KUALA LUMPUR: Increased demand for big data analytics and data visualisation amongst Malaysian businesses in 2014 were among the top drivers for SAS’ revenue growth in Malaysia, the company said in a statement.
SAS posted a 29% increase in total revenue to RM63 million (US$17.6 million) and a 13% growth in total software revenue amounting RM46.3 million (US$12.9 million).
Globally SAS recorded its 39th consecutive year of growth at US$3.09 billion, up 5.1% in constant currency (2.3 percent US dollars) over 2013.
“We offer the most powerful big data analytics and data visualisation software on the market today, and industry leaders have chosen SAS to help them tackle big data,” said SAS Malaysia managing director Andrew Tan (pic).
Among its clients are Petronas, CIMB, RHB, Maybank, Bank Negara, Maxis, U Mobile, Measat Broadcast Network Systems, Proton, AirAsia, UEM, Tesco, Padiberas, LHDN (the Income Tax Department), Department of Statistics, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Western Digital, AIA, Prudential and Sunway Education Group.
Industry-centric partnering
SAS said its partner ecosystem is a consistent factor in its success, and last year influenced 65% of new sales.
In 2014, SAS announced its partnership with Silverlake Group to introduce big data analytics solutions to banks in Malaysia in areas such as fraud, risk and data management.
SAS also attributes its financial success to its corporate culture. It ranked No 4 on Fortune magazine’s list of Best Companies to Work For in the US, while in Malaysia, it was named one of the Best Companies to Work For in Asia in 2013 and 2014 by HR Asia.
“95% of our assets drive out the gate every evening. It’s my job to maintain a work environment that keeps those people coming back every morning,” said Tan.
“SAS employees are among the industry’s most loyal. In the software business, a yearly turnover of 20% is the norm; at SAS, it’s about 9%,” he claimed.
SAS said it leads in business analytics market share (citing IDC) and is a leader in agile business intelligence according to Forrester.
IDC recently identified SAS as the top supplier, with a 35.4% market share of the 2013 advanced and predictive analytics market, more than twice that of the next-closest competitor.
“Currently, market drivers like the cloud, big data and the Internet of Things are revolutionising the software industry,” said Tan.
“As billions of data-generating devices become connected, the raw data they generate becomes collectively valuable.
“E-commerce companies can increase their share-of-wallet dramatically if they were to combine email responses, online browsing behaviour as well as location data gained from their mobile app to personalise every offer at the right time and right place.
“Utilities companies can reduce fuel consumption by analysing all their machine data, including smart meters, in real-time and pass on the benefits to its customers in smart pricing plans.
“Governments and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) can predict and respond to natural disasters by analysing historical patterns and social media data,” he added.
This year, SAS anticipates continued growth in business intelligence/ data visualisation, data management and Hadoop, customer intelligence, and risk management – particularly fraud and security intelligence.
In 2013, Malaysia was ranked as the sixth most vulnerable to cybercrime alongside countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, India and Indonesia by the Sophos Security Threat Report. Cybercrime in Malaysia increased to 10,636 reported cases in 2013 from 9,986 cases in the previous year as reported by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, SAS noted.
“With the increasing number of financial fraud cases reported in Malaysia, local banks must strengthen their security measures to protect customers’ financial assets or risk reputational damage,” said Tan.
“With SAS’ Fraud Management solution, banks can detect unusual transaction patterns and intercept fraud before it happens,” he added.
To address the shortage of data scientists in Malaysia, the company launched SAS Analytics U, an initiative that offers free SAS software to university students.
SAS is currently taught at 21 education institutions across Malaysia and the company has announced collaborations with Sunway University and HELP College of Arts and Technology (HELP CAT) to offer joint degree programmes.
