SAS software revenue jumps to RM36m

KUALA LUMPUR: SAS, a leader in business analytics software and services, posted a 21 per cent growth in its new software revenue in Malaysia last year.

SAS Malaysia recorded total software revenues of over RM36 million, mainly driven by the demand for analytics for customer intelligence, data management, combating fraud and to mitigate risk.

The strong sales included new analytics software sales from Malaysia Building Society Bhd, UMobile, and Columbia Asia Hospital, Takaful Ikhas, Department of Statistics Malaysia and Pos Malaysia.

Currently, the company has over 150 corporate clients across sectors in Malaysia that use SAS analytics solutions.

The revenue growth is mainly driven by sales growth in the financial services industry of 31.2 per cent in 2011, SAS Malaysia managing director Andrew Tan said.

"The market is changing rapidly. More and more companies are looking to analytics to give them visibility and clarity on the vast information that runs through their business, to make more cost-effective decisions," Tan said in a statement.

"In Malaysia, we have also started to serve the very specific analytics needs of the oil and gas industry, helping companies to predict and prevent machinery failure."

SAS Malaysia plans to expand its current workforce to accommodate the growing demand for business analytics from across industries of telecommunication, financial services, retail, commercial, government and oil and gas.

The company expects its existing workforce to grow by 32 per cent by mid-2012.

It will focus its investments in a larger sales workforce, solution architects and analytics advisory capabilities with experience and exposure in the areas of risk intelligence, information management and customer intelligence.

Overall, SAS achieved record global revenues of US$2.725 billion (RM8.28 billion) last year.

The Americas accounted for 46 per cent of total revenue, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) 42 per cent and Asia Pacific 12 per cent.