Item: SAS Data Management
Rating: 7
Author: Filippo Orlando

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The product is used by our company to meet specific needs in the analytics field, for our CRM. In our case, it's used to manage customer segmentation logics and CRM targeting. I think it is the ideal solution, but may not find it's place in other areas or projects.

Pros and Cons

Integrability with different data sources. The provision of native connectors is complete and there is the possibility of implementing new ones.
Flexibility in power sources, thanks to the connectors with the main DB and the integration of all types of formats (XML, CSV, JSON, etc.)
End-to-end process with the SAS suite. Products such as SAS Visual Analytics allows the visualization of the data produced, or Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning which allows you to perform advanced analysis.

It is a versatile product but sometimes difficult to use due to the very close link with the proprietary programming language where specific knowledge is required.
Compared to competitors on the market that offer the same functions for the integration perimeter, it is certainly very expensive.
It is very simple to use when combined with products from the SAS suite, less so it is being used stand-alone or integrated with other well-known brands.

Return on Investment

Implementation time to be expected due to the expertise on SAS tools and its language.
Complete and very powerful tool, especially combined with other SAS products.
Modern product always in step with the times and needs, certainly not cheap.

Alternatives Considered

SAS Advanced Analytics and SAS Business Intelligence

The product is best when combined with the other products of the SAS suite. In particular, it's great for the preparation, analysis and display of the data if it is carried out with the products indicated above. When it is combined with products other than those of the SAS suite, the integration and solution of the issues are complex.

Support Rating

It is a good product, but not the best in its field. Very functional if combined and confined to the SAS world. Unnecessarily complex and expensive if outside this scope. I believe that on the market, in relation to quality/price, there are more versatile products that allow greater integration even if less powerful and performing.

Usability

The main negative point is the use of a non-standard language for customizations, as well as the poor integration with non-SAS systems. However, there is no doubt that it is a high-performance and powerful product capable of responding optimally to certain requirements.

Key Insights

Do you think SAS Data Management delivers good value for the price?

Are you happy with SAS Data Management's feature set?

Yes

Did SAS Data Management live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of SAS Data Management go as expected?

Would you buy SAS Data Management again?

Yes

Other Software Used

KNIME Analytics Platform, Oracle Application Express

Likelihood to Recommend

I believe that in the field of Data Integration, the SAS product is very suitable if the company uses SAS products for all the steps of the data. It is less suitable if used as a stand-alone tool. In our case, to manage customer segmentation logics and CRM targeting, it is the ideal solution.

My SAS Enterprise Data Integration Server Review

Overall Satisfaction with SAS Enterprise Data Integration Server