SAS reports bullish results in Brazil
Data analytics giant SAS has reported positive results for its Brazilian operation and has plans to develop its channel network as well as expansion into certain industry sectors.
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The firm obtained growth of 22 percent in new business (first year fee revenue) and 8 percent in total software revenue in comparison to 2016. According to the president for Brazil at SAS, Cassio Pantaleoni, the country's performance surpassed all of the company's Asia business with the exception of Japan.
"Our growth was aggressive compared to other players and also considering the current national situation and all the background noise. In uncertain scenarios, clients want the certainty that can only be gained from effective data analytics," Pantaleoni said.
The most popular products in Brazil last year were risk management solutions, with sales growth of 55 percent, followed by data management and applications geared at Internet of Things, up 27 percent.
In terms of sector representation, business for SAS in Brazil last year was mainly driven by financial services clients (56 percent of total revenue), followed by telecommunications (17 percent) and public sector (16 percent).
For 2018, the company wants to achieve 11 percent growth. To support that goal, it will continue to expand its channel presence as well as developing sectors where it doesn't have as much of a presence. The company has been focusing on public sector last year and that will continue, in addition to business development in utilities, consumer goods, retail and agribusiness.
In terms of products SAS will be pushing in Brazil this year, key areas will be artificial intelligence, machine learning and IoT as well as products around data management, customer intelligence, fraud and risk.
For Latin America, the company had growth of 15,2 percent in first year fee business and 9,6 percent in total software revenue. The region was one the world's best performers for the company alongside Asia Pacific. Globally, SAS generated $3,24 billion in business in 2017, up 1,25 percent on the prior year.