CARY, N.C., Oct. 7, 2004 -- SAS, the leader in business intelligence, today announced that it has been ranked as a market leader in META Group's METAspectrum(SM) report for data mining tools. META Group is a leading provider of information technology (IT) research, advisory services, and strategic consulting.

The new METAspectrum evaluation provides an objective assessment of the companies that provide data mining tools that extract critical information from large data stores. This information can then be analyzed to enhance corporate data resources and generate predictions regarding business trends and behavior. According to META Group, data mining tools allow developers and business users to discover, manipulate and analyze corporate data.

SAS was again placed in the leader segment of the METAspectrum analysis and was specifically recognized for its product, SAS(R) Enterprise Miner(TM). As defined by META Group, a leader is a company that has "stable, mature products that excel in nearly all aspects of data mining functionality." Leaders are also distinguished "by the breadth of their marketing programs, geographic coverage, technological investments, and commitment to quality implementation and support services."

"We are pleased by our favorable rating in the METAspectrum based on our Enterprise Miner product for SAS(R)9," said Anne Milley, SAS' director of analytical strategy. "SAS Enterprise Miner has the most complete portfolio of predictive modeling algorithms relative to any other data mining vendor, enabling our customers to reveal significant patterns and trends, explain known outcomes and identify factors that can secure a desired effect. SAS analytics, including SAS Enterprise Miner, help companies increase revenue, decrease costs and enhance their competitive position."

"We developed METAspectrum to enable IT professionals to quickly and interactively evaluate vendors based on their ability to deliver on the presence and performance criteria that matter most in a given market," said Andrew Warzecha, META Group senior vice president and director enterprise analytics. "SAS has long established itself as a leader in the data mining market by providing a robust solution that excels in the criteria we evaluated."

SAS recently launched SAS(R)9, the most significant release in SAS' 28-year history. SAS analytics - a key package in the SAS(R)9 Intelligence Platform - give executives unprecedented foresight, allowing them to anticipate the changing needs of the organization. Enhanced analytics in SAS(R)9 include a comprehensive set of capabilities such as predictive and descriptive modeling, forecasting, simulation, optimization, and design of experiments. SAS(R)9 takes full advantage of analytical advances, equipping users with additional and enhanced predictive modeling capabilities, PMML scoring code to ease deployment on analytics, and a Web-based model repository for greater reusability. For more information about SAS analytic technologies, go to http://www.sas.com/technologies/analytics/index.html.

About METAspectrum

META Group's METAspectrum(SM) methodology provides a framework for evaluating or selecting an appropriate IT vendor or product, simplifies the decision process, and enables more effective technology investments. META Group's research efforts, which adhere to the company's commitment to objectivity, are conducted independently, based on industry best-practice methodologies and subject to the highest levels of review by META Group's research community. To learn more about METAspectrum, visit metagroup.com/metaspectrum or call 800-945-META.

About SAS

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites -- including 96 of the top 100 companies on the 2003 FORTUNE Global 500(R) -- to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know(R).

SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (C) 2004 SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.

METAspectrum(SM) market evaluations and results are the sole property of META Group, Inc. Permission to use the results requires prior written approval from META Group and should not be deemed an endorsement of any company or product. Copyright (C) 2004 META Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

SAS Institute
Faye Merrideth or Desiree Adkins, 919-531-4261
Faye.Merrideth@sas.com; www.sas.com