Watch this Ask the Expert session to learn how to seamlessly integrate decisioning processes and achieve faster insights from your data.
Watch the webinar
You will learn:
- The benefits of using containers to operationalize your decisions.
- How SAS decisioning and machine learning can be deployed via Snowpark Container Services.
- How to leverage data from Snowflake as part of your decisioning process.
The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.
Q&A
What release of Viya is the integration with Snowflake available?
The SAS Viya 4 platform specifically with SAS Intelligent Decisioning and/or SAS Model Manager will have the capabilities to publish the SAS Container Runtime. Our integration with Snowpark Container Services is specifically on Viya 4.
What kind of code can be published to the SAS Container Runtime? Can Python and other languages be published to SCR?
Looking at the different layers within the SAS Container Runtime, of course it’s SAS code, but we also deliver the container with a Python layer. So that does enable you to incorporate Python models as well as Python code within your decision or within your models alongside your SAS code. We also have a pure Python image as well. So as a SAS platform, being very open and flexible to these different languages is one of our strong suits. So, if you have a pure Python model, you can import that into SAS Viya and then we provide a Python based image version of the SAS Container Runtime which you can use to then deploy your Python container. So, we have Python, SAS and we actually have coming up very soon support for R containers as well. So be on the lookout for that.
Can I deploy machine learning models to SAS Container Runtime or only decisions?
You can definitely deploy ML models. In this example, we actually had the gradient boosting model or it could be XG boost from Python embedded within the decision. But if you're not a SAS Intelligent Decisioning customer and you have Model Studio or Visual Data Mining & Machine Learning, you definitely still have the capability to publish and deploy your models via SAS Container Runtime as well. So, it's not just for decisions, but pure models as well.
Where do we find instructions on how to set up the Snowflake container registry destination?
That will be in Snowflake’s documentation, outside the realm of SAS. Actually creating that container destination is part of their Snowpark Container Services. If you Google Snowpark Container Services documentation you will see the instructions on how to create that registry. Additionally, one of the other components of these, the registry, is the publishing destination that connects to it. And SAS does have a significant amount of documentation on their public GitHub repositories, basically giving example commands and deep detailed explanations of every parameter that gets used in the commands done by administrators to create those destinations. So, all the pieces are connected and provided in the documentation by both SAS and Snowflake.
Would SAS Viya and the demonstrated functionality be available for academic training purposes?
Today with our SAS Viya trials, you do have access to everything on the SAS side that we showed for Snowpark Container Services. It used to be in private preview. They're now GA specifically on AWS and Azure. You should, if you're a Snowflake customer, probably reach out to your Snowflake admin or I believe there's some documentation on how you can enable Snow Park container services yourself. But from the SAS side, yes, all the SAS capabilities are available via our SAS Viya trials out on the web today.
Which GitHub repo?
It is under the SAS software GitHub repo and it is called Model Management Resources.
Recommended Resources
Deploy Decisioning Models In Snowflake With SAS Viya And Snowpark Container Services (Video)
SAS Intelligent Decisioning Overview
SAS Intelligent Decisioning Documentation
SAS Container Runtime Documentation
Please see additional resources in the attached slide deck.
Want more tips? Be sure to subscribe to the Ask the Expert board to receive follow up Q&A, slides and recordings from other SAS Ask the Expert webinars.
