SAS Expands Hosted Managed Services to AWS: Empowering Cloud Flexibility

SAS, a renowned data and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist, has announced the expansion of its SAS-hosted managed services to Amazon Web Services (AWS). This strategic move aims to provide customers with increased flexibility in deploying and managing their investments in SAS technology and solutions. By extending its managed services portfolio to AWS, SAS offers customers the opportunity to leverage industry-leading SAS technology on their preferred cloud platform.

Empowering Cloud Agnosticism with SAS Viya

SAS Viya’s cloud-agnostic nature empowers organizations to deploy and manage their analytics workloads seamlessly across various cloud environments, including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This flexibility allows customers to choose the cloud provider that best suits their needs while leveraging the advanced capabilities of SAS Viya for analytics and AI. SAS Viya’s compatibility with multiple cloud platforms is reinforced by its architecture, which is designed to abstract underlying infrastructure complexities, enabling consistent performance and functionality across different cloud environments.

Additionally, SAS Viya offers native integrations with popular cloud services, facilitating seamless data access, storage, and computation. According to SAS, the cloud-agnostic nature of SAS Viya enables organizations to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives by leveraging the scalability, agility, and innovation offered by leading cloud providers. As a result, customers can harness the full potential of SAS Viya’s analytics capabilities while benefiting from the flexibility and scalability of cloud computing.

Customers have long benefited from SAS Viya’s cloud-agnostic nature, enabling seamless deployment across various cloud environments. With this expansion, customers gain the added advantage of deploying SAS Viya and other cutting-edge SAS products as hosted managed services on AWS. This flexibility allows organizations to select the cloud provider that best aligns with their requirements while leveraging SAS’s expertise in managing and maintaining their platforms and solutions in the cloud environment.

SAS Managed Services: Delivering End-to-End Support

SAS Managed Services provide customers with comprehensive support throughout their cloud journey. From installation and configuration to ongoing maintenance and support, SAS ensures maximum uptime and minimal administrative overhead for its customers.It can be complex and time-consuming tasks for organizations, often requiring specialized expertise and resources. According to a report by Flexera, 93% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy, indicating the widespread adoption of cloud services across industries. However, managing cloud environments effectively remains a challenge for many organizations, with 77% of IT professionals citing complexity as a top barrier to cloud adoption, according to a survey by IDG. Additionally, ensuring maximum uptime and minimizing administrative overhead are critical considerations for organizations leveraging cloud services.

According to a study by Gartner, the average cost of downtime is $5,600 per minute, underscoring the importance of reliable support and maintenance for cloud environments. SAS Managed Services address these challenges by providing customers with comprehensive support throughout their cloud journey. With SAS managing installation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance, organizations can mitigate the risk of downtime and focus on innovation and achieving tangible results. This end-to-end support model enables organizations to optimize their cloud investments and maximize the value of their SAS solutions, ultimately driving business success in the digital age.

Customer Benefits: Efficiency, Cost Reduction, and Security

The expansion of SAS-hosted managed services to AWS offers customers a range of tangible benefits, including increased efficiency, cost reduction, and enhanced security. According to a study by Forrester, organizations leveraging managed cloud services experience a 46% reduction in operational costs and a 55% increase in IT staff productivity. By offloading the management of their platforms and solutions to SAS, organizations can reallocate resources to focus on core business activities, driving operational efficiency and productivity gains. Additionally, SAS’s expertise in managing cloud environments helps customers optimize their AWS infrastructure, leading to potential cost savings through improved resource utilization and optimized cloud spending.

I recently have looked into a report by Flexera which has showed that organizations overspend on cloud services by an average of 35%, highlighting the importance of efficient cloud management practices. Furthermore, SAS’s proactive approach to security helps customers mitigate cybersecurity risks and ensure compliance with industry regulations. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach is $4.24 million, emphasizing the financial implications of inadequate security measures. By leveraging SAS’s security expertise, organizations can reduce the risk of data breaches and minimize the associated costs and reputational damage. Additionally, the modernization journey from SAS 9 to SAS Viya enables organizations to leverage advanced analytics capabilities and drive innovation in their business processes. According to a study by McKinsey, organizations that embrace advanced analytics experience a 2-5% increase in productivity and a 6-10% improvement in profit margins. By accelerating their modernization journey with SAS and AWS, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth and competitive advantage in the digital age.

Industry Recognition and Future Outlook

The strategic move by SAS has garnered praise from industry experts, showcasing the company’s commitment to meeting customers where they are and providing them with greater choice and flexibility in leveraging data and AI within their organizations. With SAS’s full product suite now available on AWS, customers can seamlessly transition to SAS Viya or leverage existing AWS infrastructure for optimal business outcomes.

This strategic alignment with customer preferences positions SAS as a leader in providing choice and flexibility to organizations seeking to leverage data and AI within their operations. Furthermore, the availability of SAS’s full product suite on AWS enables customers to seamlessly transition to SAS Viya or leverage existing AWS infrastructure, driving optimal business outcomes.

Conclusion: Seizing Opportunities for Growth

Overall, SAS’s expansion of hosted managed services to AWS represents a significant milestone in empowering cloud flexibility and enabling organizations to harness the power of data and AI effectively. As SAS continues to innovate and expand its offerings, customers can expect enhanced support, increased efficiency, and greater agility in their cloud deployments. With SAS and AWS as strategic partners, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth and innovation in the ever-evolving landscape of data and AI.