SAS Opens Solution Center in Malaysia

Solution Center is part of SAS expansion plans in collaboration with Avnet Technology Solutions to support its growing customer needs
L-R : Mr Chiew Yue Lam, General Manager of Avnet Technology Solutions Malaysia presenting a plaque to Mr Jonathan Lee, Head of Alliances and Partners of SAS Institute Sdn Bhd to signify the launch of the Solution Center and their collaboration.

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 APRIL 2008 – SAS Malaysia, the market leader in business intelligence and analytical software and services, today announced the opening of a SAS Solution Center in Kuala Lumpur in collaboration with Avnet Technology Solutions, to support its Channels and Alliances partners and customers.

Located at SAS Malaysia’s office in Plaza Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, the Solution Center is part of SAS’s latest go-to-market strategy to expand its market reach via its Channels and Alliances program to meet the surging demand for analytics in corporations across the local industries.

Jonathan Lee, Head of Alliances and Channels of SAS Malaysia, says the SAS Solution Center makes up an important part of the support structure for its growing number of business partners.

The key purpose of setting up the SAS Solution Center is to provide a facility that enables SAS Channel partners to showcase SAS Business Intelligence (BI) solutions and facilitate proofs of concepts and product benchmarking to their customers and prospects. Ultimately, it is for Channel partners to demonstrate to their customers the full potential of their BI investments.

The SAS Solution Center will host a full suite of SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform technology and specific SAS BI solutions that cater to the Manufacturing, Telecommunication, Public sectors and other vertical industries.

“Besides incorporating the necessary technical expertise to run SAS’ leading-edge BI solutions, the SAS Solution Center will also be utilized to promote BI implementation best practices and industry-specific knowledge that help customers attain quicker ROI through the incorporation of analytics into their business operations." said Lee.

Powered by Avnet and IBM
The SAS Solution Center will run on IBM System x Server supported by Avnet Technology Solutions (Avnet) - an SAS technology partner, which is also a leading global solutions distributor and long-term distributor of IBM worldwide.

With a comprehensive portfolio of technology solutions offerings, Avnet will provide a range of services to help SAS maintain existing hardware and software maintenance. The System x is one of IBM's most popular servers for the small and medium business (SMB) segment. The affordable servers are Intel® or AMD®-based and run under Windows® or Linux®. They are suitable for use as file servers, Web or database servers and for supporting network infrastructure and some business applications. “SAS and its channels will benefit from the IBM System X, proven server and storage solutions backed up by Avnet's deep knowledge and expertise in this area, “said Mr Chiew Yue Lam, General Manager of Avnet Technology Solutions Malaysia.

According to Chiew, the partnership with SAS is driven by Avnet’s global dedication to accelerate the success of its channel partners and alliance.
“ The SAS Solution Center is a result of a joint commitment of both parties to support our channel partners in addressing the needs of the BI solutions users more effectively,” he said.

Under the collaboration, Avnet will provide the necessary hardware support for the SAS Solution Center as well as assist in providing accurate hardware sizing recommendation to match customers’ BI requirements.

“Avnet has consistently partnered with topnotch IT vendors to support the development of the Malaysian IT industry and to meet the increasing demand for cutting-edge IT infrastructure, services and solutions ranging from server and storage consolidation to virtualization, system implementation, systems management and data migration,” explains Chiew.