SAS Visual Analytics Overview
SAS Visual Analytics is a powerful, self-service analytics solution designed to help users visually explore data, create interactive reports, and derive actionable insights from their data. This platform is tailored for a wide range of users, from business analysts to executives, enabling them to make data-driven decisions quickly and efficiently.
Key Capabilities
Data Exploration and Visualization
SAS Visual Analytics allows users to visually explore their data and create smart, interactive visualizations and reports through a single interface. It leverages augmented analytics and advanced capabilities to accelerate insights, helping users uncover hidden stories in their data. The platform supports a variety of visualizations, including box plots, heat maps, animated bubble charts, network diagrams, correlation matrices, and more.
Advanced Analytics
The platform goes beyond basic descriptive statistics by providing tools for predictive modeling, machine learning, and statistical analysis. These advanced analytics capabilities enable businesses to forecast trends, predict customer behavior, and assess risks with greater precision. Features include automated forecasting, goal seeking, scenario analysis, and decision trees, all accessible without requiring programming skills.
Location Analytics
SAS Visual Analytics integrates traditional data sources with location data, allowing for geographical context in analyses. This includes geospatial data such as travel time, travel distance, and demographics data enrichment through Esri integration. Users can analyze data in a geographical context, identifying location-specific opportunities and gaining a fuller understanding of their data.
Self-Service Analytics
The platform offers self-service analytics, enabling users of all skill levels to perform automated forecasting, scenario analysis, and other advanced analytical tasks. This includes the ability to modify calculation parameters, change chart types, and apply filters on the fly, making it easier for users to interact with and understand their data.
Collaboration and Sharing
SAS Visual Analytics facilitates collaboration by allowing users to share insights and reports via the web and mobile devices. Report consumers can change display rules, switch measures, and adjust chart types to see the most relevant information. The platform also integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 tools, enabling users to embed insights into applications like Excel and Outlook.
Mobile Access
The platform provides native mobile apps for iOS and Android, allowing users to view and interact with dynamic reports and dashboards on tablets and smartphones. This ensures that key decision-makers can access real-time data and make informed decisions regardless of their location.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
SAS Visual Analytics includes NLP capabilities, enabling users to interact with data using natural language. Users can ask questions like “What are the sales trends for Q3?” and receive relevant visualizations in response, making data querying more intuitive.
Embedded Insights
Users can embed individual visual insights or entire interactive reports into custom web applications. This allows for flexible data storytelling, whether using live data or embedded data snapshots.
Open Integration
The platform supports open integration with third-party JavaScript libraries such as D3 and C3, and provides REST APIs for accessing SAS analytics, data, and services. This flexibility is beneficial for developers who want to add custom visualizations and interact with the platform using various client languages.
Additional Features
- Data Integration: SAS Visual Analytics can connect with various data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, and big data platforms like Hadoop, allowing for real-time data analysis.
- Interactive Reporting: Users can create stunning interactive reports and dashboards, summarizing key performance metrics and enabling real-time interaction and collaboration.
- Scenario Analysis: The platform allows users to see how changes in different variables would affect forecasts, enabling more informed decision-making.
In summary, SAS Visual Analytics is a comprehensive analytics solution that empowers users to explore, visualize, and analyze data in a highly interactive and intuitive manner, driving smarter, data-driven decisions across various business functions.