(Cary, N.C.) SAS has been named a leader among nine vendors in The Forrester Wave: Predictive Analytics and Data Mining Solutions, Q1 2010. SAS predictive analytics and data mining solutions were evaluated by Forrester against 53 criteria in three categories through vendor surveys, product demonstration and vendor-reference interviews. SAS earned top overall ranking in all three categories – current offering, strategy and market presence – including perfect scores for functionality, professional services, licensing and cost, direction, and company financials criteria.

“Predictive analytics can play a pivotal role in the planning and day-to-day operations of your business,” according to the report by author James Kobielus, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research Inc. an independent research company.

Per the Forrester report, “SAS provides a diversified solution portfolio with comprehensive feature-rich modeling/mining and statistical analysis tools, as well as model and data governance platform, for mining complex structured and unstructured information.” The report also notes that “SAS offerings integrate out of the box with a wide range of third-party data warehouse platforms and with the vendor’s own analytics platform and wide range of prepackaged analytical applications.”

“SAS helps organizations make better decisions faster,” said Jim Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at SAS. “SAS continues to see strong demand for our business analytics software because it adds real bottom-line value for customers.”

With SAS predictive analytics, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment, can understand the nuances associated with individual customers, segments and buying patterns. “Our personalized approach to marketing enables us to maintain and enhance customer loyalty over the years,” said David Norton, Chief Marketing Officer at Harrah’s. “Using SAS analytical tools to target unique customer segments based on detailed guest transactional information, we’re outperforming our competitors in these challenging economic times.”

Analytics: Provide new insights for better decision making

Organizations are inundated with structured and unstructured textual data from financial reports, factory sensors, call center notes, and customer product reviews online, among other sources. SAS Analytics lets them realize the value within these growing volumes of data. Business analytics – which includes predictive analytics and data mining — helps organizations succeed by predicting what will happen: Which series of bank transactions are potentially fraudulent; which customers will respond to mobile marketing efforts; which combination of drug compounds will make the most effective pharmaceutical?

In times of rapid change, rapid learning is a necessity. Whether optimizing operations by reducing waste and fraud, improving customer relationships or managing product quality, analytics provides a strategic advantage to organizations driving the economic recovery. Senior management, boards of directors and shareholders demand better decisions, and organizations that leverage analytics to excel at finding opportunities in this rapidly changing market will thrive.

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 45,000 global sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.