Welcome to the June/July issue of In the Know, the newsletter for SAS users in the UK.

Despite summer being known in some quarters as 'the silly season', we're keeping our feet firmly on the ground. For instance, this issue has news on how the SAS Information Delivery Portal tackles the very real problem of information overload, plus ways in which pharmaceutical users can speed up drug development. There are also more Hints & Tips, details of new user training, and how smarter searching of our online technical resources can mean even faster results.

We are also offering you the opportunity to check out Butler Group's latest Technology Audit on SAS 9. This independent report includes the reassuring statement that "SAS technology excels in complex business scenarios - areas that other BI vendors fear to tread."

As this issue is mailed to you, seugi 21 is already under way in Vienna, with an entire day focused on technology. If you were unable to attend, don't worry! We plan to include highlights in the next issue of In the Know - watch this space.

Perhaps more importantly, plans for the SAS User Forum 2003 are now well advanced. Feedback from earlier events has shown that users really want to hear from other people who are using SAS to support their IT and business needs - which is why we'd like you to consider being a speaker. You'll find more details inside.

We hope you enjoy reading In the Know.

66% of European Organisations Admit Dirty Data Impacts Company Profitability
SAS has announced the results of a European survey among 500 marketing directors from companies across France, Germany, UK, Italy and the Netherlands. As a result of inaccurate or incomplete data, two thirds (66 percent) of respondents felt that the profitability of the company as a whole was negatively affected. This in turn led to 67 percent revealing that customer satisfaction and loyalty within their organisation is suffering.

SAS Reduces the Cost of Data Integration with New SAS® Enterprise ETL Server
SAS has announced major new enhancements to its market-leading enterprise data integration platform. With the creation of SAS® Enterprise ETL Server, SAS is delivering a powerful end-to-end enterprise data integration and management platform for designing, managing and improving data warehouses, and greatly simplifying the extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) process. The announcement was made at a press conference at SeUGI 21, this year's annual SAS European Users Group International conference.

Call for Speakers: SAS Users Need You!
The annual SAS User Forum is taking place in London on 15 October and Cumbria on 21 October. It presents a great opportunity to hear about and see the latest technology from the world of SAS, as well as meet your fellow SAS users. Being a speaker is a great opportunity to raise the profile of your own work and your organisation amongst your peers in the SAS user community.

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Using SAS, this global bank consolidated employee data, improved data quality and conducted powerful analysis and reporting, to ensure that the profile of the global workforce changed in line with the commitments made during the biggest takeover in UK banking history. TECHNOLOGY & SOLUTIONS

SAS 9: SAS Outperforms in Integrated Business Intelligence, says Butler Group
SAS has been positioned in the outperforming category of the integrated business intelligence market according to a recent report from Butler Group, the UK-based analyst company. As part of this comparative report they performed a Technology Audit on SAS 9. To gain an independent view on SAS 9 we are offering readers a free download of this Technology Audit.

SAS Information Delivery Portal: Business Information for All
Information overload is a serious problem. The challenge is to find and distribute information to the right people in the right place and at the right time. The SAS Information Delivery Portal extends information and knowledge derived from SAS' Business and Analytical Intelligence applications throughout the enterprise in a secure and managed manner.

SAS Drug Development: The Intelligence to Efficiently Manage Clinical Research Data
Developing and launching new drugs is costly and complex. So how can you ensure the process moves as rapidly as possible without compromising accuracy or safety? SAS Drug Development provides the intelligence organisations need to manage research data effectively, within a strong collaborative framework. SUPPORT & SERVICES

SAS Certified Base Programmer: Fast Track
SAS Education has condensed the instructor based training to enable you to gain the SAS Certified Base Programmer exam into a single five-day fast track course. So you can get up to speed in less time - and get accreditation to demonstrate your skills.

Practical ODS for Pharmaceutical Users
SAS UK is currently developing a range of targeted courses for industry professionals. The latest is designed to help pharmaceutical programmers analyse and report on clinical data even more effectively using the SAS Output Delivery System (ODS).

SAS Customer Support: Smart Searching for Fast Answers
Early results from our on-going Customer Support survey indicate that SAS users find our online self-help facilities very useful. In this issue, we've got tips on how you can get the results you need plus a listing of the SAS technical web resources available. HINTS & TIPS

How can I use ODBC to access SAS Datasets and SAS Views on a Unix or Mainframe Operating System?
Find out how to access SAS datasets or SAS views on these platforms using ODBC and the minimum requirements that you will need.

Why are some of my SAS fields blank or missing '.' when imported from an Excel spreadsheet?
Find out why, when importing an Excel file into SAS, using SAS/Access Interface to PC File Formats, some fields may be read in as blanks or '.'. EVENTS

Data Mining Showcase - Marlow, 25 June
Join us for a half-day seminar on how advanced analytical software can be used in your organisation to spot opportunities, target your best customers, forecast quality trends, optimise production resources, model organisational changes, and much more. Designed for IT and data management specialists, business analysts, data analysts and statisticians, you will learn about basic data mining and analytical concepts and see how data mining software can be used in both business and development scenarios.

SAS Information Delivery Portal Showcase - Marlow, 17 September
The SAS Information Delivery Portal provides an intuitive publish and subscribe interface to exploit the SAS information delivery and advanced analytics capabilities as driven by each individual user’s actual business demands and personal preferences - saving you time and effort without compromising security. This half-day seminar, designed for those responsible for the implementation of large Business Intelligence solution strategies, will concentrate on SAS Information Delivery Portal's key features including standard reporting, dynamic reporting and OLAP capability.

Intelligent Data Integration Showcase - Marlow, 2 October
The theme of this showcase is an Intelligent Data Integration Strategy that offers you the assurance of a single point of control, enabling you to respond quickly to ever changing needs of the business community whilst preserving the performance of underlying systems. Designed for data warehouse and information strategists, this half-day seminar will cover SAS’ leading edge Intelligence Architecture suite centred on Warehouse Administration, Open Meta Data and SAS’ groundbreaking Intelligent Architecture Blueprint.

For full listing of SAS UK events please click here. DID YOU KNOW?...

Endangered Rhinos are Reaping the Rewards of SAS Software
Combined with state-of-the-art statistical software from SAS, the art of footprint identification allows researchers at Rhinowatch to identify individual animals as well as determine population numbers in a particular area. The researchers use software from SAS to analyse digital photographs of animal tracks and then compare those tracks against others in a database. The result is a better understanding and more accurate count of endangered species.