SAS - Detailed Review

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SAS - Detailed Review Contents
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    SAS - Product Overview



    SAS Viya Overview

    SAS Viya is a comprehensive AI and analytics platform that simplifies and accelerates the entire data and AI life cycle. Here’s a brief overview of its primary function, target audience, and key features:

    Primary Function

    SAS Viya is an end-to-end platform that enables users to manage, model, and deploy data and AI projects efficiently. It transforms raw data into trustworthy insights, supporting various analytical tasks from data preparation and model development to deployment and monitoring.

    Target Audience

    SAS Viya is designed for a diverse range of users, including:

    Data Engineers

  • Data Engineers: Who benefit from no-code and automated ETL processes, easy data access, and data quality assurance.


  • Data Scientists

  • Data Scientists: Who can explore data, build and optimize models, and use prebuilt model templates.


  • MLOps Engineers

  • MLOps Engineers: Who can govern, validate, test, and deploy models across different environments.


  • Business Analysts

  • Business Analysts: Who can achieve a high completion rate of data and AI tasks through low-code and no-code options.


  • Key Features



    Data Management

  • Access and integrate data from virtually any source, regardless of size or complexity.
  • Automated ETL processes and data governance to ensure data quality and transparency.


  • Model Development

  • Comprehensive machine learning tools with automated feature engineering and model tuning.
  • Support for end-to-end data mining and machine learning processes through visual and programming interfaces.


  • Deployment and Monitoring

  • Automate tasks, govern decisions, and deploy models efficiently across environments.
  • Monitor model performance with automatic reports and visualizations.


  • Analytics Capabilities

  • Advanced workload management, optimization, forecasting, and econometrics.
  • Real-time distributed database, text analytics, and event streaming analytics capabilities.


  • Collaboration and Productivity

  • Intuitive visual interfaces and a centralized platform that enhance collaboration.
  • Built-in automation and low-code/no-code options to increase productivity for users of all skill levels.
  • SAS Viya is known for its ability to scale performance, reduce cloud operating costs, and accelerate the development and deployment of AI models, making it a valuable tool for various industries such as insurance, manufacturing, telecom, and banking.

    SAS - User Interface and Experience



    User Interface of SAS Viya

    The user interface of SAS Viya, particularly in its AI-driven analytics and data management capabilities, is designed to be intuitive, user-friendly, and highly accessible for a variety of users, including data engineers, data scientists, MLOps engineers, and business analysts.



    Ease of Use

    SAS Viya offers a range of features that simplify the user experience. For instance, data engineers can benefit from no-code and automated ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, which save hours of manual work. The platform provides a drag-and-drop interface for crafting data pipelines, ensuring that users can manage and prepare data efficiently without needing extensive coding skills.

    Data scientists can accomplish data exploration and reporting significantly faster, with built-in automation and visualizations that speed up the process by up to 69 times. The platform also supports the use of various coding languages and offers prebuilt model templates to streamline model development.



    User Interface

    The interface is characterized by its visual and interactive elements. SAS Viya includes features like automated forecasting, goal-seeking, scenario analysis, and decision trees, all accessible through a self-service interface. This makes it easier for users of different skill levels to perform advanced analytics tasks without extensive technical knowledge.



    Visual Analytics

    SAS Visual Analytics, a component of SAS Viya, allows users to visually explore data and create interactive reports through a single, self-service interface. This includes augmented analytics that automatically suggest insights and identify related measures, helping users uncover hidden stories in their data quickly.



    Accessibility and Security

    The platform ensures easy yet secure access to enterprise data sources. It features a centralized, IT-managed role-based security system that grants users appropriate corporate data access privileges, enabling them to react quickly to evolving business conditions. This security framework is integrated into the graphical user interface of tools like SAS Enterprise Guide, which works seamlessly with SAS Viya.



    Feedback and Support

    Users have praised SAS Viya for its responsive and knowledgeable support. The platform is known for its intuitive design, which enables easy data modeling and self-service visual analytics. While some users have noted that visual statistics could be improved, the overall feedback indicates a positive user experience with the platform’s functionality and support.



    Conclusion

    In summary, SAS Viya’s user interface is designed to be highly intuitive and accessible, with features that cater to a wide range of users. It combines automation, visual analytics, and secure data access to provide a seamless and efficient user experience.

    SAS - Key Features and Functionality



    SAS Viya Overview

    SAS Viya is a comprehensive AI and analytics platform that offers a wide range of features and functionalities, particularly in the areas of data management, model development, and deployment. Here are the main features and how they work, along with their benefits and the integration of AI:



    Data Management



    Data Integration

    Data Integration: SAS Viya allows users to access and integrate data from virtually any source, regardless of size or complexity. This is achieved through no-code and automated ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, which save hours of manual work.



    Data Pipelines

    Data Pipelines: Users can create data pipelines using a drag-and-drop interface, ensuring high-quality data through automated processes. Data lineage and transparency features help maintain confidence in data quality.



    Data Access

    Data Access: The platform provides seamless, transparent read, write, and update access to data from any source or platform, making data management efficient and consistent.



    Data Exploration and Reporting



    Automation and Visualizations

    Automation and Visualizations: Data scientists can accomplish data exploration and reporting 69 times faster with built-in automation and visualizations. This includes using prebuilt model templates and custom code, which streamlines the process significantly.



    Feature Engineering

    Feature Engineering: The platform offers automated feature engineering capabilities, providing intelligent recommendations for optimizing models. This helps in identifying the most effective models every time.



    Model Development and Optimization



    Model Tuning

    Model Tuning: SAS Viya allows for transparent model tuning and optimization through model tournaments. This process helps in identifying the best-performing models efficiently.



    Machine Learning Tools

    Machine Learning Tools: The platform supports end-to-end data mining and machine learning processes with both visual and programming interfaces. This caters to users of all skill levels and includes capabilities like feature engineering, model training, ensembling, and model assessment.



    Model Deployment and Monitoring



    MLOps

    MLOps: MLOps engineers can govern, validate, test, and deploy models across different environments from a single interface. The platform provides automatic performance reports and visualizations, enabling quick monitoring of model health and retraining models as needed.



    Model Governance

    Model Governance: SAS Viya simplifies the creation and management of model collections, allowing easy embedding of models into operational systems. This ensures models perform as expected in real-world scenarios and integrates business rules for real-time results.



    AI Integration



    Large Language Models (LLMs)

    Large Language Models (LLMs): SAS Viya integrates seamlessly with LLMs, enabling applications such as text generation, sentiment analysis, and language translation. This integration enhances analytics, automation, and insights by combining the strengths of LLMs with SAS Enterprise Software.



    Generative AI (GenAI)

    Generative AI (GenAI): The platform uses GenAI to accelerate customer productivity by explaining and integrating large language models into existing business processes. This includes the introduction of SAS Data Maker, a synthetic data generator, to address critical challenges without compromising sensitive data.



    Business Analyst Capabilities



    Low-Code and No-Code Options

    Low-Code and No-Code Options: Business analysts can achieve 86% of data and AI life cycle tasks using SAS Viya, thanks to built-in automation and low-code/no-code options. This allows analysts to unlock more insights on their own and explain their work easily with natural language descriptions of visualizations and metrics.



    Additional Capabilities



    Forecasting and Optimization

    Forecasting and Optimization: SAS Viya supports forecasting, optimization, econometrics, text analytics, and event stream analytics. These capabilities help in predicting outcomes, optimizing resource allocation, and analyzing complex economic and business scenarios.



    Real-Time Analytics

    Real-Time Analytics: The platform includes a real-time distributed database and event streaming analytics, enabling real-time intelligent decisions and the analysis of streaming data.

    Overall, SAS Viya is designed to provide an end-to-end solution for data and AI, from data integration and model development to deployment and monitoring, all while leveraging AI to enhance efficiency, productivity, and decision-making.

    SAS - Performance and Accuracy



    Performance

    SAS Viya is renowned for its high-performance capabilities. Here are some highlights:

    Productivity

    • It is 4.6 times more productive than competing solutions, enabling users to complete the end-to-end data and AI lifecycle much faster.


    Speed

    • SAS Viya outperforms other general-purpose libraries, completing tasks up to 30 times faster on average, especially with large or complex datasets. For example, in logistic regression tests, Viya outperformed competitors by as much as 137 times with smaller CPU configurations.


    Scalability

    • It demonstrates nearly linear scalability, with each doubling of CPU and memory resulting in a nearly 50% reduction in time. This scalability allows for significant reductions in operating costs.


    Accuracy

    The accuracy of SAS Viya is also noteworthy:

    Resource Efficiency

    • In tests conducted by The Futurum Group, SAS Viya produced results with the same scoring accuracy as competitors, but with significantly less CPU resources. For instance, Viya used 87% less CPU resources across most of the tested datasets.


    Model Performance

    • The platform’s ability to handle complex datasets with a high number of features without compromising accuracy is a significant advantage. It consistently outperformed competitors in various machine learning model types, including linear regression, logistic regression, and random forest.


    Limitations and Areas for Improvement

    While SAS Viya performs exceptionally well, there are some areas to consider:

    Infrastructure Requirements

    • Infrastructure Requirements: Performance issues with SAS Viya are often traced back to infrastructure problems, such as insufficient network bandwidth or inadequate memory. Ensuring proper network and memory configurations is crucial for optimal performance.


    Specific Use Cases

    • Specific Use Cases: Although SAS Viya outperforms general-purpose libraries in most cases, there were instances where special-purpose libraries outperformed it. This suggests that the choice of library should be based on the specific requirements of the project.


    User Experience

    SAS Viya is designed to be user-friendly across various roles:

    Data Engineers

    • Data Engineers: Benefit from no-code and automated ETL processes, drag-and-drop data pipelines, and confidence in data quality through lineage and transparency.


    Data Scientists

    • Data Scientists: Enjoy faster data exploration and reporting, use of preferred coding languages, and transparent model tuning. The platform also offers prebuilt model templates to save time.


    MLOps Engineers

    • MLOps Engineers: Can govern, validate, test, and deploy models efficiently across environments from a single interface, with automatic performance reports and visualizations.
    Overall, SAS Viya stands out for its speed, scalability, and accuracy in the AI-driven research tools category, making it a valuable tool for organizations seeking to derive insights quickly and efficiently. However, it is important to ensure that the underlying infrastructure is properly configured to maximize its performance.

    SAS - Pricing and Plans



    The Pricing Structure of SAS Viya

    Particularly in the context of its AI-driven analytics capabilities, SAS Viya’s pricing structure is organized into several tiers, each with distinct features and pricing models.



    SAS Viya Tiers



    SAS Viya

    • This foundational offering includes features such as data access, preparation, and integration; data catalog, quality, and governance; in-database technologies; workload management; visualization and reporting; statistics; matrix programming; machine learning and deep learning; model deployment and management; forecasting; text analytics; and optimization.


    SAS Viya Advanced

    • This tier includes all the features of the SAS Viya tier, with additional capabilities that might be specific to advanced analytics needs, though the exact differences are not detailed in the provided sources.


    SAS Viya Enterprise

    • This is the most comprehensive offering, including all features from the previous tiers. It is designed for large-scale enterprise use, with advanced analytics, machine learning, and deep learning capabilities, as well as model deployment and management, and other advanced features.


    SAS Viya Programming

    • This tier is focused on programming aspects, including data access, preparation, and integration; workload management; visualization and reporting; statistics; matrix programming; machine learning and deep learning; and model deployment and management. It is geared more towards users who need to perform advanced programming tasks.


    Pricing Models



    User-Based and Annual Licensing

    • SAS Viya is priced on a user basis, with an annual hosted license fee payable in advance. The fees include a one-time implementation and onboarding charge. The pricing varies based on the number of Analytics Viewers (report consumers) and Analytics Developers (mixed roles such as Visual Analytics, Visual Statistics, and SAS Viya Users).


    Tiered Pricing on G-Cloud

    • On the G-Cloud platform, SAS Viya pricing is tiered based on the size of the deployment:
      • Small: £133,649 per annum, including 25 Analytics Viewers and 7 Analytics Developers.
      • Medium: £495,667 per annum, including 250 Analytics Viewers and 58 Analytics Developers.
      • Large: £3,296,532 per annum, including 2500 Analytics Viewers and 563 Analytics Developers.
    • Each tier includes 4TB of cloud storage and varies based on user concurrency and analytical workload.


    Pay-as-You-Go Model on Azure

    • SAS Viya on Azure Marketplace offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which allows users to pay based on their usage. This model includes all the core features of SAS Viya, such as data access, preparation, visualization, machine learning, and model deployment, without the need for a large upfront commitment.


    Free Options

    • For students, educators, and independent learners, SAS offers free analytics software through programs like SAS OnDemand for Academics and SAS Viya for Learners. These programs provide access to statistical analysis, data mining, forecasting, and machine learning capabilities, along with up to 5GB of data storage.

    In summary, SAS Viya offers a range of pricing models and tiers to accommodate different user needs, from small-scale analytics to large-scale enterprise deployments, along with free options for educational purposes.

    SAS - Integration and Compatibility



    SAS Viya Overview

    SAS Viya, a comprehensive data and AI platform, is engineered to integrate seamlessly with a variety of tools and systems, ensuring broad compatibility across different platforms and devices.



    Data Integration

    SAS Viya allows users to access and integrate data from virtually any source, regardless of size or complexity. It supports seamless, transparent read, write, and update access to data from various sources and platforms. This includes building robust data pipelines to ingest, transform, and serve high-quality data. The platform supports connections to multiple databases such as Oracle, Impala, PostgreSQL, and Teradata, ensuring that data can be integrated efficiently across different database systems.



    Operating System Compatibility

    SAS Viya can be deployed on several operating systems, including UNIX 64-bit, Windows 64-bit, and Apple OS X 10.10 or later for user interfaces that support Apple Safari. For Linux deployments, it supports specific distributions like Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, with the requirement of using Red Hat Ansible for deployment.



    Cloud and Kubernetes Integration

    The platform is highly compatible with cloud environments and Kubernetes. SAS Viya can be deployed using Infrastructure as Code repositories for cloud providers such as Azure, AWS, GCP, and Open Source Kubernetes. This allows for automated deployment and management of the SAS Viya platform within Kubernetes clusters. The platform also extends the power of Kubernetes by optimizing and prioritizing SAS workloads within a Kubernetes cluster.



    Web and Mobile Access

    Users can access SAS Viya applications from desktop computers using supported web browsers. This minimal requirement ensures that end users do not need to install SAS software on their machines, making it accessible from various devices. Additionally, the platform supports client access from mobile platforms, although specific details on supported web browsers and mobile platforms can be found on the SAS Viya Support for Web Browsers page.



    AI and Machine Learning Integration

    SAS Viya integrates comprehensive machine learning tools and automated feature engineering capabilities, supporting end-to-end data mining and machine learning processes. It also incorporates generative AI (GenAI) to accelerate customer productivity, integrating large language models (LLMs) with existing business processes and systems. Tools like Viya Copilot and SAS Data Maker enhance productivity and address data privacy challenges, respectively.



    Advanced Analytics and Automation

    The platform combines business rules, real-time event detection, decision governance, and powerful analytics capabilities to automate operational decisions. It supports advanced workload management, forecasting, econometrics, and text analytics, among other features. This integration enables users to analyze streaming data, make real-time decisions, and automate tasks efficiently across different environments.



    Conclusion

    In summary, SAS Viya is highly versatile and compatible with a wide range of systems, databases, and cloud environments, making it a powerful tool for data integration, AI-driven analytics, and automated decision-making across various platforms and devices.

    SAS - Customer Support and Resources



    Contact Options



    Phone Support

    For critical issues, you can contact SAS Technical Support via phone. The US toll-free number is 1-800-727-0025, and the US Headquarters number is 1-919-677-8008.



    Email Support

    You can send an email to support@sas.com with detailed information about your issue, including the product and version, operating system, site number, problem details, and any troubleshooting steps you’ve taken. This ensures quick and efficient service.



    Chat Support

    You can initiate a chat by clicking the blue chat button in the lower right corner of your browser. This option is available for the US, Canada, and some US territories.



    Additional Resources



    Online Support

    SAS provides an extensive web interface with access to various support resources on the SAS Customer Support website. Here, you can find documentation, FAQs, and other helpful materials to resolve issues on your own.



    Educational Resources

    The customer support site includes educational resources that help you advance your skills and get questions answered. This includes access to important software updates, hot fixes, and downloads to keep your technology up and running.



    Standard Support Services

    With SAS Standard Support, you get phone or email support from SAS experts who address your questions and technical issues as quickly as possible. You also gain access to a range of resources, including software updates and fixes.



    Specific Support for SAS Viya

    For users of SAS Viya, the support services are integrated into the broader SAS support framework. This means you can use the phone, email, and chat options for any issues related to SAS Viya. Additionally, the online resources and educational materials are tailored to help you effectively use SAS Viya’s features, such as data integration, model development, and deployment.

    By leveraging these support options and resources, you can ensure that any issues or questions you have about SAS Viya or other SAS products are addressed efficiently and effectively.

    SAS - Pros and Cons



    Advantages of SAS Viya

    SAS Viya offers several significant advantages that make it a powerful tool in the AI-driven analytics category:

    Speed and Efficiency

    • SAS Viya significantly speeds up data processing and analytics tasks. It enables multi-threaded processing, including the DATA step, which reduces the time taken for long-running jobs.
    • Data integration, model development, and deployment are faster, with data exploration and reporting accomplished up to 69 times quicker than other platforms.
    • It reduces data I/O operations by loading data into CAS (Cloud Analytic Services) memory in parallel, speeding up data loading and analysis.


    Scalability and Performance

    • SAS Viya scales consistently with increased CPU, memory capacity, and data complexity, outperforming other platforms in large-scale data processing.
    • It can train AI models up to 30 times faster than open-source and commercial alternatives, ensuring models move from development to production quickly.


    Ease of Use and Automation

    • The platform offers no-code and automated ETL processes, drag-and-drop data pipeline creation, and automated model tuning, which save hours of work for data engineers and scientists.
    • It provides a visual, low- and no-code experience, allowing users to explore, model, and visualize data easily, regardless of their skill level.


    Model Development and Deployment

    • SAS Viya supports auto-tuning of machine learning models with effective hyper-parameter search and optimization routines, making it easier to find the best algorithm settings.
    • It allows for the deployment of compact binary score files into databases and supports edge analytics, facilitating scoring and model deployment.


    Cost Efficiency

    • The platform can reduce cloud operating costs by up to 86% compared to other alternatives, making it a cost-effective solution for AI and analytics.


    Business Impact

    • SAS Viya has helped various industries achieve significant improvements, such as a 66% improvement in fraud detection rate, a 70% reduction in diagnostic time in manufacturing, and a 30% reduction in customer churn in telecom.


    Disadvantages of SAS Viya

    While SAS Viya offers numerous benefits, there are some challenges and considerations:

    Learning Curve

    • Due to its extensive features and capabilities, SAS Viya can have a steep learning curve, especially for beginners. This can require significant time and effort to become proficient.


    Code Compatibility

    • Users migrating from SAS 9.4 may need to make changes to their code to fully leverage the capabilities of SAS Viya. The SAS Content Assessment tool can help identify necessary changes.


    Cost

    • SAS is generally considered more expensive than other data analytics software, which can be a barrier for some organizations.


    User-Friendliness

    • Compared to other data analytics tools, SAS Viya can be less user-friendly, particularly for those without extensive experience in data analytics and programming.
    In summary, SAS Viya offers substantial advantages in terms of speed, scalability, ease of use, and cost efficiency, but it also presents challenges such as a learning curve, potential code compatibility issues, and higher costs.

    SAS - Comparison with Competitors



    Unique Features of SAS Viya

    • End-to-End Data and AI Platform: SAS Viya integrates data management, machine learning, and decision-making processes, allowing users to access, integrate, and analyze data from virtually any source. It supports multiple types of AI models, runs in both public and private cloud environments, and offers low-code/no-code capabilities.
    • Advanced Analytics and Automation: SAS Viya includes features like automated feature engineering, model development and deployment, and intelligent decisioning. It also supports end-to-end data mining and machine learning processes with both visual and programming interfaces.
    • Performance and Scalability: SAS Viya has been shown to outperform many competitors in terms of performance at scale, particularly in cloud-native environments. It can handle large-scale data analyses and model deployments efficiently.
    • Comprehensive Capabilities: The platform offers a wide range of analytical techniques, including forecasting, optimization, econometrics, text analytics, and event stream analytics. It also integrates business rules, real-time event detection, and decision governance to automate operational decisions.


    Potential Alternatives



    For Academic Research

    • Elicit: This AI research assistant is specifically tailored for academic research. It helps find relevant papers, summarizes them, and extracts key information. Elicit is particularly useful for brainstorming and optimizing database searches.
    • Research Rabbit: Known as “the Spotify of research,” this tool allows users to create collections of academic papers and visualize scholarly networks. It provides recommendations based on user interests and helps in exploring co-authorships and topic-specific research.
    • ChatPDF: This tool makes reading and analyzing journal articles easier by summarizing papers and answering questions based on the uploaded content. It is similar to ChatGPT but focused on research papers.


    For General Analytics and AI

    • Other General-Purpose AI/ML Platforms: While SAS Viya excels in many areas, other platforms like those from competitors (referred to as “Competitor-A” in the Futurum Group report) and open-source libraries may offer specific advantages in certain niches. For example, special-purpose libraries might outperform SAS Viya in particular test cases, although SAS Viya generally performs well across a broad range of tasks.


    Key Differences

    • Integration and Automation: SAS Viya stands out for its comprehensive integration of data management, analytics, and decision-making processes. It automates many tasks, including data prep, model development, and deployment, which is not always the case with more specialized tools like Elicit or Research Rabbit.
    • Scalability and Performance: While tools like Elicit and Research Rabbit are excellent for academic research, they do not match the scalability and performance capabilities of SAS Viya, which is designed to handle large-scale enterprise data and analytics.
    • Specialization: Tools like Elicit, Research Rabbit, and ChatPDF are highly specialized for academic research and literature review, whereas SAS Viya is a more general-purpose platform that can be applied across various industries and use cases.
    In summary, SAS Viya offers a broad range of capabilities that make it a powerful tool for enterprise-level data analytics and AI, while tools like Elicit, Research Rabbit, and ChatPDF are more suited for specific needs in academic research.

    SAS - Frequently Asked Questions



    Frequently Asked Questions about SAS Products



    SAS Viya



    Can SAS Viya be used as a standalone application or does it need to be integrated with other SAS products?
    SAS Viya can be used as a standalone platform, but it also integrates seamlessly with other SAS products to enhance its capabilities. It is part of an end-to-end data and AI platform that allows users to access, manipulate, analyze, and present information in various visual formats.

    How does SAS Viya handle data integration and management?
    SAS Viya allows users to access and integrate data from virtually any source, regardless of size and complexity. It provides no-code and automated ETL processes, robust data pipelines to ingest, transform, and serve high-quality data, and data governance to track data and model lineage.

    What advanced analytics capabilities does SAS Viya offer?
    SAS Viya includes comprehensive machine learning tools with automated feature engineering, support for end-to-end data mining and machine learning processes, and the ability to tune models for peak performance through model tournaments. It also supports forecasting, optimization, econometrics, text analytics, and event stream analytics.

    Can SAS Viya handle real-time data and streaming analytics?
    Yes, SAS Viya supports real-time event detection and event streaming analytics, allowing users to make intelligent decisions in real-time environments. It combines business rules, real-time event detection, and powerful analytics capabilities to automate operational decisions.

    How does SAS Viya facilitate collaboration and model deployment?
    SAS Viya provides a centralized platform that enhances collaboration among data scientists, statisticians, and analysts. It allows for the automation of tasks, governance of decisions, and the deployment of various types of models across different environments from a single interface. Models can be easily embedded into operational systems and monitored for performance.

    What visualization and reporting capabilities are available in SAS Viya?
    SAS Viya includes tools like SAS Visual Analytics, which enables users to visualize and discover relevant relationships in data, create and share interactive reports and dashboards, and use self-service analytics for data-driven decisions. Users can add various objects such as tables, graphs, geo maps, and controls to their reports and dashboards.

    SAS Visual Investigator



    Can SAS Visual Investigator be used for entity analytics and network exploration?
    Yes, SAS Visual Investigator offers entity analytics and network exploration features. It includes entity resolution and network generation, network analytics and visualization, and the ability to expand network links and enrich network nodes.

    How does SAS Visual Investigator manage alerts and case investigations?
    SAS Visual Investigator provides alert management and triage capabilities, including a prioritized queuing model, enrichment, and disposition options. It also supports case creation from alerts and offers workflows, data visualization, and targeted investigations to manage case investigations effectively.

    Can SAS Viya and SAS Visual Investigator integrate with external systems like Active Directory?
    Yes, both SAS Viya and SAS Visual Investigator can integrate with external systems. For example, SAS Visual Analytics can be integrated with Active Directory (AD/LDAP) for user authentication and authorization.

    How does SAS Viya handle scalability and load balancing?
    SAS Viya allows for scalability by distributing computing tasks across multiple nodes. Organizations can scale out by adding more compute nodes, which helps in balancing heavy reporting loads and ensuring efficient performance.

    Can users use multiple data sources and perform advanced analytics like text analytics and natural language processing in SAS Viya?
    Yes, SAS Viya supports the use of multiple data sources and offers advanced analytics capabilities, including text analytics and natural language processing. These capabilities are often bundled with other products like Visual Text Analytics to enhance the platform’s analytical power.

    SAS - Conclusion and Recommendation



    Final Assessment of SAS Viya in the Research Tools AI-Driven Product Category

    SAS Viya is a comprehensive and powerful analytics platform that offers a wide range of benefits, making it an excellent choice for various stakeholders in the field of data analytics and AI.

    Key Benefits



    High-Performance Analytics

    SAS Viya is built for speed and scalability, allowing for superfast processing of large-scale data manipulation, exploration, and advanced analytics, including machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence. This capability is crucial for organizations dealing with vast amounts of data.



    Multi-Environment Support

    The platform supports deployment in cloud, on-site, or hybrid environments, ensuring flexibility and no infrastructure lock-in. This makes it suitable for a variety of organizational setups.



    Integrated Analytics Life Cycle

    SAS Viya provides a single, centrally managed web-based environment for all analytical tasks, from data preparation to deployment. This integration enhances productivity by eliminating the need for multiple tools and ensures comprehensive governance through features like full versioning, authorship, and change management.



    User-Friendly and Accessible

    The platform offers no-code and automated ETL processes, drag-and-drop data pipelines, and prebuilt model templates, making it accessible to a wide range of users, including data engineers, data scientists, MLOps engineers, and business analysts. This accessibility is further enhanced by built-in automation and low-code options.



    Visual Analytics

    SAS Viya’s visual analytics capabilities help in presenting insights in a digestible way, using tools like bar graphs, charts, and heat maps. This is particularly beneficial for marketers who need to centralize customer information and optimize their messaging.



    Reliability and Governance

    The platform’s fault-tolerant design ensures high availability and automated recovery, which is critical for uninterrupted analytical processing. Additionally, features like model health monitoring and transparent model tuning support responsible AI development.



    Who Would Benefit Most



    Data Scientists and Analysts

    These professionals can leverage SAS Viya’s advanced machine learning, deep learning, and AI capabilities to solve complex analytical problems quickly and efficiently. The platform’s support for various programming languages, including SAS, Python, R, Java, and Lua, adds to its appeal.



    Business Analysts

    With its low-code and no-code options, SAS Viya enables business analysts to perform a significant portion of the data and AI life cycle tasks independently, enhancing their productivity and insights.



    Marketing Teams

    Marketers can benefit from the visual analytics tools to create detailed customer profiles and optimize their marketing messages, leading to more effective campaigns.



    IT and MLOps Engineers

    The platform’s ability to govern, validate, test, and deploy models efficiently across different environments makes it a valuable tool for these professionals. The automated performance reports and visualizations also aid in model health monitoring.



    Overall Recommendation

    SAS Viya is a highly recommended platform for organizations seeking to enhance their analytical capabilities, particularly those dealing with large-scale data and complex analytics. Its scalability, flexibility, and comprehensive suite of analytics tools make it an ideal choice for a wide range of users, from data scientists and business analysts to marketing teams and IT professionals.

    The platform’s ability to transform raw data into trustworthy insights quickly, its support for various environments, and its emphasis on governance and reliability make it a strong contender in the AI-driven research tools category. Whether you are looking to improve fraud detection, optimize marketing campaigns, or streamline diagnostic processes, SAS Viya offers the tools and capabilities to meet your analytical needs effectively.

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