| Increasing knowledge-discovery bandwidth at Northern
Arizona University’s Center for Data Insight SAS Institute Inc., KPMG LLP
augment state-of-art data mining lab
with SAS® Enterprise Miner™
CARY, NC (November 15, 1999) – SAS Institute, a leader in data
warehouse, data mining, and decision support solutions, KPMG, a leading global
professional advisory firm, and Northern Arizona University today announced the opening of
an expansion of the university’s Center for Data Insight
(CDI). The expansion,
co-sponsored by SAS Institute and KPMG, adds a new training and research room, enabling
NAU to offer business people short courses in data mining and knowledge discovery. It also
adds to the CDI laboratory, including a powerful parallel computer, where companies can
mine their own data with the latest technologies, such as the Institute’s market
leading data mining software, SAS Enterprise Miner.
KPMG selected Enterprise Miner software, on exhibit through Wednesday
at Faulkner & Gray’s Card Marketing Conference ’99 in Atlanta
( http://www.faulknergray.com), as the centerpiece of a knowledge discovery process and data mining course for
KPMG employees at the CDI. The series, which begins Tuesday, also includes discussions and
demonstrations of seven other data mining software products.
"The CDI houses leading tools and technologies, and SAS®
software clearly falls into this category as a long-time tool of choice for the
CDI
team," said Dr. Ken Collier, KPMG’s senior manager for Knowledge Management
Solutions. "We are currently seeing a high demand for advanced analytics in customer
relationship management projects. KPMG has a world-class CRM practice and is leveraging
the CDI heavily in its solution set since measuring the customer relationship is central
to managing it. This demand is very rapidly expanding to include knowledge-management
technologies as more and more companies realize the need to see ‘one customer’
across all channels and touchpoints."
"SAS Institute and KPMG use the CDI as a unique and powerful
resource for many of our clients," said Paul Bachteal, SAS Institute’s North
American marketing director. "By bringing client data and business problems to the
CDI for proof-of-performance analyses, clients see immediate and actionable results, a
solid business case for integrating advanced analytics into business processes, and an
evaluation of several tools running side by side on real problems using real data.
"SAS Institute’s strategic alliance with KPMG and active
involvement in the CDI bring together the world-class solution integration capabilities of
KPMG, the analytics expertise of a leading-edge center of excellence, and the end-to-end
decision support software that we offer," Bachteal noted. "We are excited about
this relationship and how it will benefit our clients and advance these technologies to
the next generation of solutions."
Expanded CDI
reflects rise of data mining
KPMG on Tuesday will launch the first of five three-day courses at the
CDI using Enterprise Miner software as the chief training tool. Participants, including
KPMG consultants, managers, partners, and business development managers, will be taught by
CDI staff and have hands-on access to SAS Enterprise Miner.
"Data mining is a maturing technology that is now ready to enter
the mainstream of business practices," said Dr. Bern Carey, CDI director. "A few
years ago, only a few companies had the foresight to consider applying data mining
technologies for improving business practices. Many companies are now recognizing that
data mining provides a competitive advantage. Such companies are now looking for ways to
train their staffs in how to best understand and deploy data mining in their
organizations. The new CDI training center will support those needs by offering short
courses customized to business needs."
About Enterprise Miner software
Data mining is the process of selecting, exploring, and modeling large
amounts of data to uncover previously unknown patterns of data for business advantage.
Enterprise Miner software helps business users maximize profits and minimize losses by
letting them predict costs and profit associated with specific decisions. The software
fosters cross-departmental collaboration via Web reports and an environment that lets
business decision makers and quantitative experts work on the same project simultaneously.
SEMMA, an acronym for the methodology of sampling, exploring, modifying, modeling, and
assessing large quantities of data, is accomplished within SAS Enterprise Miner via a
single simple GUI. To see how well Enterprise Miner software stacks up against competing
data mining products, please visit: http://www.sas.com/
"Data mining is an end-to-end process," Carey
said. "One of the aspects of SAS software that we like is that it provides assistance
and analytical capability at each stage in that process. Its versatility lets us adapt the
tools to different problem demands."
About SAS Institute
SAS Institute, the world’s largest privately held software
company, is the leader in decision support and data warehousing, providing integrated
enterprise information-delivery solutions. Founded in 1976, the Institute markets packaged
business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an
integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to
transform the wide variety of data within their organizations into information that
business users and researchers need to make better decisions. SAS software and services
are used at more than 33,000 business, government, and university sites in over 115
countries. SAS Institute achieved 1998 revenue of $871 million. Please visit SAS
Institute’s Web site: http://www.sas.com/
About KPMG
KPMG is the global professional advisory firm whose aim is to turn
knowledge into value for the benefit of its clients, its people and its communities. With
more than 100,000 people collaborating worldwide, the firm provides consulting, tax and
legal, financial advisory and assurance services from 830 locations in 160 countries. KPMG
has made a long-term commitment to becoming the leading global professional advisory firm
of choice for our clients and our people. The global firm’s growth is strong. In
1998, KPMG experienced 15.6 percent growth, up from 11 percent the previous year. Please
visit KPMG’s Web site: http://www.kpmg.com/
About Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University, based in Flagstaff, Arizona, is now celebrating its 100th
anniversary as one of the three universities in the State of Arizona university system.
Today, NAU's enrollment ranks in the top 5 percent of schools and colleges in the nation
serving approximately 20,000 students. NAU has an international reputation for its
cutting-edge delivery of distributed learning. NAU is a leader in environmental and
cultural studies for the Colorado Plateau. NAU ranks fourth nationally in the number of
bachelor's degrees awarded to Native Americans. The Hispanic Association of Colleges and
Universities recently designated NAU as a Hispanic-serving institution. The Center
for
Data Insight (CDI) is just one example of advanced technical capabilities at NAU designed
to meet the needs of modern industry. Please visit NAU's Web site: http://www.nau.edu/
Editorial
Contacts:
Beverly Stockstill
or Pamela Meek
SAS Institute Inc.
(919) 677-8000
Beverly.Stockstill@sas.com
www.sas.com/newsroom |
Dr. Kenneth Collier
Senior Manager
Business Intelligence
KPMG LLP
(928) 522-9393
kencollier@kpmg.com
www.kpmg.com |
Dr. Bernard J. Carey
Director
Center for Data
Insight
Northern Arizona University
(928)523-8867
bern.carey@nau.edu
www.nau.edu |
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. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of
their respective companies. |
