SAS Malaysia continues growth with 25 per cent increase in software revenue for 2016

Analytics leader SAS continued revenue growth in 2016 across all geographic regions, with SAS Malaysia recording a 25 per cent increase in total software revenue and a total operating revenue of RM74.875 million, up 17 per cent since 2015. Software sales accounted for nearly 75 per cent of the total operating revenue, at RM55.855million. This was fueled by customer demand for the company’s expertise in machine learning, cognitive computing, and digital transformation.
Globally, SAS marked its 40th anniversary in 2016 with US$3.2 billion in total revenue and further expansion of its global operations. This represented an increase of 4 per cent in constant currency (1.3 per cent USD) over 2015. New software sales grew by 9 per cent in constant currency (7 per cent USD), indicating continued demand for SAS Analytics solutions.

“Data analytics continues to gain traction across a wide range of industry sectors as a key business tool that helps enterprises increase revenue, optimize business processes and reduce costs,” said Andrew Tan, Managing Director of SAS Malaysia. “As the leader in data analytics, SAS holds the strongest and most advanced analytics product portfolio on the market with SAS advanced analytics being used in nearly every industry today.”

The growth in SAS Malaysia’s 2016 revenue can be attributed to the demand for IoT (Internet of Things) smart manufacturing and regulatory & compliance analytics for financial services. Momentum also continues to grow in the commercial sector especially in improving yield and revenue optimization.

SAS customers include several financial institutions – existing customers such as CIMB, Maybank, Hong Leong Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank, and Bank Negara; as well as new SAS customers AmBank, Affin Bank, and Alliance Bank. Others include Maxis, MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, LHDN, Department of Statistics, Petroliam Nasional, Malaysia Airlines, Genting, and Western Digital.

SAS has established its reputation for innovation within the data analytics field with a yearly R&D reinvestment that is approximately double the average of its peers in major technology.

In 2016, the data analytics leader reinvested 26 per cent in R&D, to continuing exploring further innovation for its core focus areas in 2017 – including analytics, visualization, data management, customer intelligence, risk and fraud. Additionally, SAS Viya, artificial intelligence, cloud and IoT continue to be strong investment areas for SAS.

SAS Malaysia Outlook for 2017
SAS is today the sole leader for enterprise insight platforms, according to the Forrester Q4 2016 report, which stated SAS as offering the “best in class analytics coupled with a breadth of good data management for streaming, virtualization and master data management”[i]. The firm has also been named a leader in predictive and advanced analytics, customer intelligence, data management, data integration and data quality, with IDC reporting that the firm holds a 31.6 per cent share of the advanced and predictive analytics market[ii].

In the upcoming year, SAS will be focused on the energy, oil and gas, insurance, telco, retail, health, food and beverage, and agriculture sectors. The company is also deepening its expertise in stress testing and yield management services for banks, as it looks to better address niche business needs.

“As data analytics continues to grow in importance for many of Malaysia’s industries, we will continue to expand and strengthen our analytics product portfolio, to ensure that we remain the leader of choice for unrivaled expertise and solutions when it matters most,” said Tan.

About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative analytics, business intelligence and data management software and services, SAS helps customers at more than 80,000 sites make better decisions faster. Since 1976, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.