SAS Launches New Pilot Program for Gov't and Academia

SAS Institute, a market leader in integrated data warehousing and decision support, announced the Pilot Program, a new offering designed specifically for government and academic customers.

SAS' Public Sector division, a full-service technology contractor, created the program to help these customers implement IT solutions more efficiently and effectively.

The program helps public sector customers determine in advance whether a proposed implementation will yield desired results. The goal is to demonstrate a faster return on investment. As a result of the program, customers should see milestone successes earlier and more often in the project implementation so that project goals are validated to conclusion.

The scope of the Pilot Program is extensive and will touch the local, state, federal, integrator, and academic markets. "Our new Pilot Program has energized our division," said Jeff Babcock, vice president of the Public Sector Group at SAS. "The catalyst for the program was an executive conference held last spring in Washington, D.C., where more than 100 government executives discussed technology best practices. That discussion, coupled with a troubling statistic from CIO magazine that more than 70 percent of technology implementations fail to meet expected outcomes, provided the impetus. Our goal is to radically reduce that percentage."

The most difficult part of any IT project is determining how to streamline a process using existing technology, factoring in relevant issues such as operational environment, and determining what additional areas the installation might impact. The goal is to shorten the time between investment and results by testing the effectiveness of a proposed IT installation before committing massive amounts of time or money to the project. If positive results are yielded, the customer moves forward because their original premise has been validated. If not, steps and strategy can be adjusted before too much time and too many dollars are spent in an effort that may or may not produce desired outcomes.

"We guarantee positive results on the IT project, or customers get their money back," added Babcock. "We think that's the strongest statement in the industry. The pilot program clearly differentiates us as a full-service contractor because we validate the customer's concept before moving forward with a full-blown implementation. The program is truly a low-risk, minimalcost opportunity for government and academic customers who are tired of waiting for projects to yield results."

The program has already been tested by a number of federal government customers, including the Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Defense, Health Management Systems, and many others. "We are anxious to roll this out to our partners," said Jay Sloane, director of business development for SAS Public Sector. "SAS offers the integrator community 24 years of experience, visibility, and stability in the government marketplace and is represented in all 14 major U.S. government departments. The program's significance for our market is that they can select SAS as a partner who is willing to put some skin in the game for any large government contract, being committed to project progression and repeatable results."

"Because many universities are state institutions, the academic community operates on low risk tolerance," said Christine Carmichael, district manager of academic sales for SAS Public Sector. "Budgets are tight and are monitored under a microscope. We are just beginning to discuss the program with administrators who need to evaluate needed programs such as ERP and data warehouses. Initial conversations on the program have been received with enthusiasm. University operators are demanding to work with vendors who have demonstrated a rich history of success in the government sector and whose approach and technology are flexible enough to function in government as well as transfer to a university setting."

About SAS

SAS, the world's largest privately held software company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated enterprise information-delivery and e-business solutions. Founded in 1976, SAS 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 over 115 countries. The company's 1999 revenues totaled $1.02 billion. Please visit SAS' Web site: www.sas.com.

Contact SAS Institute Inc, Cary, Mary Ann Campbell Hickland, 919-677-8000 x6997 MaryAnn.Hickland@sas.com.