SAS Institute Launches International Competency Center with IBM.

Focusing on decision support, data

warehousing, data mining and e-business ...

CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 1999--

SAS Institute Inc. today announced the creation with IBM of the IBM and SAS Institute International Competency Center.

The center will provide customers and sales teams worldwide with assistance and resources for sizing, design and configuration, benchmark testing, and implementation of a host of SAS(R) software solutions - for data mining, data warehousing, and other business-intelligence functions - running on leading IBM server platforms.

The center will be located at SAS Institute's world headquarters in Cary, N.C., and be fully staffed and operational in the fourth quarter of this year.

Turning businesses to e-businesses, data to e-intelligence

"Today's e-business applications create both opportunities and challenges for businesses," said John McIntyre, SAS Institute's director of global marketing. "Companies are trying to make sense of the mountains of data generated from these applications in order to build customer loyalty, manage supplier relationships, and improve employee productivity. Marrying data warehousing and decision support with the Internet is an important strategic goal for many enterprises because it combines the knowledge of the warehouse with the reach of the Net."

The drive toward data warehousing to bolster e-business requires the infrastructure to support the collection, storage, categorization, and distribution of the data to end users. Applications need to be designed for scalability, reliability, and growth, while also meeting the expectations of usability and quick response time.

"The IBM and SAS Institute International Competency Center will help customers architect hardware and software solutions that will handle the unique demands of an e-business world and provide assurance that SAS solutions are `ServerProven' on IBM servers," said Bob Timpson, IBM's general manager of solution developer marketing.

"That means customers can purchase leading business-intelligence solutions from SAS Institute with the confidence that they have been tested for performance, reliability, and compatibility as part of IBM's ServerProven Program. With information from the center, they can better leverage the breadth of IBM's server product line and the powerful decision-support software solutions from SAS Institute to turn their businesses into e-businesses."

"With the growth of e-business and Web-based commerce, companies need to better understand customer behavior on Web sites and choose the appropriate channel to interact with these customers," added McIntyre. "Leveraging our core competencies in data warehousing, data mining, and decision support, SAS Institute can help companies make sense of the flood of data coming from Web-based transactions and turn it into actionable knowledge - in effect turning data into e-intelligence."

Repository of expertise and information

Staffed jointly by SAS Institute and IBM professionals, the center will serve as a single point of contact and a repository of technical product information and marketing literature. The center will focus on major SAS Institute initiatives, including data warehousing, data mining, and decision support, as well as customer relationship management (CRM), leveraging ERP systems, and collaborative business intelligence, among others. It will be backed by the technical expertise of IBM and SAS Institute research and development teams.

The center will facilitate the seamless integration of scalable IBM server platforms such as Netfinity, RS/6000 and S/390 with leading decision-support software solutions from SAS Institute. These solutions include SAS(R) Enterprise Miner(TM) software for data mining, SAS/Warehouse Administrator(TM) software for building and managing data warehouses, and SAS MDDB Server(TM) software for online analytical processing (OLAP), among others.

"SAS Institute and IBM have long worked together to develop technologies that allow our customers to focus on solving business problems and making better business decisions, rather than worrying about the underlying infrastructure," said Dennis Massengill, director of the enterprise technology partners program at SAS Institute.

SAS Institute & IBM: A 20-year relationship

IBM and SAS Institute are positioned to provide customers with enterprise-wide solutions for data warehousing, data mining, and other mission-critical decision-support applications. The new International Competency Center is only the latest chapter in a 20-year history of IBM and SAS Institute working together.

IBM provides a solid foundation for SAS applications on a wide range of server platforms including S/390, RS/6000, and Netfinity (running Windows NT or OS/2). Each of these servers provides a scalable, reliable, secure environment that enables customers to grow as their needs grow. SAS solutions also take advantage of other key technologies from IBM including DB2, MQSeries, and the IBM eNetwork Communications servers.

IBM is a SAS Institute Enterprise Technology Partner, while SAS Institute is a Premier member of IBM PartnerWorld for Developers. SAS Institute is also a member of the S/390, RS/6000, and AS/400 Partners in Development program, an Advanced Level ISV partner with the Netfinity server division, a Lotus Business Partner, and a Tivoli Business Partner. The IBM Software Group also recognizes SAS applications as ISV solutions for Business Intelligence, and IBM Global Services provides services for many SAS solutions including SAS Intelligent Warehouse for SAP R/3. Through these partner programs, both companies can optimize and exploit each other's new technologies as they develop. For example, SAS Institute gains early access to IBM servers and other technologies so that customers can leverage them as soon as they become generally available.

"Ultimately, the goal of the relationship is to maximize customers' return on investment in IBM hardware and SAS software solutions," said Massengill. "Through the IBM PartnerWorld for Developers Program, IBM's participation in SAS Institute's Customer Technology Center, and other collaborative avenues, IBM already works closely with SAS Institute's R&D staff to facilitate integration of new IBM technologies into our products, and with our marketing staff to identify business opportunities. The new International Competency Center is another indication of our joint commitment to provide complete solutions for enterprise-wide computing."

About SAS Institute

SAS Institute, the world's largest privately held software company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated enterprise information-delivery solutions. Founded in 1976, the Institute markets packaged business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to transform the wide variety of data within their organizations into information that business users and researchers need to make better decisions. SAS software and services are used at more than 33,000 business, government, and university sites in 115 countries. SAS Institute achieved 1998 revenue of $871 million.

Please visit SAS Institute's Web site: http://www.sas.com .

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Netfinity, RS/6000, S/390, AS/400, DB2, MQSeries and OS/2 are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.