SAS software for sustainability management unveiled

LONDON: US-based SAS Institute Inc, a market leader in providing business intelligence (BI) and analytics software, has unveiled a new software solution to help organisations measure and manage their impact on the environment, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.

Dubbed "SAS for Sustainability Management", the software is based on SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform which encompasses analytics, BI, data integration and intelligence storage and uses three indicators of sustainability - environmental, social and economic.

It uses SAS' predictive abilities to validate strategies, identify causal relationships, forecast improvement scenarios and drive innovation.

The new software is now available worldwide, but an official launch in Malaysia has been planned for July this year.

SAS marketing manager of sustainability solutions, Alyssa A. Farrell, said the new software will initially be targeted for companies in the manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, heavy industries like chemical and steel, retail, government, education and financial services sectors.

Given that the European region's focus on sustainability management is more advanced than other parts of the world, it is expected to lead in the implementation of SAS for sustainability management.

"However, I would put Asia-Pacific and the US on almost the same level-playing field, behind Europe. This is because there is a significant amount of innovation going on in Asia-Pacific particularly countries like Japan, New Zealand, Australia and South Korea which have signed the Kyoto Protocol (on global warming). So, we see potential growth opportunities in Asia-Pacific that rivals that in the US where multinationals such as Nike and Disney that have an impact across the world, are likely customers," Farrell told Business Times after the unveiling of SAS for Sustainability Management on the sidelines of the SAS Premier Business Leadership Series conference here last Tuesday.

SAS Institute Sdn Bhd marketing manager Jeanisha Wan said in Malaysia, the company sees local corporations such as YTL Corp Bhd, a well-known advocate of environmental protection, as its potential customers and has started approaching them to adopt the new software.

"Of late, Bursa Malaysia has also been putting a lot of emphasis and pressure on public-listed companies to maintain a strong corporate responsibility towards the environment. This compliance provides us with the opportunities to help these organisations achieve their sustainability goals and minimise their impact on the environment by utilising SAS for Sustainability Management," she added. - By Kang Siew Li