SAS Corporation

Prepared for

Ms. Li Yang

Professor, Management Department

UTEP

By:

Kaitlyn McIntyre

Trelvis DesChamps

Abraham Volerzuela

Myrna Gunzalez

Amro Hussien

Britt Shelton

Anthony Beltran

Lorenzo Olivas

December 3, 2009

SAS, a computer software company that began in 1976 by Anthony Barr, James

Goodnight, John Sall, and Jane Helwig has its main headquarters located in Cary, North

Carolina. Its full name is Statistical Analysis System, which was used as an arbitrary trade name

having United States protection under the property law of trademarks. The company name,

however, has outgrown the sphere of statistical analysis systems.

When the company began, the product that SAS produced was a software package used

for statistical analysis, as indicated by the name, and was used on IBM mainframe computers. It

consisted of three windows only which was an unusual concept for the time. The first window

contained the written or edited part of the system, the second window was for the program output

and the last or third window was the program log. As other types of computers became available

to the public, SAS conformed to work in those environments as well, keeping a compatible

structure to make it easier for users to switch from one operating system to another.

SAS is a centralized company meaning the company is directed by decisions made by the

top executives of the business. Some of these individuals are Jim Goodnight CEO, John Sall the

co-founder and Executive Vice President, Keith Collins Senior Vice President and Chief

Technology Officer, and eight more members with executive positions in the company. The

corporate vision that these individuals strive to achieve is the commitment to product and

service, quality and customer satisfaction. The company does not just test the product after it has

been developed; instead testing is done throughout the process of development to achieve highest

quality. Jim Goodnight, SAS President and Chief Executive, personally monitors the process.

The Senior Director is accountable for all the overall quality of SAS software, while the

Software Quality Division provides for all the focal points of the manufacturing process. These

processes also deal with the service quality as well as customer satisfaction.

SAS is the largest privately held software company in the world. The Business

Intelligence Software market is the primary industry in which SAS competes. The software is

used to improve decision making for companies in areas such as brand management, supply

chain management, human capital intelligence, risk management, accounting services,

automotive services and many others (SAS, 2009). SAS develops intelligence software that

helps managers make better decisions with the data and statistics provided by the software.

Business intelligence software is utilized by companies to gather client data and for

analyzing customer trends, statistics, demographics or other information needed to meet strategic

goals. Customer relationship management software is another specialized niche in which SAS

competes. This software consists of methods that companies use to interact with customers, like

handling customer incoming calls, or emails, and gathering that information for assessment on

customer preferences and trends (Rigby, 2002). The third market in which SAS competes is the

database and file management industry. This service is to provide data and information storage

critical to a company’s information systems. Databases contain and safeguard the company’s

most critical assets which are its information, accounting records, client list, invoices, purchase

orders, requisitions and any other information the company must store.

The U.S. economy heavily influences business spending for software products. The

success of programming companies depends strongly on technical expertise. The success of

package programming companies depends heavily on good marketing. Capital intensive and

highly automated, the software industry averages revenue of $400,000 per employee. SAS’s

industry relies heavily on innovation, and with huge competitors like Oracle, its number one

competitor with 48.8% of the market share based on software revenues, SAS must maintain

technological and human capital innovation. Ranked twelfth in the business software niche,

according to Mergent Online, SAS’s main competitors are Cognos, Oracle, and SAP.

The business software development market is a highly competitive environment. SAS

designs software for its clients specifically for their individual needs. Clients like the U.S

Department of Defense, NASA, Air France and the automotive industry affords SAS a

competitive advantage. With large clients like these, SAS must not only meet their current needs

but continue providing new innovations to them. Volatility in the business software business is

due to technology and innovation, rendering products or services offered by software companies

obsolete in a matter of a few years. Despite this unpredictability, SAS has remained for more

than 20 years a fierce competitor in the software industry.

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent

vendor in the business intelligence market. Since it started in 1976, SAS has obtained customers

in one hundred twenty one countries, more than forty five thousand businesses, government and

university sites and ranks ninety-two in the top one hundred companies on the 2009 Fortune

Global Five Hundred List. The health of the company is excellent considering the nature of the

economy. Annual revenue has increased from 1.53 billion in 2004 to 2.26 billion in 2008. Taking

into account the current economy, I would think that the SAS does not have to worry about the

health of the company at this particular time. The company is continuing to steadily increase its

annual revenue and is well as on its way to meet its projection of 2.85 billion for this year in

annual revenue.

The rate of growth for SAS has also steadily increased, with the company now employing

eleven thousand one hundred and one employees around the world. This is an increase of three

and a half percent from last year. They are also introducing a new product called SAS Visual

Data Discovery which enables you to provide a point-and-click interface to the advanced

analytic capabilities of SAS. It enhances advanced analytics and exploratory data analysis with

interactive data visualization, leading to better analysis, faster decisions and more effective

presentations of analytic results. This new program itself helped employ over one hundred and

fifty new employees. Considering that unemployment is now at an all time high, the fact that

SAS was able to not only implement a new program but also hire over one hundred employees

for the program is proof that the rate of growth for SAS is good and increasing.

The key accounting and financial measures for SAS are achieved first by investing its

own money into the financial intelligence software developed by SAS. The company has

developed SAS Financial Management, which is a comprehensive solution for enterprise

planning, budgeting, consolidation and reporting for corporate companies. SAS Financial

Management also helps speed planning, budgeting and reporting while driving strategic business

decisions and managing financial risk. Another key accounting and financial measure utilized by

SAS is a program called Strategic Performance Management which helps organizations manage

their strategy to achieved goals and objectives. From this application, business managers can

track progress against objectives, understand underperformance and impacts, prepare for the

future and take action when needed. These two programs which were created by SAS for other

companies have turned out to be actually exactly what SAS needed to stay on top of their own

finances and accounting problems. These indicators are key factors needed for performance

evaluation of the company.

SAS is a global company with over 11,000 employees, with 5,381 being employed in the

United States at the end of 2008. The company provided software services in more than 45,000

sites in over 115 countries worldwide. Geographically, there are 262 employees in Canada, 292

in Latin America, 3144 combined in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and 1,746 in Asia Pacific.

The corporation has over 400 offices globally with about 600 other companies in alliance. SAS

values their employee’s well being and allows them to live healthy and productive lives.

If you work full time in the United States, you are eligible to receive comprehensive

medical, dental, and vision plans at no cost, healthcare flexible spending account, short and long-

term disability plans, paid sick leave, paid holidays, profit-sharing retirement plan and paid

vacations. They also provide benefits for the employee’s families such as domestic partner

benefits, adoption assistance, family medical leave, and paid maternity leave. Additional

employee benefits available are healthcare centers in Austin and Cary and paid fitness center

membership for regional office employees. Wellness and work programs are available that

include case management, individual consultations, seminars, and lending libraries along with

college scholarship programs to encourage the careers of the employee’s children.

The company encourages diversity in the workforce with the thought that a wide variety

of viewpoints will enhance the quality of the company. To achieve this diversity opportunity, the

company has established several programs to promote equality in the workforce. In 2008, the R3

program was created and it stands for Recognize, Recruit, and Retain. It is intended to recognize

women and minorities in the various departments and areas of SAS. The company also

partnered with the Cary Academy, which is an educational program to enhance new technology.

These partners work together on projects that develop the skills of employees involved in a

global working environment. Another outreach program is the Academy of Information

Technology, (AOIT) which provides students and workers with post-secondary education that

enables them to excel and learn programs such as java, C++, Microsoft visual basic, and

advanced computer science essential for software specialization.

During the year, SAS had a 3.81% employee turnover ratio amounting to 215 employees

who have left the company. There were 14 employees who left that were under the age of 30,

134 were between the age of 30 and 50, and 54 who were over the age of 50. Out of the total of

215 employees, there were 114 males and 101 females. The rate of injury at work is 0.55 percent

amounting to 31 workers who have filed compensation claims. Among all of the compensation

claims, five of them have resulted in a total of 274 lost work days.

SAS focuses strongly on social responsibility to its employees and customers. The

organization focuses on talent acquisition which is the acquiring of proper resources to achieve

their business goals. Heavy emphasis is placed on employee talent, and brand management in an

attempt to better the company. The company strongly believes in working in compliance with

labor and ethics standards and 100 percent of the offices around the world are trained in a code

of ethics that teaches against sexual harassment and bribery.

The business software corporation offers a wide range of salaries to its full time

employees varying with the different positions available. On average, salary in the industry

ranges from $60,000 to $80,000 per year. These fields cover banking, healthcare, health

insurance, and public health research. The average salary by job is between $60,000 and $90,000

a year and it entails positions such as data analyst, senior programmer analyst, industrial-

organizational psychologist, and a quantitative analyst in research.

The company has many marketing aspects to help promote the sale of their products for

statistical analysis systems. Over the years SAS has created an image stressing their commitment

to product, service, quality, and customer service. The company’s analytical systems have come

to achieve several different purposes including many different ways for their clients to market to

customers as well as to do simple programs.

SAS software solutions are used in more than 45,000 sites in over 100 countries-

including 92 of the top 100 companies on the 2009 Fortune Global 500 List, according to SAS,

the company considers themselves to have a “Global reach, local presence.” They are able to

achieve this due to having more than 11,000 employees in more than 50 countries, and 400 SAS

offices which provide local support for global actions. SAS has customers in 121 countries

including Africa, Asian/Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East, and North

America because SAS has more than six hundred alliances globally.

SAS markets to CEOs, business owners, top management, and executives. We see this

through their means of advertising. Their most recent form of advertising has been their

“Proven” TV spots. These are commercials shown only on The Golf Channel because most

business executives play golf, directing their advertising to a specific target group. The

advertisements involve stories explaining how SAS software is changing the way organizations

work by giving executives the power to know when events take place or should according to

SAS. SAS also has “You Can” print ads. These can be seen in Business Week, Forbes,

Computerworld, Information Week, and on kiosks in airports in Denver, San Francisco, Atlanta,

Dallas, Chicago, and Raleigh. According to SAS.com, these ads “make engaging connections

between animal trivia, business issues, and how SAS can help solve these problems (Advertising,

sas.com). The company also displays marketing information on their website and uses other

websites as well, one of which is YouTube. The video featured on the website explains how your

daily activities, from morning until evening are influenced by SAS software.

On the home page of SAS’s website, there are various attributes that the company offers

customers looking to understand the working of the company. It lists different industries

serviced, as well as, the types of software and solutions that the company uses and produces.

SAS also offers all information to customers about the company including its history, executives,

corporate governance, community relations, and SAS family. There is support for customers to

make sure of customer satisfaction. The website also displays their ads and the way they market.

Also they give all contact information for any issues that may arise to prospective clients or

customers.

SWOT Analysis is an important planning tool that helps a Person or an Institution

identify, in a systematic and organized way, its internal strengths and weaknesses. It helps it

match these strengths/weaknesses with the opportunities or threats in the environment. For an

organization’s strategy to be well conceived, it must take advantage of its internal strengths

while defending against its weaknesses. The company must also identify the best market

opportunities and minimize external threats to its well-being. With rapid technology innovations

the shelf-life of software products is short and growing shorter every year. Because of the rapid

development of new products, software has a shelf-life of only a few years before it is

superseded by superior products. Although software may be in general use for many years, the

effective sales period is short.

SAS has shown many strengths starting up in 1976. They pride themselves and are well

renowned for their software application experience and knowledge. This has given them the

competitive advantage they needed to remain as one of the industry’s leading software

development companies. Due to its most common client base consisting of larger distributors and

vendors, SAS has always kept a low profile concerning advertising and marketing. Because its

main revenue stream comes from contracts and business owners, it is able to maintain relatively

low marketing costs. According to Forbes, today, the company draws 14% of its revenues from

governments around the world, with work for U.S. federal and state governments. Compared to

its competitors, SAS consistently invests a significant proportion of its revenues into R&D.

Currently, this stands at around 25%. This emphasis on R&D, has meant that today SAS is by far

the largest vendor to specialize in the business intelligence market. For a software development

company, R&D constitutes a crucial cost necessary for SAS to stay on top of their game.

A notable weakness to any software development corporation, especially to SAS is their

revenue dependency on computer sales. Software sales grew very rapidly during the 1990s, as

consumers and businesses bought PCs and automated many business functions. But growth and

demand has been slower in the past decade, as computers are replaced less frequently.

SAS has great opportunities with the continuously expanding geographical locations.

SAS’s growth and openness to diversity has allowed it to expand internationally with ease.

According to CNN Money, “with approximately 4,800 employees outside the U.S., SAS has

continued a 5% overseas job growth annually”, which clearly states they are doing well.

Computer technology is the fastest growing industry of our generation. Due to the rapidly

expanding market, SAS is given an opportunity to expand as much as its profits allow it to

invest. In other words, the technological demand is essentially infinite as of now.

There is a threat to the company, which is the exponential growth this industry’s demand

has been created for SAS, has of course, and has been created for its competitors as well. For the

tenth straight year, IDC ranked SAS as the leading provider of advanced analytics tools, but only

holding a 10.7% market share of the advanced analytics market. In other words, although leading

with the highest profits in its industry, SASs competitors remain strong and profitable. Some of

its very renowned competitors include Microsoft Corp, Oracle, Hyperion, Gognos, and Applix.

Much of SAS’ success can be attributed to their employee’s hard work and dedication to

the company. At SAS the employees are regarded as the greatest asset to the company. Also the

company looks for ways to reward and encourage innovation in their employees, and does not

penalize them for taking chances. This culture is one that cares about employees’ personal and

professional growth. At SAS they understand that a happy worker equals a productive worker, so

“Creating a good work environment is important because it drives employee satisfaction, which

in turn, contributes to world-class products and close relationships with our customers” says Vice

President of Human Resources Jen Mann. SAS employees are surrounded by an environment

that encourages and allows them to incorporate the company’s business objectives with their

individual needs. To help alleviate a few of these strains there are over 200 SAS employees

whose main objective is to create, support, and deliver programs such as on-site childcare, elder

care, camps, parent education and support, financial education, on-site healthcare, fitness center

and incentive programs to reward employee wellness. In addition, flexible work schedules and

great work environments all contribute to the satisfaction and peace of mind of their employees.

Which is why, deservingly so, SAS has ranked in the top 20 on Fortune’s “Best Companies to

Work For” list for eleven consecutive years.

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