SAS Viya on Microsoft Azure can deliver 204% return on investment according to independent study

Organizations deploying SAS® Viya®, SAS’ cloud-native AI, analytic and data management platform, on Microsoft Azure can see benefits including a 204% return on investment over three years, according to a new commissioned Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting. Additional study results further emphasize the value of customers’ investments in SAS Viya on Azure, including millions of dollars in net present value and a 14-month payback period. The full TEI study findings will be shared at a SAS and Microsoft webinar with guest speakers from Forrester on May 18 at 11 a.m. ET. 

Forrester interviewed nine decision makers at six customer organizations using SAS Viya on Azure to understand the benefits, costs and risks associated with their investment. The customers spanned industries, including government, manufacturing, financial services, IT professional services and banking. 

Prior to implementing SAS Viya on Azure, interviewees noted that barriers to data access and disparate data sources made it difficult and time-consuming to build, deploy and manage AI models. Other issues they faced included the inefficiencies and high costs of on-premises analytics infrastructure. 

After their investment in the product, interviewees addressed these challenges and saw improved overall productivity and performance, according to the study. Quantified benefits included faster time to market for analytics insights, improved operational efficiency in model building and testing, and cost savings from retiring on-premises analytics infrastructure. With a strong three-year, risk-adjusted total present value of these benefits alongside numerous unquantified benefits, the investment plays a key role in improved organizational decision making and overall success according to customers. 

“Many organizations today experience a multitude of friction points on their path from data to decisions. Our strategic partnership with Microsoft aims to simplify this process to improve trusted decisions and accelerate innovation,” said Jay Upchurch, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at SAS. “This study shows we are jointly delivering on our promise and providing immense value to our customers, including cost reduction, increased time to value and improved productivity for data scientists and analysts across industries.”

Since SAS and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership in 2020, the companies have continued finding new ways to serve joint customers’ cloud migration and modernization needs.