Access to new solutions and smarter ways of using SAS

[BeStibolt]

Helse Nord IKT is the technology division at the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority, serving the 13 hospitals in Nordland, Troms and Finmark. Helse Nord has been a FANS member for many years offering its employers to take advantage of the benefits the membership gives.

One of these is Nils Hermann Wiggen working as a Technical Advisor for their Data Warehouse development. We caught up with him at this year’s FANS Conference in Oslo, and asked him a few questions:

What do you value most by being a FANS member?

FANS is an important arena to discuss and share knowledge with other SAS Users.By being a FANS member, I mainly value the information I get access to on new technical solutions and new and smarter ways of using both new and existing SAS technology. FANS is an important arena where I discuss and share knowledge with other SAS Users. 

Last year I joined SAS® Global Forum and for me it was a great experience. Through our FANS membership, I joined the conference, which gave me the possibility to understand the upcoming trends and stay updated on technology and solutions. SAS Global Forum is the most important place to get this knowledge. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this year. When attending next time, we will take advantage of some of the courses and certifications that run in the days prior to the conference.

How do you see your co-workers utilize the FANS membership benefits?

In a Data Warehouse environment, we need many different functions and qualifications. At Helse Nord IKT we have a more technical focus than our customers and sponsors working at the Regional Health Authority and the users at the hospitals. 

They are, of course, more interested in the technology at a higher level, the business part, and what the tools can give our users and, in the end, – the patients. The advantage is that, combined, we get a good overview of both worlds, the technical and the business. Then, afterwards we can discuss solutions together.

Sometimes, the topics at FANS meetings are more relevant for one group than for the other. At last year’s SAS User Forum, we could select different tracks to attend. That was great. For us, living in the North of Norway, the FANS events offer an excellent opportunity to book meetings with people we cooperate with in SAS Institute while we are in Oslo.

How do you work with SAS software today, and how do this contribute to your organization´s objectives?

I work daily in SAS® Data Integration Studio with ETL architecture, design and development. Good Data Management let you utilize your data faster. As an answer to the former tedious way of building the house, the goal now is to make it as plain and flexible, yet as solidly built as possible. This makes the development process shorter, and thus we can react to changing demands faster. SAS® Data Integration Studio also helps for documentation purposes, which is crucial in our business.