SAS achieves record revenue: $2.26bn in 2008

Business analytics leader SAS continued its unbroken chain of growth in 2008, logging global revenue of US$2.26 billion, up 5.1% over 2007 results.

“We achieved our 33rd year of revenue growth in the worst economy most can remember,” says CEO Jim Goodnight. “This growth is a direct result of being a stable privately held company, which allows us to invest in long-term relationships with employees and customers.”

SAS's strongest growth was in analytics, data mining and solutions that help organisations keep current customers and win new ones, manage risk and optimise processes. Goodnight adds: “In tough times, companies focus on optimising their businesses.”

Henry Morris, Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Software and Service Research at IDC, says: "IDC surveys of business intelligence software buyers during 2008 show that a vendor's economic viability is gaining in priority as a factor in software selection. SAS's long-term record of continued year-over-year growth positions it favourably, therefore, in this economic downturn."

Driven by the challenging economic climate, customers turned to SAS's market-leading business analytics to derive money-saving and moneymaking insights from ever-growing volumes of data.

Risk management solutions were up 28%, and optimisation software sales increased 18%.

In addition, SAS saw strong sales growth in multiple industries, led by energy and utilities with a 27% increase, and capital markets, which jumped 15%. Total revenue from analytics and data mining rose more than 15%.

Other highlights:

* Double-digit increases were achieved in data integration solutions in life sciences and government.
* Revenue for analytics products exceeded 20% growth in the healthcare and education industries.
* Double-digit growth was achieved in business intelligence applications in government, retail and life sciences.
* More than 50% growth was achieved in customer intelligence solutions in insurance.

SAS gained 2 600 new customers from around the world in 2008. Customers new to SAS include: Allianz Bank Polska SA, Banco Bradesco SA, China CITIC Bank, Etihad Airways, Kaiser + Kraft Europa GMBH, Nintendo of America Inc, Reply SpA, S2P, Samsung SDI, Southwest Airlines, and Vector Casa de Bolsa SA de CV.

As in previous years, SAS revenue growth remained globally balanced, contributing to the company's stability. The Americas accounted for 43% of total revenue; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) 45%; and Asia Pacific 12%.

Of note are high growth rates in emerging markets - 25% in Latin America, 20% in India and more than 15% in major eastern European countries. “Our performance in some of the hardest hit economies affirms that the world, now more than ever, needs analytics to provide answers to complex business problems in order to innovate and lead with confidence,” Goodnight says.

SAS reinvested 22% of 2008 revenue in R&D and ended the year with 11 019 employees, up 3.5% from 2007. For the 12th year in a row, SAS was named to Fortune magazine's annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. In addition to ranking number 20 on the list, SAS was listed as one of the best for healthcare, childcare and work-life balance.

On the innovation front, SAS successfully integrated the employees and technologies of two companies in 2008:

* Teragram, a 40-person firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, expands AS's analytical portfolio with natural language processing and advanced linguistic technology.
* Ideas Revenue Optimisation, a 200-person Minneapolis firm, complements SAS's advanced analytics, business intelligence and industry-specific solutions with revenue-management capabilities specifically for the travel and hospitality industries.

SAS's growing network of alliance and channel partners played an integral role in 28% of sales and almost half of the top 50 global deals. Of note are strategic initiatives, including partnerships with leading systems integrators, continued efforts with Teradata Corp, and a continued focus on third-party channels.

Partnerships with systems integrators Accenture, Capgemini, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Technologies and others offer customers the resources and expertise to leverage SAS business analytics throughout the enterprise. SAS is continuing its in-database analytic efforts with Teradata via the SAS and Teradata Advantage Programme, launched in 2008.

With the economy predicted to remain challenging through the first half of 2009, SAS will continue to invest in technology and solutions that help customers improve performance. SAS will continue to roll out SAS 9.2 enhancements and deliver new solutions in the areas of fraud, customer insight, risk and analytics as part of a business analytics framework. SAS will remain committed to sustainability, both as a software solution provider and as a corporate citizen. “SAS is very strong in data management and business process management, so we're in a very good position,” said SAS Senior Vice-President Jim Davis. “Organisations will be looking to harness data they already have into a business analytics framework to move forward. Value-based solutions are critical for surviving challenging times.”

Leading firm Gartner, in 2008, placed SAS in the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 2008 in February 1 (and in the report published last month), the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Marketing Resource Management, 1Q08 in March, 2 the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Campaign Management, 2008 in April, 3 the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services in June, 4 the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management in July, 5 the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Customer Data Mining Applications in July, 6 and the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools in September 7.