NEW VIYA FEATURES Check out these new features and what they mean for you. Product: SAS for Microsoft 365 New feature: New functionality in Microsoft Excel Description: You can upload Excel data to the SAS server, delete data from your SAS Compute context or CAS server, work with your SAS programs in Excel and work with your SAS Viya jobs in Excel. Learn more.   Product: SAS Studio New feature: Train recommendations using KNN (k-nearest neighbors) Description: Identify users and recommend products to those users based on their peers. It is fully CAS-enabled. You can set the aggregation method when scoring these models using PROC ASTORE. Learn more.   Product: SAS Studio New feature: 8 new steps Description: These new steps are now available – Enhancing Data Quality: Cleaning data; Enhancing Data Quality: Parsing data; Visualize Data: Series plot; Visualize Data: Choropleth map; Statistics: Combination; Statistics: Dice roll simulation; Statistics: Permutations; and Manage Model: Register Python Model. Learn more.   Product: SAS Model Manager and SAS Workflow Manager New feature: Trustworthy AI life cycle workflow Description: The workflow allows organizations to document their considerations of AI systems’ impact on human lives. Learn more.   SPOTLIGHT USE CASE Train recommendations using KNN (k-nearest neighbors) Imagine you are building a movie streaming platform, and you want to enhance the user experience by providing personalized movie recommendations. When a user logs in, the platform retrieves their profile and identifies the k most similar users based on their movie preferences using the trained KNN model. These similar users are referred to as the "nearest neighbors" of the current user.   TIP OF THE MONTH Brought to you by David Weik Senior Pre-Sales Solutions Architect, SAS Sharing is caring, so here is a quick tip on how you can share your My Snippets with colleagues: When you have created a snippet that you want to share with others, you have to go to the Snippets pane (1), select the My Snippets tab (2), right-click the snippet you want to share with others, select Copy snippet to Explorer (3) from the context menu and select the target folder in the Save As dialog to a location that everybody can access. Then, if someone wants to make use of that snippet, they must go to the Explorer pane (4), navigate to the shared location inside of SAS Content, right-click the snippet from the context menu, select Copy to My Snippets (5) and in the Copy to My Snippets, they can move it to the desired subfolder, change the Abbreviation, and more.  ... View more

2024 SAS GLOBAL CUSTOMER RECOGNITION AWARDS CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES   NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT REQUIRED TO ENTER OR WIN AND WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. YOU HAVE NOT WON YET.   These Official Rules (“Rules”) apply to the 2024 SAS Global Customer Recognition Awards Contest (the “Contest”). The Contest is subject to all applicable laws and regulations of the United States and its states and territories and is void where prohibited by law. Participation in the Contest constitutes each Entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to (i) these Rules and (ii) Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Contest. Winning a Prize Package (described below) is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.   1. Eligibility. (A) General. The Contest is only open to all active business Customers of SAS Institute Inc. (“SAS”) (“Customers” are organizations doing business directly with SAS). No individuals employed at active business Customers of SAS may enter the Contest in their individual capacity. No Customers holding student accounts may enter the Contest. Customers entering the Contest are referred to in these Rules as “Entrants,” a term used to refer to, as applicable, the individual submitting the Submission as well as the Customer entity on whose behalf such Submission is made. SAS also may, in its sole discretion, determine that a potential Winner is ineligible to receive any part or all of the Prize Package due to governmental, ethical, conflict of interest or similar concerns. Certain organizations, for example, may be subject to the SAS “No Gifts” list. If you are uncertain if you will be ineligible based on any of the foregoing, you may contact SAS at communities@sas.com. Other eligibility requirements and conditions of participation are set forth below in these Rules. (B) Additional Eligibility Requirements. Prior to being eligible to receive a Prize Package, an Entrant that has been selected as the potential winner of the Contest must provide Sponsor with any information or certifications needed by Sponsor, in its judgment, for tax reporting or other purposes. Without limiting the foregoing, an Entrant that is selected as a Winner of the Contest may be required to have an authorized representative sign a copy of these Rules, to complete and sign a Declaration of Compliance, Liability and Publicity Release, and provide any other document that Sponsor determines is required, necessary or appropriate, in its judgment, to confirm the Winner’s eligibility and for tax reporting or other purposes. If any potential Winner refuses to accept the entire Prize Package, or fails to satisfy the above conditions within seven (7) days of the notice that such Entrant has been selected as a potential Winner, such Entrant will not be eligible for the Prize Package, and an alternate Winner will be selected, as described in “Winner Selection” below. 2. Entry Period. Entry to the Contest is open from 12:01 a.m. eastern time (ET) on December 4, 2023 and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on January 19, 2024 (“Entry Period”). Entries must be submitted during the Entry Period in order to be eligible for the Contest. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Contest. 3. How to Enter. To enter, eligible Customers should visit https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Customer-Recognition-Awards/con-p/awards (the “Website”), follow the directions to enter the Contest, and then upload its Submission (described further below). As explained below in Selection of Winners, one (1) Winner will be chosen for each of the ten (10) “Categories” listed below. Any Entrant can submit a separate Submission for each applicable Category, but may submit only one (1) Submission per Category. Eligible results and examples for each Category Submission must be documented and achieved January 1, 2022 through the date of Submission. The ten (10) Categories are: Open for External Submissions (5) 1. SAS Analytics Explorers Advocate: Awarded to a Customer who is leveraging the SAS Analytics Explorers program to grow their skills, their career and/or their network. 2. Community Uplift Award: Awarded to a Customer who made an impact in their community at large using SAS products. 3. Innovative Problem Solver: Awarded to a Customer who uses SAS in innovative ways to solve a business problem. 4. ROI Rock Star: Awarded to a Customer demonstrating the greatest business benefit and return on investment (ROI) using SAS to increase revenue. 5. Curious Thinker: Awarded to a Customer that has an inspiring career story to share and highlights how SAS played a part in that journey.   SAS Internal Selected (5) 1. Customer Impact Award – Public Sector: Awarded to a public sector Customer who has had the most impact through a willingness to share their analytics journey, successes and lessons learned with others. 2. Customer Impact Award – Private Sector: Awarded to a private sector Customer who has had the most impact through a willingness to share their analytics journey, successes and lessons learned with others. 3. SAS Support Communities Hero: A Customer that goes above and beyond to assist other users on the SAS Support Communities. 4. SAS Users Group MVP: Awarded to a SAS Users Group leader demonstrating a dedicated passion for success for user group members. 5. User Feedback Award: Awarded to a Customer who provides valuable feedback on SAS products and has been an essential reference for product improvements. To enter a Submission, each Entrant must: (a) complete the entry form via https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Customer-Recognition-Awards/con-p/awards by providing certain information, including the Entrant’s legal name, address, and contact information; and (b) upload a Submission into the Contest - video, photo or story based on specific award category.   Only Submissions that are in the English language will be accepted. Each Submission also must include the Entrant’s company logo. Please include your company’s logo as a JPEG or PNG image. Preferred image size is 335 pixels (width) x 176 pixels (height).   Each eligible Customer completing the entry process and uploading an eligible Submission will be entered in the Contest. Posting a Submission in the appropriate section of the Website constitutes entry (“Entry” or “Entries”) into the Contest and consent to and agreement with these Rules. 4. Entry Conditions. Limit one Entry per Customer per Category during the Entry Period. Any attempts by any person to submit more than one Entry for the same Customer in the same Category will result in all Entries for that Customer being disqualified. Entrants must meet all eligibility requirements listed herein. The Customer’s legal entity name submitted with the Entry will be the identity of the Entrant and, if selected and qualified for a prize, the identity of the winner. The use of a fake name or email address will disqualify an Entrant. Use of agencies or robotic, repetitive, programmed or similar entry methods is prohibited. All Entrants agree to abide by these Rules and waive any right to claim ambiguity in this Contest or these Rules. All Entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. All Entries must be completed, including uploading of the Submission, during the Entry Period to be eligible for the Contest.   5. Conditions of Submission. Submission must answer all the questions for the award category. The Submission must be a non-confidential description of Entrant’s qualifications for the relevant Category. The Entrant must be the owner or authorized representative of the Entrant with authorization to present and submit the Submission. Any Submission that Sponsor, in its sole opinion, deems to be inappropriate for publication will not be considered, and the corresponding Entrant will be disqualified from the Contest. By entering, each Entrant represents and warrants that: (a) the Submission is the original work of the Entrant and does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark/tradename, or other proprietary right of any person (including but not limited to rights of privacy) or entity; (b) the Submission either is the sole and exclusive property of the Entrant or Entrant owns or otherwise controls all of the rights to the Submission; and (c) the Submission has not been entered into or won any previous contests or awards and has not been published or distributed previously in any form of media. Please do not submit Submissions that contain depictions of artistic works, copyrights, trademarks/tradenames, logos, or similar brand identifying marks owned by any third party. All such Submissions will be disqualified. By entering, each Entrant further warrants and represents that the Entrant has the authority to enter the Submission on behalf of the Entrant, that the Submission has not been previously licensed or transferred, and that Entrant unconditionally assigns and transfers to Sponsor all worldwide rights, title, interest and claim, which Entrant now has or may in the future have to their Submission or any element(s) thereof including, but not limited to, all intellectual property rights and each Entrant hereby waives all rights Entrant has or may have in their Submission or any element(s) thereof. By entering, each Entrant further warrants and represents that the Entrant has received all rights that may be necessary from any person depicted in the Submission to grant this assignment and transfer of rights and that Entrant can make written copies of such authorizations available to the Sponsor upon request (if the likeness of a minor is included, such written permission must include authorization from the minor’s parent or guardian). Upon posting your Submission, it will be available for viewing on the SAS Support Community. Visit the SAS Terms of Use for more information.   Additional SAS Rights. By uploading a Submission for entry into the Contest, each Entrant grants Sponsor the right to publish, use, reference, display and translate into other languages, the Submission and the video (the “Video”) (defined below) as follows: (i) on SAS’s internal and external websites and social media platforms; (ii) on SAS digital web publications and printed publications; (iii) in distributed printed media; (iv) in original excerpts from speeches, slides, and other marketing mediums; and (v) by otherwise referring to the Submission in public communications for any legal purpose. Uploading a Submission further constitutes the Entrant’s consent to irrevocably assign and transfer to SAS any and all worldwide rights, title and interest in and to the Submission, including but not limited to all intellectual property rights. SAS also reserves the right to present each Entrant’s name, company, trademarks, logos, and other identifying information along with the accepted award.   Without limiting the foregoing, each Entrant agrees that the identity of any or all Winners may be displayed at SAS Innovate 2024 and other events as appropriate, and each Entrant agrees by submitting an entry and being selected as a winner, the Entrant’s company name, Submission, and other personal information will be publicly displayed at SAS Innovate 2024. Submitting an entry and being chosen as a winner also permits SAS to utilize and publish said content in presentations, internal and external social media platforms, Marketing and Public Relations platforms, and SAS websites. Winners will be required to submit a brief Video about their submission, and Video details will be provided to each Winner. A segment of each Video will be used to create a compilation video. Any Winner may deny SAS’s use of the foregoing information without cause within 30 days’ notice by emailing communities@sas.com. Winners will be notified in February 2024 and announced at the event in April 2024. Awards will be presented live to each winner or mailed if you are unable to attend the live event. 6. Void Submissions. Submissions that are deemed by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion, to be offensive, immoral, obscene, profane, defamatory, not in keeping with the image of the Sponsor, or in violation of these Rules will be void. Further, all Submissions that contain copyrighted or other proprietary materials for which the Entrant has not obtained appropriate assignment of rights, as well as any content which disparages or portrays the Sponsor in a negative light, or otherwise violates these Rules will be void. Furthermore, Sponsor is not responsible for lost, incomplete, stolen, damaged, garbled, corrupt, illegible, late, or unintelligible entries, or for printing or other errors appearing in these rules or other Contest materials, misprints or errors in other Contest-related information, garbled communications, failures or malfunctions of internet connections, phones, phonelines, telephone systems, technical or mechanical malfunctions, or other malfunctions, problems or errors, whether caused by equipment, programming used in this Contest, processing errors, human errors or otherwise. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to void any entries from Entrants whom Sponsor believes have attempted to tamper or have tampered with the administration, security, or fairness of this Contest. 7. The Prize Package. SAS will award one (1) prize package to each of ten (10) Winners (“Prize Package” or “Prize”) consisting of all of the following: (A) Admission for one (1) individual employed by the Winner to SAS Innovate 2024; (B) The Transportation and Hotel Package described below for SAS Innovate 2024; (C) Meals allowances for four (4) days while at SAS Innovate 2024, up to $75 per day; and (D) A crystal winner’s trophy (estimated retail value $190) and assorted SAS swag (estimated retail value $200).   The estimated retail value of the full Prize Package is $5,215. The odds of winning a Prize Package in the Contest depend upon the number of eligible Entries received during the Entry Period and the quality of the Submission; ten (10) Prize Packages will be awarded. All federal, state and local taxes, and all other costs associated with acceptance or use of the Prizes, are the sole responsibility of each Winner.   Transportation and Hotel Package Details. The Transportation and Hotel Package will consist of the following: Three night’s accommodation at ARIA Resort and Casino (the “Hotel”) for the nights of April 16 – April 18, 2024. The Hotel accommodation will include only a single room, double occupancy. Selected transportation. The exact details of the transportation portion of the Prize Package will depend on the proximity of the Winner’s home to SAS Innovate 2024. All travel must take place between April 16-19, 2024. If the employee of a Winner who will be using the Transportation and Hotel Package (the “Traveler”) resides within driving distance of Las Vegas, that Traveler may choose to travel to and from SAS Innovate 2024 using the Traveler’s own vehicle and be reimbursed for milage. If that Traveler lives in Las Vegas, the Transportation and Hotel Package will consist only of the Hotel accommodation, Meals allowance, and round trip ground transportation between Traveler’s residence and the Hotel. All other Travelers will receive a roundtrip air flight with a commercial airline service, coach-class, between a major airport near the winner’s home (the “Departure Airport”) and Harry Reid International Airport, Paradise, NV (LAS). The Departure Airport will be chosen by SAS, who will consult with the Traveler. The Traveler is responsible for travel to and from the Departure Airport. SAS will provide the Traveler with ground transportation to and from LAS and the Hotel. Baggage fees are not included in the Prize Package. All travel must be booked through the SAS Travel Department. If transportation, hotel, roundtrip airfare and meals exceed $4,000, it will be the Winner’s responsibility to pay the difference or not accept the Prize Package.   8. Winner Selection. SAS will award one (1) Prize Package to each of ten (10) Winners, with one (1) Winner for each of the ten (10) Categories described above. The selection of Winners will be conducted in two phases: Online Voting followed by Panel Scoring. Online Voting will be conducted between January 22 and February 2, 2024. Voting is open to the general public and will occur on the SAS Support Communities. You cast your vote by clicking the “Like” button under the submissions of your choice. You may vote for multiple submissions in each of the five (5) Online Submission Categories. The three (3) Entrants receiving the most Online Votes within each Category will receive 5, 4 and 3 points respectively. Panel Scoring will take place between January 22 and February 2, 2024. A Panel consisting of SAS employees plus external members will score each Submission on a 1-5 scale on three categories: sprint of story, strength of evidence and results. The three (3) Entrants receiving the most Online Votes will have their scores combined with the scores from the judging panel to determine the Potential Winners for each category. If any potential Winner refuses to accept the entire Prize Package, or fails to satisfy all Eligibility conditions described in Section 1 of these Rules, such entity will not be eligible for the Prize Package. In that event, the Entrant with the second highest votes will be the new Potential Winner. This process will be repeated no more than four (4) times, and if no final Winner for any Category meets all conditions for this Contest, then the Prize Package will not be awarded for that given Category. 9. Winner Notification and Verification. The Potential Winners will be contacted by a representative of Sponsor within forty-five (45) days (i.e., the judging period) after the end of the Entry Period. The Potential Winners will be notified by email or telephone using their contact information provided at the time of entry into this Contest. Receiving a Prize Package is contingent upon compliance with these Rules, including any eligibility requirements.   10. Agreements to Receive Prize Package. We recognize that some Entrants may not be able to accept portions of the Prize Package. If you would be unable to accept any portion of the Prize Package, please do not enter the Contest so that other persons may win. (A) If you are selected as a Winner and you cannot accept the crystal trophy from SAS, it is your responsibility to notify SAS within two business days of receiving your winner notification. (B) If you are selected as a Winner, you are agreeing that you are allowed to accept a gift valued at over $100 from SAS. If you are unable to accept the gift, it is your responsibility to notify SAS within two business days of receiving your winner notification. (C) If you are selected as a Winner, you are agreeing that you are allowed to accept hotel, airfare, meals, and conference registration. If you are unable to accept the trip to the conference, it is your responsibility to notify SAS within two business days of receiving your winner notification. 11. Prize Delivery and Conditions. The Prizes are non-assignable and nontransferable and may not be substituted for cash. A Prize may not be upgraded, and no substitutions by the Winner will be allowed; except Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute a Prize for one of equal or greater value if the designated Prize should become unavailable for any reason, subject to applicable law. Any Winner may waive the Winner’s right to receive the Prize. 12. Conditions and Disclaimers. By entering the Contest, each Entrant agrees that: (a) he or she or they and the entity on whose behalf the Entrant enters will abide by and be bound by these Rules; (b) neither Sponsor nor any of its affiliated companies or the advertising and promotional agencies affiliated with Sponsor or those affiliated companies, nor any of their officers, directors, employees, agents or representatives (collectively, Sponsor’s “Affiliates”) are responsible for claims, injuries, death, losses or damages of any kind resulting from participation or inability to participate in the Contest, or the awarding, acceptance, use, misuse, loss, or misdirection of a Prize Package; and (c) Sponsor is not responsible for any inability of a Winner to accept a Prize Package for any reason. In the event a question arises regarding a Winner’s identity, the Entry will be deemed made by the entity associated with the email account associated with the Entry. Entries are void if unreadable, inaccurate, incomplete, mutilated, irregular in any way, or otherwise not in compliance with these Rules. Although Sponsor attempts to ensure the integrity of the Contest, neither Sponsor nor any of its Affiliates are responsible for the actions of Entrants or other individuals in connection with the Contest, including attempts by Entrants or other individuals to circumvent these Rules or otherwise interfere with the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned by reason of tampering, fraud, industry conditions, bankruptcy or liquidation, marketplace demands, applicable law, unforeseen obstacles, or any other causes which, in the sole opinion of Sponsor, could corrupt, compromise, undermine, or otherwise affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, viability, or proper conduct of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to modify these Rules, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend all or any part of the Contest, and in the event of cancellation or termination, to select Winners from among all eligible non-suspect Entries received up to the time of such cancellation, termination, modification, or suspension, as applicable. 13. Limitations on Liability. Neither Sponsor nor its Affiliates shall be liable to any Winner or any other person for failure to supply the Prize Package or any part thereof, by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not the action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), terrorist acts, earthquake, war, fire, flood, explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, riot, or any other cause beyond Sponsor’s or its Affiliates’ sole control. 14. Release and Indemnification. BY ENTERING THE CONTEST, AND BY AGREEING TO BE A TRAVELER, EACH ENTRANT AND TRAVELER RELEASES AND HOLDS THE SPONSOR AND ITS AFFILIATES HARMLESS FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL LOSSES, DAMAGES, RIGHTS, CLAIMS, AND ACTIONS OF ANY KIND ARISING IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM THE CONTEST OR PARTICIPATION IN ANY CONTEST-RELATED ACTIVITY, OR RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, USE OR MISUSE OF THE PRIZE PACKAGE (INCLUDING ANY TRAVEL OR ACTIVITY RELATED TO ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRIZE PACKAGE) AWARDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTEST, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, AND/OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, AS WELL AS CLAIMS BASED ON PUBLICITY RIGHTS, DEFAMATION, AND/OR INVASION OF PRIVACY. 15. Miscellaneous.   (A) Privacy. All personal information collected in connection with this contest will be handled by SAS Institute Inc. and its Affiliates in accordance with these Rules and the SAS Privacy Statement, available at http://www.sas.com/privacy. By entering the Contest, each Entrant agrees that Sponsor may share Entrant’s personal information with its Affiliates for the purpose of Prize Package fulfillment in the event Entrant is chosen as a potential Winner. Entrants whose e-mail address is submitted as part of this Contest agree that Sponsor may contact them by e-mail to make Entrant aware of information pertinent to the Contest, and to distribute information regarding Sponsor’s products, special events, promotional offers, or purchase incentives. By participating in this Contest, Entrants agree to receive occasional emails from SAS about our products and services. Entrants may choose to opt-out of future e-mail notifications by clicking the link in the e-mail and following the opt-out instructions, or by contacting us directly at privacy@sas.com. Opting into specific offers does not improve an Entrant’s chances of winning.   (B) Publicity Release. Except where prohibited, by accepting a Prize Package, each Winner grants permission for Sponsor and its agents to use his/her name, voice and/or likeness, for advertising, merchandising, promotion and/or publicity purposes in any and all media now known or hereinafter invented without territorial or time limitations and without additional compensation.   (C) Applicable Law. The Contest, and any disputes that may arise hereunder, shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the state of North Carolina without regard to the conflicts of laws principles of any jurisdiction. Venue with respect to any such disputes shall be had in the state and federal courts of the state of Illinois. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision so long as the general intent of these Rules remains in effect. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, these Rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained herein. 16. Official Rules. By participating in the Contest, each Entrant fully and unconditionally agrees to and accepts these Rules and decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest. The Contest will be run in accordance with the Rules, subject to amendment by Sponsor. Each Entrant must comply with the Rules and will be deemed to have received and understood these Rules by participating in the Contest. The terms of the Contest, as set out in these Rules, are not subject to amendment or counteroffer, except as set out herein. If any provisions of the Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Rules will not constitute a waiver of that provision. 17. Sponsor. The Contest is sponsored by SAS Institute Inc., 100 SAS Campus Drive, Cary, NC 27513. 18. Copy of Official Rules. These Rules will be posted on the Sponsor’s website at https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Customer-Recognition-Awards/con-p/awards during the Entry Period and until Winners are selected. 19. Winner List. For the winner list, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address of Sponsor provided above, Attn: Contest Winner List. ... View more

Effective October 3, 2023, we are sunsetting the SASware Ballot and launching SAS Product Suggestions on the SAS Support Communities.   The SASware Ballot has a decades-long history. It was once a real paper "ballot" that listed customer-sourced ideas for how to improve The SAS System. Once per year customers would mail in their votes on ideas that were curated and then tallied by SAS Technical Support. Over time the ballot "went digital" on our communities site as an "always on" repository for ideas and feedback.   In the "good old days", there were just the users, tech support and R&D -- all working together to improve SAS software experience in a field that SAS basically founded. In the decades since, the SAS software portfolio has grown tremendously, there are many offerings in the market, and we have dedicated product managers who shape the features and priorities for SAS products. Customer feedback is still extremely important, but there are also many other inputs into the product roadmaps.   The SAS Product Suggestion board was created so we can capture, review and respond to your SAS product suggestions. This board routes your suggestions directly to our Product Management team for review and allows you to share your suggestions in a public forum so other users can view and vote on your suggestions. Your submissions help us improve SAS products and we encourage you to continue sharing your ideas.   There are many factors that influence our product roadmaps and determine the features we implement. When making decisions about what to prioritize, we will consider your suggestions along with insights from other customers, our support teams, product analytics, research findings, as well as how the idea fits with the product vision.     Visit this announcement to learn more about the SAS Product Suggestions board and how it works. ... View more

The SAS Product Suggestion board was created so we can capture, review and respond to your SAS product suggestions. This board routes your suggestion directly to our Product Management team for review, while allowing you to share your suggestion in a public forum so other users can view, comment and vote on your suggestion. We appreciate you sharing your ideas with us!   There are many factors that influence our product roadmaps and determine the features we implement. When making decisions about what to prioritize, we will consider your suggestions along with insights from other customers, our support teams, product analytics, research findings, as well as how the idea fits with the product vision.      What happens after you submit a suggestion?  Your submission status will be “New Suggestion”.  Each submission will be reviewed by our Product Management team and your submission status will change to “Suggestion Under Review”.  Your submission status will change to “Suggestion Implemented” only if we act on your idea.  Your submission status will change to “Suggestion Closed” if we have reviewed your idea and determined that it’s not in our timeline right now.   We will provide periodic updates on product enhancements. Check out the monthly SAS Viya Release Highlights for news about new features and focus areas. Remember that your suggestions influence the direction and future of SAS software products, even when your specific ideas aren't implemented exactly as you suggest. Above all, our goal is to understand your needs. Thank you for helping us make SAS products better!   SAS Product Suggestions Labels and Descriptions To ensure that your suggestions are routed to the proper teams within SAS, we have a short list of product categories that we use to group your ideas. As you submit a suggestion, please select just one category for your idea. Here are the categories with descriptions of the areas that they cover:   Analytics: Data Mining, Forecasting, Optimization, Text Analytics Business Intelligence: Office Analytics and BI Tools (such as SAS for Microsoft 365 and SAS Visual Analytics) Data Management: DM Tools (DataPacks), Data Access, Governance, Integration, and Quality Foundation: Foundation Tools (Base SAS, programming environments such as SAS Studio, SAS Enterprise Guide, VS Code) Customer Intelligence: Customer Intelligence 360 Decision Management: Model Management, Intelligent Decisioning, and Decision Manager Fraud and Security Intelligence: Compliance Solutions, Public Security, Fraud and Security Tools and Solutions Health: Cohort Builder, Data Mapper, and Episode Builder Life Sciences: Life Science Analytics Framework Internet of Things: Quality Analytics, Streaming Analytics, and Event Stream Processing Retail, CPG and Supply Chain: Price Optimization, Intelligent Planning, Financial Performance, and Size Optimization Risk Management: Risk Modeling & Decisioning, Risk Data Analytics, Regulatory Risk, Balance Sheet Risk Management   Can I share my suggestions another way? All new feature considerations are routed through SAS product managers -- the people who work with SAS R&D and others to plan new enhancements and features and the timing for getting these to customers. The SAS Product Suggestions board is a "direct line" to SAS Product Management, but we encourage you to also share your ideas with SAS Technical Support or your SAS account team (such as your customer success manager) -- wherever you are having conversations about what features are important to you. ... View more

Notilyze hosts and manages SAS Viya 4 environments in their own data center, in the public cloud (fully managed in our tenant or in the customer's tenant), and in customers' on-premise infrastructure. To deploy and manage these environments, Notilyze has developed DevOps pipelines to automate as many tasks as possible. This presentation outlines these pipelines and lessons learned from deploying and managing SAS Viya through these pipelines.   Presentation slides are attached to this post. ... View more

SAS is excited to announce the winners of the 2023 Customer Recognition Awards. We want to give a big “thank you” and round of applause to all our SAS customers and partners around the globe who help us change the world through analytics. Below we recognize the winners in each category for their stand-out contributions over the past year. Please see our Customer Recognition Awards eBook for more information on each winner.   Watch our Winner Video to hear from each of our first-place winners.     Awards from Customer-Submitted Entries   Community Uplift Award Awarded to a SAS customer who made an impact in their community at large using SAS products. 1 st Place Winner: Gilead Sciences, United States 2 nd Place Winner: BioMerieux, United States 3 rd Place Winner: 180.works + Notilyze, The Netherlands   Curious Thinker Awarded to a SAS customer who embodies curiosity, one of SAS’ guiding principles. 1 st Place Winner: Simru Delen Ípek, Istanbul Airport, Türkiye 2 nd Place Winner: Gül ğir Aydin, Hopi, Türkiye 3 rd Place Winner: Daniel Wanjiru, ICON, Kenya   Distinguished Partner Awarded to a SAS Partner whose actions exceeded the customer’s expectations. This Partner went above and beyond their duties and was essential to the customer’s success. 1 st Place Winner: Linktera, Türkiye 2 nd Place Winner: Timestamp, Portugal 3 rd Place Winner: Partner Republic, Türkiye   Innovative Problem Solver Awarded to a SAS customer who uses SAS in innovative ways to solve a business problem. 1 st Place Winner: QNB Finansbank, Türkiye 2 nd Place Winner: Brooks Rehabilitation, United States 3 rd Place Winner: Optum Serve, United States   Professional Growth Award Awarded to a SAS customer who uses SAS resources for personal professional development or for developing their team. 1 st Place Winner: Virgin Money, United Kingdom 2 nd Place Winner: Canada Revenue Agency, Canada 3 rd Place Winner: Mercury Financial, United States   ROI Rock Star Awarded to a SAS customer demonstrating the greatest business benefit and return on investment (ROI) using SAS products. 1 st Place Winner: Migros, Türkiye 2 nd Place Winner: Mediclinic, South Africa 3 rd Place Winner: Hopi, Türkiye   Rookie of the Year Awarded to a new SAS customer (within the last five years) that is using SAS to make a positive impact on their organization. 1 st Place Winner: Migros, Türkiye 2 nd Place Winner: Taurex Drill Bits, United States 3 rd Place Winner: Hopi, Türkiye   SAS Analytics Explorers Advocate Awarded to a SAS customer who is using the SAS Analytics Explorers program to grow their skills, career and/or network.. 1 st Place Winner: Markus Weick, EY ifb, Germany 2 nd Place Winner: Tarik Arayi, Türkiye   Visual Storyteller Awarded to a SAS customer who has mastered the art of using data visualizations to help educate their company and tell a story about their data. 1 st Place Winner: Satya Ly, Blue Shield of California, United States 2 nd Place Winner: Utkan Menteş, Yildiz Tech, Türkiye 3 rd Place Winner: Trine Storjord, University Hospital of North Norway, Norway     Awards Selected by SAS   SAS Customer Impact Award – Public Sector Awarded to a public sector customer who has had the most impact through a willingness to share their analytics journey, successes and lessons learned with others. Winner: North Carolina Department of Insurance, United States The North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigation Division partnered with the North Carolina Government Data Analytics Center and SAS to build the Insurance Crimes Investigation System (ICIS). ICIS went live in 2020 and allows the DOI to better detect fraud and track investigations from intake through prosecution. As a leader in this space, the NC DOI has tirelessly shared their experience, knowledge and best practices with other government agencies as well as private sector entities over the last year in many different ways, including in person meetings and presentations, phone calls, e-books, and insurance and government publications. We would like to recognize Marty Sumner and Chet Effler for the impact they’ve had with their willingness to share the successes of the ICIS to better the investigative community and for the NC Department of Insurance’s partnership with SAS.   SAS Customer Impact Award – Private Sector Awarded to a private sector customer who has had the most impact through a willingness to share their analytics journey, successes and lessons learned with others. Winner: Ulta Beauty, United States Ulta Beauty has been a SAS advocate since January 2020, when they first partnered with SAS to share their experience with other retailers at the National Retail Federation conference. They have shared their voice consistently since then. Just since last summer, they have partnered with SAS to create a customer success story including a video testimonial of the success they’ve had using SAS Customer Intelligence 360 and the strength of our partnership. They’ve participated in multiple speaking engagements – SAS events, third-party events and podcasts. At SAS Innovate this May, Kelly Mahoney spoke in three separate sessions – Customer Intelligence Connections, a Retail Industry breakout and on the main stage for closing session. They are quoted in press releases, participated in calls with other customers and prospects, and are highlighted in a wide variety of other marketing assets and publications. The entire team from Ulta Beauty contributes to the success of our partnership. In particular, we recognize Kelly Mahoney and Melissa Berscheid for lending their voice to positively impact others in this space. We appreciate all you do for SAS!   SAS Support Community Hero Awarded to a customer that goes above and beyond helping other users on the SAS Support Community. Winner: Tom Abernathy, Pfizer Inc., United States Tom is a long-standing member of the SAS Support Communities and has served seven terms as a community Super User. He consistently provides help and guidance to community members and is a welcoming presence in the community. He authored more than 520 solutions last year and published over 2,700 replies – an average of eight posts per day for the past year! SAS users around the world benefit from his knowledge and benevolence. We appreciate all you do, Tom.   Regional Users Group MVP Awarded to a Regional Users Group leader demonstrating a dedicated passion for the success of user group members. Winner: Quentin McMullen, President and Steering Committee Manager for the Boston Area SAS Users Group, Siemens Healthineers, United States Quentin McMullen is a 20-year SAS veteran who has spent years planning and presenting at users group meetings (anyone remember NESUG?). In addition to his work with BASUG, Quentin lends his time and experience by providing best practices and guidance to other users group leaders looking to establish (or re-establish) their events. He is also a supporter of all users groups, as he can be found promoting events from across North America. We appreciate all you do for SAS users, Quentin!   User Feedback Award Awarded to a customer who provides valuable feedback on SAS products and has been an essential reference for product improvements. Winner: Lewis Lee, REA Group, Australia Lewis has made a huge contribution to the enhancements of SAS 360 Match (formerly called SAS Intelligent Advertising). Lewis stayed in constant communication with the SAS Customer Success and R&D teams, to discuss the improvements and supportability of features of SAS 360 Match. These improvements were centered on the feature requests and business needs that REA Group came up with through their use of the product. I’m happy to report that we’ve added a number of new features based on Lewis’ feedback. Thank you, Lewis. You make SAS better! Congratulations!   Valuable Voice Award Awarded to a customer who has consistently engaged in our Inner Circle Surveys over the last year and provided valuable feedback on our products and services. Winner: Dave Oesper, Land’s End, United States Dave filled out the SAS Global Customer Satisfaction Survey three times (2018, 2020, 2022) and is very active with our Inner Circle Surveys (most recently on March 27, 2023). He is a level 7 in communities and is a member on the new Inner Circle community. Also, he is active on sas.com and is a SAS Analytics Explorers member. Thank you for all your valuable feedback, Dave! ... View more

The entries are in and now it’s time to cast your vote for the best in each category. A lot is on the line! The first-place winner in each category will receive one trip to SAS Explore in Las Vegas*, a SAS trophy and SAS swag. A bonus for you: read all the entries to learn what these customers are doing with their SAS software, and you may get some new ideas for your organization!     Vote Now!   While the online voting is happening, we have a panel of five judges (Trish Halley, Chris Hemedinger, Michelle Homes, Richann Watson, Ian Munro) that will score each entry on a 1-5 scale on three categories: Spirit of story Strength of evidence Results When the voting closes on June 23, the top three vote-getters will get bonus points added to the scores from the judges to create a total score for each entry. The top three scores in each category will be the winners.   Get all the details and meet the judges in this blog by Chris Hemedinger.   *Please visit the SAS Customer Recognition Awards site for all the program details, rules and to cast your vote. Please reach out to Wendy Reeves wendy.reeves@sas.com with any questions ... View more

The SAS Customer Recognition Awards were created to recognize and reward SAS customers and partners who help us change the world through analytics. The awards will recognize customers and partners for their stand-out contributions over the past year. Not only do the awards celebrate our customers and partners, but they also highlight all the fantastic work they have accomplished. The winners will be announced at SAS Explore 2023 with the first-place category winners receiving one trip to the event*, a SAS trophy and SAS swag. We will ask each winner to create a short video to describe their winning submission for a compilation video to show during SAS Explore, held in Las Vegas.   Read on to learn about the different award categories and how to enter. Or watch the video below to see a tutorial on how to enter. If you have any questions, please reach out to communities@sas.com or wendy.reeves@sas.com.   *Visit the SAS Customer Recognition Awards page for the complete program description, rules and to submit an entry.     Award Categories Distinguished Partner: Awarded to a SAS partner that exceeded the customer's expectations and was essential to the customer's success. SAS Analytics Explorers Advocate: Awarded to a SAS customer who is leveraging the SAS Analytics Explorers program to grow their skills, their career and/or their network. Community Uplift Award: Awarded to a SAS customer who has made an impact in their community at large using SAS products. Innovative Problem Solver: Awarded to a SAS customer who uses SAS in innovative ways to solve a business problem. Professional Growth Award: Awarded to a SAS customer who leverages SAS resources for personal professional development or for developing their team. Rookie of the Year: Awarded to a new SAS customer (within the last 5 years) that is using SAS to make a positive impact at their organization. ROI Rock Star: Awarded to a SAS customer demonstrating the greatest business benefit and return on investment (ROI) using SAS products. Curious Thinker: Awarded to a SAS customer who embodies curiosity, one of SAS' guiding principles. Visual Storyteller: Awarded to a SAS customer who has mastered the art of using data visualizations to help educate their company and tell a story about their data.   How to Enter Visit the SAS Customer Recognition Awards page. Note that you will need to be a community member to submit an entry. Not a member? You’ll be prompted to join before you submit your entry. Please review the program details and official rules. After reading through the awards list, choose an award category you’d like to enter. You may only have one submission per category but are welcome to enter more than one category. Click the orange Enter the Contest button at the top right of the page. Fill in your company, company background, name, title, and entry title then hit the orange Next button. Leave the body box blank. On the next screen select your category and then answer the questions below. Each question must be answered for your entry to be complete and open to voting and panel judging. Next, hit the orange preview button to review your entry. Please attach a high-resolution version of your company logo using the camera icon. Please remove the red text after you add the logo. Choose size large and left aligned. You may also insert other images, video or links to support your entry and at the bottom of the page you can attach supporting documents. Please also remove the red text at the bottom of the box. When you are happy with your preview, hit the orange post button. Your post will immediately go live and be open to public viewing.   What happens next? The nomination process closes on June 2, 2023. The SAS Communities team will review all posts for completeness and may reach out to you with questions on your post. Any posts with inappropriate content will be removed. On June 12, 2023, online voting will open to the public. Votes will be cast by clicking the like button for the entry. The voting process closes on June 23, 2023. Judging panel voting will be complete by June 30, 2023. Winners will be chosen based on a combination of public votes and judging panel votes. A panel comprised of SAS employees and non-SAS members will score each submission on a 1-5 scale on three categories: spirit of story, strength of evidence and results. Winners will be calculated based on a combination of online voting and panel scores. Winners will be notified in July 2023. The Customer Recognition Awards site will be updated with all winners in September 2023 and first place winners will be announced to the public at SAS Explore in Las Vegas, September 11-14, 2023.   Timeline Submit Entry Dates: April 3, 2023 – June 2, 2023 Voting Dates: June 12, 2023 – June 23, 2023 Panel Review Dates: June 26, 2023 – June 30, 2023 Winners Notified: July 24, 2023 Winners Announced: September 11-14, 2023, at SAS Explore Winners: First place, second place, third place (pending quantity of entries)       ... View more