Data to Databricks? No need to recode - get your existing SAS jobs to SAS Viya in the cloud!

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What if you could make your valuable and business-critical SAS Data Integration jobs work with Databricks in the cloud in a fraction of the time it would take to recode the jobs in another language or system? The following illustration shows instant modernization of SAS 9 data pipelines moved to SAS Viya in the cloud.

Figure 1: SAS 9 data pipelines moved to SAS Viya and instantly modernized.

Transferring SAS Data Integration Jobs to SAS Studio in SAS Viya in the cloud will not only significantly reduce migration time, but also expedite the availability of your data and logic in the cloud thanks to the built-in automatic migration support in SAS Viya. Moreover, this will allocate more time and resources to further development work that adds value to your business, such as AI modeling, enhancing data quality, and other analytical processes that SAS Viya excels at and accomplishes faster than alternative solutions. For more details, refer to this independent study conducted by Futurum Group.

Take advantage of SAS Viya’s built-in automatic migration tools

Leveraging SAS Viya's built-in automatic migration of your trusted SAS Data Integration jobs will notably mitigate risks in the process, allowing you to maintain the logic that has already proven effective. SAS migration tools capitalize on a thorough comprehension of the disparities between SAS 9 and cloud-native SAS Viya. This enables productive maintenance and management of logic through transformation steps resembling those in SAS 9 Data Integration Studio.

Figure 2: SAS Data Integration Studio Jobs automatically migrated to a SAS Studio flows in SAS Viya

Below are some useful resources that show and explain aspects of the migration process:

Switch from SAS tables to Databricks tables and continue with low code development.

Using SAS Viya's access engine with Databricks ensures efficient and readily available data. This engine translates transformation steps into Databricks-compatible SQL, streamlining integration. Flows can be optimized to run entirely within Databricks, reducing or eliminating data movement to SAS Viya. As illustrated below, you have an option to store intermediate tables in Databricks so that the entire flow runs in Databricks.

Figure 3: Configuring SAS Viya to store intermediate tables in Databricks, enhancing data storage and processing within the platform.

With SAS Viya you have the flexibility to store and access data where you want – locally in SAS Viya, other data sources like Parquet in cloud storage, Databricks or another data platform. See my colleague Cecily's blog for how easy it is to set this up: SAS and Databricks: Your Practical Guide to Data Access and Analysis. Use the option that suits your use case the best.

And now that you have your data pipelines available in SAS Viya you can evolve this further by tapping into new capabilities available on SAS Viya; adding python code, optimized machine learning, entity resolution or any other AI or data functions you can imagine.

Migration from SAS 9 to SAS Viya is so much faster and simpler than rewriting to another language and technology. And you get to run the pipeline on Databricks with access to data in Databricks. As an additional benefit you get the power of a highly optimized cloud-native data and AI engine in SAS Viya to further evolve your analytical pipelines.

In summary, the fastest, most cost-effective, and safest way of moving your SAS 9.4 data pipelines to Databricks in the cloud is through SAS Viya in the cloud. You get to leverage your existing intellectual property from the logic you already invested in from your SAS 9.4 data pipelines while making data available in Databricks in the process. You also have the choice of the logic running on Databricks or on SAS Viya.

Learn more about SAS and Databricks

Expand your SAS and Databricks knowledge further by exploring these blogs by my colleagues, and anticipate our upcoming blogs posted every Wednesday in SAS Communities.

Harness the analytical power of your Databricks platform with SAS - SAS Support Communities

Data everywhere and anyhow! Gain insights from across the clouds with SAS

Elevated efficiency and reduced cost: SAS in the era of Cloud Adoption

SAS and Databricks: Your Practical Guide to Data Access and Analysis

Data to Databricks? No need to recode - get your existing SAS jobs to SAS Viya in the cloud!

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