Jimmy Cheah, managing director of SAS Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, 13 NOVEMBER 2008 - Business intelligence (BI) is finally entering the mass market in Malaysia, according to consulting firm IDC Malaysia. It also pointed out that BI firm SAS Malaysia has maintained its market leadership position, fourth year in a row.
Asia Pacific Semi-annual Business Intelligence Tracker, 1H08, ranked SAS No.1 in the BI tools market in Malaysia, with over 33 per cent market share in the first half of 2008—more than twice that of the nearest competitor, said IDC Malaysia market analyst Roger Ling.
Ling said the BI tools market, which is made up of two market segments: end-user query, reporting and analysis (QRA), and advanced analytics, had experienced significant growth.
In addition, he said in the past year, the advanced analytics segment of the BI tools market grew faster than the QRA segment, indicating growing awareness of the value of analytics in BI for critical competitive advantage. Ling added that SAS has over 65 per cent market share in the advanced analytics segment.
Recent growth reflects an increasing need for software that provides faster access to broader information. “BI tools are finally entering the mass market,” said Ling. “It’s a prelude to the next market cycle that will lead to pervasive business intelligence.”
Financial crisis will not stop growth
According to SAS Malaysia managing director Jimmy Cheah, the company’s continued good performance reflects SAS’s lead in the global market place.
SAS holds the No.1 worldwide market share position among all advanced analytics software vendors with 31.9 per cent in 2007 and has the highest BI tools market share growth rate of the top five BI vendors, according to a June 2008 IDC report: Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2007 Vendor Shares: Query, Reporting, and Analysis, and Advanced Analytics Markets Stable in the Face of Economic Turmoil, Cheah said.
“With a 22-year track record of delivering proven results in Malaysia and the ability to innovate, SAS is more and more often the first company people call when needing to solve business problems,” said Cheah.
He added SAS Malaysia has been seeing a 30 per cent growth year-on-year for the past four years. Despite the financial crisis, Cheah is confident that SAS Malaysia will continue to record double-digit growth for the coming year.
Update: Additional text has been added to the story since its original publication.
