organization.”

The SAS®9 Intelligence Platform and SAS’ range of performance management applications offer a unique proposition to customers. SAS enables organizations to link directly to applications that can improve customer relationships, supplier spending and human capital management. Organizations can tune the speed and effectiveness of their business processes, gain the predictive capabilities needed to provide an outlook on the likely impact of change, and then take action to improve the results.

“Performance management has for too long been seen as a spectator sport,” concluded Hornby. “SAS enables managers to shorten the distance between measurement and action.”