SAS Institute Inc., commonly known as SAS, is an American multinational developer of analytics and artificial intelligence software. Based in Cary, North Carolina, the company creates a suite of software products that help organizations access, manage, analyze, and report on data to support decision-making. SAS is one of the largest privately held software providers in the world, and its software is used by most of the Fortune 500 companies. The company's revenue grew from $10 million in 1980 to $3.2 billion in 2022, and it has historically spent a notably higher proportion of its annual revenue on research and development than most other software companies.
The company originated as a project at North Carolina State University to create a statistical analysis system. Originally an acronym for "Statistical Analysis System," SAS is no longer considered an acronym. It was initially used primarily by agricultural departments at universities in the late 1960s. SAS became an independent, private business in 1976, led by current CEO James Goodnight and three other project leaders from the university.
History
1966–1979: Founding and early history
The Statistical Analysis System began as a project at North Carolina State University's agricultural department. It was originally led by Anthony James Barr in 1966, then joined by NCSU graduate student James Goodnight in 1967 and John Sall in 1973. In the early 1970s, the software was primarily leased to other agricultural departments to analyze the effect of soil, weather, and seed varieties on crop yields. The project was funded by the National Institutes of Health and later by a coalition of university statistics programs called the University Statisticians of the Southern Experiment Stations.
By 1976, the software had 100 customers, and that year, 300 people attended the first SAS user conference in Kissimmee, Florida. Goodnight, Barr, Sall, and another early participant, Jane Helwig, founded SAS Institute Inc. as a private company on July 1, 1976, in offices across the street from the university. Barr and Helwig later sold their interest in the company.
During its first year of operation, SAS adopted a tradition of polling users for suggestions to improve the software through the SASware Ballot. Many of the company's employee perks, such as fresh fruit, reasonable work hours, and free M&M's every Wednesday, became part of its practices that first year. In the late 1970s, the company established its first marketing department.
1980–2018
SAS started building its current headquarters in a forested area of Cary, North Carolina, in 1980. Later that year, it began providing on-site daycare to keep an employee who had planned to leave her job to care for her child at home. By 1984, SAS had expanded benefits programs for employees and their families and begun building a fitness center, medical center, on-site cafe, and other facilities. SAS became known as a good place to work and was frequently recognized by national magazines like BusinessWeek, Working Mother, and Fortune for its work environment.
The company began its relationship with Microsoft and development for Windows operating systems in 1989. Shortly afterwards, it established partnerships with database companies like Oracle, Sybase, and Informix.
During the 1980s, SAS was one of Inc. Magazine's fastest growing companies in America from 1979 to 1985. It grew more than ten percent per year from $10 million in revenues in 1980 to $1.1 billion by 2000. In 2007, SAS revenue was $2.15 billion, and in 2013 its revenue was $3.02 billion. By the late 1990s, SAS was the largest privately held software company. The Associated Press reported that analysts attributed the growth to aggressive research and development (R&D) spending. It had the highest ratio of its revenues spent on R&D in the industry for eight years, setting a record of 34 percent of its revenues in 1993, as it was working on a new menu-based interface. In 1998, a larger proportion of its revenue was spent on R&D than at most other software companies; in 1997, this figure was more than double the industry average.
SAS created an education division in 1997 to create software for schools, including the newly formed Cary Academy. In 2003, the Bank of America Foundation purchased and donated licenses for the software to 400 schools in North Carolina. SAS funded its first advertising program in 2000 with a $30 million television and radio campaign.
The company considered making 25 percent of its ownership stake available on the stock market and providing employees with stock options during the dot-com bubble before the following downturn, but ultimately chose not to. SAS was one of the few technology companies that did well during the downturn and hired aggressively to take advantage of available staff.
In 2009, SAS filed a lawsuit against World Programming Ltd., alleging that World Programming System - a software product designed to use the features of the SAS language - violated their copyright as it was reverse engineered from the functionality of SAS Learning Edition. The European Court of Justice ruled that functionality and language elements were not protected, and the case was discussed in Oracle v. Google.
SAS introduced its first reseller program intended to grow sales with small to medium-sized businesses in 2006. Leading up to 2007, SAS provided funding and curriculum assistance to help start the Master of Science in Analytics program at nearby North Carolina State University. The company's cloud-based products grew in revenues by 35 percent in 2014, and the construction of Building Q was completed late that year to house its corresponding operations.
In March 2014, SAS launched its SAS Analytics U initiative to provide free foundational technologies and support to teachers and students.
2019–present: Artificial intelligence and international expansion
In 2019, SAS announced that it was investing $1 billion into further artificial intelligence R&D, as part of a broader push to develop software in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, and natural language processing. The investment also funds related initiatives such as acquisitions and the creation of education programs to teach the public about the applications of AI. That year, SAS partnered with Nvidia to produce offerings related to AI and deep learning. Under that partnership, Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) and CUDA-X AI acceleration libraries support SAS' AI applications and models.
SAS partnered with Microsoft in 2020 to allow users to run their SAS workloads in the cloud with Microsoft Azure. This partnership has also facilitated co-engineering between the companies in the areas of generative AI and data management, such as integration between OpenAI and SAS' analytical systems.
SAS also partnered with TMA Solutions in 2020, with the latter consulting on enterprise solutions.
Products and technology
SAS develops and markets a suite of analytics software, also called SAS, which helps access, manage, analyze, and report on data to aid in decision-making. The software includes tools for data management, statistical analysis, predictive modeling, and machine learning. SAS has evolved to incorporate Artificial intelligence capabilities, including Machine learning, Deep learning, and Natural language processing features, though the source facts do not specify all these details.
The company's flagship products include SAS Visual Analytics, SAS Enterprise Miner, and SAS Viya, a cloud-native platform for analytics and AI. SAS Viya integrates with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud to provide scalable analytics in the cloud. The company also offers industry-specific solutions for sectors such as banking, healthcare, retail, and government.
Research and development
SAS has historically invested a higher proportion of its revenue in R&D than most software companies. In 1993, it set a record of 34 percent of revenues on R&D, and in 1997, this figure was more than double the industry average. The company's R&D efforts have focused on advancing analytics and AI technologies, including partnerships with NVIDIA for GPU-accelerated computing and with OpenAI for generative AI integration.
SAS also collaborates with academic institutions, such as north-carolina-state-university, to develop analytics curricula and research programs. The company's investment in AI R&D, announced in 2019, aims to enhance its software's capabilities in areas like computer vision and natural language processing.
Corporate affairs
SAS is a privately held company, with James Goodnight serving as CEO since its founding. The company has remained independent, choosing not to go public despite considering an IPO during the dot-com bubble. SAS is known for its employee-friendly workplace, with extensive benefits including on-site daycare, fitness centers, and medical facilities. It has been frequently recognized by magazines like Fortune and Working Mother for its work environment.
The company's headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, is a large campus set in a forested area, with multiple buildings including the recent Building Q. SAS has expanded internationally, with offices and operations worldwide, though specific details are not provided in the source facts.
Legal and partnerships
The 2009 lawsuit against World Programming Ltd. was a notable legal case, with the European Court of Justice ruling that functionality and language elements are not protected by copyright. This case has been referenced in discussions of software copyright, including in Oracle v. Google.
SAS has formed strategic partnerships with major technology companies. The partnership with Microsoft, initiated in 2020, enables SAS workloads to run on Azure and includes co-engineering in generative AI and data management. The partnership with Nvidia, also from 2019, focuses on AI and deep learning, using Nvidia GPUs and CUDA-X libraries. SAS has also partnered with TMA Solutions for consulting services.
Education and community
SAS has a strong commitment to education. The company created an education division in 1997, which developed software for schools and helped establish Cary Academy. In 2003, the Bank of America Foundation donated SAS licenses to 400 schools in North Carolina. The SAS Analytics U initiative, launched in 2014, provides free foundational technologies and support to teachers and students. SAS also contributed to the Master of Science in Analytics program at North Carolina State University.
Future outlook
As of the latest available information, SAS continues to expand its AI and cloud offerings, with a $1 billion investment in AI R&D announced in 2019. The company's focus on generative AI and integration with platforms like OpenAI positions it to remain a significant player in the analytics and AI software market. However, specific future plans beyond these initiatives are not detailed in the source facts.