Analytics firm SAS has transformed its business and operating model to slot into digital economy dynamics more effectively and serve the evolving needs of clients, says SAS South Africa business operations director David Cosgrave.

“During the past six months, our business transformed radically, with the aim of creating an analytics ecosystem. During the journey, we took into consideration the skills of our people and our partners, and how we can serve client needs most effectively.”

The transformation to become a modern, data-science platform company included opening up its operating model and introducing more flexibility and new consumption models.

The company has also deepened its support for open-source software, and its analytics systems can now process any major software development language.

“The goal is to make it easy for our users and clients. This includes self-service analytics portals, where users do not need to code at all and can build their own analytics processes from preprogrammed components developed by SAS, partners or in-house experts.

“However, we also want to support advanced users and data scientists, including our clients and those within the broader ecosystem. They can use any language that they are familiar with and our platform can interpret and execute the algorithms.”

The changes to a platform model support greater use of deep-learning algorithms and enable data scientists and analysts to add value, he adds.

The company also took into consideration some of the challenges in the analytics sector, including complexity and key-person dependencies related to open source.

“By opening the ecosystem and enabling clients to use the resources available to them – whether internal or external – to achieve their goals is the most effective way of overcoming the challenges of skills and meeting new demands. We have also introduced new consumption-based payment models,” he says.

All existing contracts and licences remain in place and users can opt to continue with their consumption models or switch to a different model as dictated by their needs.