Sas To Set Up Software Development Centre

The $653-million SAS Institute Inc, the worlds largest privately held software company, plans to open a software development centre in India as part of its global plans to expand its operations.

The setting up of a software research and development centre in India is expected to help SAS Incs plans for building Asia-Pacific software applications in the area of data warehousing and data mining.

SAS Institute had set up a branch office in Mumbai six months ago. SAS, which also ranks as the worlds ninth largest independent software company, has offices in more than 55 countries worldover. The US company offers software solutions like end-to-end data warehousing, tools and a methodology for data mining, business intelligence, and data analysis tools.

Rohini Midha, country manager, India, SAS Institute said the company is seriously considering setting up a R&D centre for software in the country. The North Carolenia headquartered company spends 32 per cent of total revenue in R&D. It has invested $209 million in 1996, and more than $ one billion since its formation. SAS has recently won the first of its major Indian order from Hutchison Max in Mumbai for implementing its data warehousing project, she said.

In India, the company has also tied up with Wipro Infotech group which will be SAS implementation partner in India. More than 50 per cent of SAS Institutes global revenues now emerged from Asia-Pacific region, she said.

In Asia-Pacific region, SAS is involved with a number of large data warehousing projects in industries such as banking, telecommunications, semi-conductors, and government.

Although, India is still at an early stage for data warehousing, Rohini Midha said data mining would also catch on as phase II of data warehousing in the region. The company has already opened its third office in China.

The idea behind SAS eyeing the Indian market followed the countrys economic liberalisation, which prompted both government and private sector turning to data warehousing for better decision-making power in increasingly competitive market.

SAS Institute is now holding Asias first datawarehousing skills development workshop named `boot camp in Mumbai between September 15 and October 15. The boot camp will offer training in datawarehousing and data mining technologies using SAS software.