CARY, NC (June 10, 2008) – SAS, the leader in business intelligence, has been placed in the Leaders' quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services¹ by Gartner, Inc.

According to the report, the Leaders' “quadrant tends to be occupied by vendors with software applications that are addressing qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of risk management of ORM. These vendors have achieved a high level of market acceptance and enable a consistent view of operational risk across the organization as compared to separately designed and implemented risk calculation engines or audit, control and compliance reporting tools. Such vendors approach operational risk more comprehensively and holistically across the enterprise and link operational risk to CPM. They have robust organizational structures and professional services resources.”

Gartner’s report evaluated SAS® on its ability to execute and its completeness of vision. According to the report, "this axis (ability to execute) evaluates ORM software application vendors on the quality and efficiency of the processes, systems, methods or procedures that enable their performance to be competitive, efficient and effective, and to positively affect revenue, retention and reputation.” The completeness of vision “axis evaluates ORM application vendors on their ability to convincingly articulate logical statements about current and future market direction, innovation, customer needs and competitive forces, and how well they map to the Gartner position.”

“SAS customers know that a strong technology partner is critical in operational risk and compliance management initiatives,” said David Rogers, SAS’ Global Product Marketing Manager for Risk. “In my opinion, this recognition from Gartner is a testament to the power that SAS' integrated quantitative and qualitative operational risk management application suite delivers to support a firm's enterprise risk management strategy.”

SAS® OpRisk Management
SAS OpRisk Management is an end-to-end solution built on the industry-leading SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform. With powerful data management, analytics, and regulatory reporting and disclosure capabilities, SAS OpRisk Management helps institutions optimize capital allocation while mitigating risks in all areas of their organizations. Please visit SAS Risk Intelligence for more information.

The momentum for SAS in the operational risk management space was also evidenced by doubled revenue growth in operational risk sales for 2007 and securing the leadership position in Chartis’ Operational Risk Management Systems 2008 for the fourth straight year.

SAS’ global operational risk customers are located in 28 countries across six continents and include institutions ranging in Australia, France, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US. SAS software’s leading data management capabilities and superior analytics arm institutions with the ability to view their risk profiles at an enterprise level. More than 70 institutions globally now use SAS OpRisk Management.

About the Magic Quadrant
The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted June 2008 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the “Leaders” quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

SAS
SAS, la più grande società a capitale privato nel mercato della Business Intelligence, è leader nel settore del software e dei servizi di business analytics. Dal 1976 attraverso business solution innovative basate sulla piattaforma di Enterprise Intelligence, SAS aiuta i clienti nel processo di miglioramento delle performance e nel prendere decisioni migliori e più velocemente. Con 45.000 installazioni, SAS è al servizio dei clienti di tutto il mondo fornendo THE POWER TO KNOW®

1. Gartner Research. Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services, Douglas McKibben, David Furlonger, June 6, 2008.