VA 8.1 on Viya

[RichardPaterson]

Hello, 

I am looking for the customary 'Whats new' documentation for 8.1. Does this exist? Or does 8.1 have the same functionality as 7.3? Also I have been invited by SAS to a demo of VA 7.4, is there documenation for 7.4, I don't see 7.4 listed on the documenation site?

regards, 

Richard

http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/va/index.html#viya81

[Madelyn_SAS]

On the main page, click Overview

The last link on the page should be "What’s New in SAS Visual Analytics 8.1, SAS Visual Statistics 8.1, and SAS Visual Data Builder 8.1"

[itchyeyeballs]

All the new youtube videos seem to be in v8, very little official info on the next v7 release (7.4) yet  but I have heard they should be equivallent in terms of functionality. 7.4 does seem to have some potentially interesting new functionality from the list I have seen though.

Seems like a bit of a misstep from SAS to me, very confusing for customers, we are new to VA and just implimenting 7.3,  starting to think we should hold back.

Really wish SAS had a clear short/medium term roadmap for their products so we can plan effectively, their communications are not great, finding out about changes from youtube is not good enough though.

[MichelleHomes]

@itchyeyeballs - SAS Visual Analytics 7.4 is scheduled to be released in Q2 2017. As you outline the functionality is similar with enhancements in both 8.1 or in 8.2. I think more information will unfold over the coming weeks at SAS Global Forum with the papers and presentations.

With regards to your question about whether to hold off your SAS 7.3 implementation, I'd probably engage with your SAS account rep to get a better understanding of the 7.4 and 8.1 & 8.2 features and your requirements to make a more informed decision.

[RichardPaterson]

thanks! 

is this a ' whats new'  with respect to 7.3 or 7.4? 

regards, 

Richard

[JuanS_OCS]

Hey Richard,

with respect to 7.3 🙂

As @MichelleHomes mentioned, we will know more about 7.4 in the coming weeks.

[RichardPaterson]

Thanks Juan, I did of course see Michele's post. The reason I asked is that the Whats New for 8.1 is, well how can I phrase this, underwhelming to say the least. So if these are the enhancements with respect to 7.3, one would have the ask the question - what exactly has been been changed in 7.4. And when 7.4 is released will the 'whats new for 8.1' be revised. Or is 7.4 just 8.1 without the Viya backend? I guess we will see in "the coming weeks". 

[itchyeyeballs]

I was quite negative in my earlier post because of the issues you have highlighted, as a customer the strategy seems to be very confusing. Being an early adopter of v8 to bug test is not appealing but v7 seems to have a limited lifespan.

From what I have picked up/guessed, it looks like 8.2 is going to follow 8.1 quite closely and that will bring in the changes that are mooted for 7.4.

[MichelleHomes]

As you can imagine building a completely new interface for SAS Viya and the CAS engine using HTML 5 is a mammoth task and naturally all the features in the current 7.3 flash-based interface will evolve as the VA on Viya product evolves. With feedback from the user community R&D have combined the Explorer and Designer components and written a more business oriented data building component in 8.1 as well as a whole lot of new functionality. 

7.4 is scheduled for release towards the end of April. This version works with the SAS LASR server and SAS 9 platform. The what's new doco will most likely be released when the software is and I've been told it includes enhancements we've been waiting for such as dynamic text, date parameters, improved HTML viewer with exporting, custom geographical regions, and more.

I'm sure there will be more information released at SASGF and beyond. 

[Sam_SAS]

The release numbering is a little confusing, but Michelle's last post sums it up well.