SAS, the market leader in Business intelligence, and Esri are creating a connector between the companies' software. In addition, SAS and Esri will jointly explore industry-specific spatially enabled Business solutions for targeted market segments.

SAS is providing a new generation of intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 38,000 sites--including 99 of the top 100 Businesses on the Fortune 500--to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers and to enable better, more accurate, and informed decisions.

This joint product development will give organizations the ability to exchange spatial and attribute data between ArcGIS and SAS. By agreeing to joint product development, as well as joint sales and marketing activities through each company's alliance programs, SAS and Esri have raised the bar in the spatial intelligence marketplace.

SAS and Esri have jointly explored customer Business questions in the past and have found that organizations did not want to leave their existing analysis or GIS environments to work with other data or analytic technologies. Leveraging the work done cooperatively to date, the two companies are developing a tight integration between their respective technologies. This integration will enable organizations to apply SAS and Esri technology to Business questions that involve spatial relationships and advanced analytics as part of the intelligence creation process.

With the growth of mobile and location-based services, organizations are looking for solutions with the power and flexibility that SAS and Esri will be able to offer jointly. The initial integration component is expected to be released within the year.

"This development will bring together the power of SAS analytics, data manipulation, and reporting capabilities, with Esri's industry-leading spatial analysis and visualization capabilities," says Jim Davis, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, SAS. "SAS is excited to be working more closely with Esri, focusing on our joint core competencies."

"SAS' leading Business intelligence and analytics will extend traditional GIS capabilities to solve more complex Business questions," says Jack Dangermond, president, Esri.

For more information, contact sasinquiries@esri.com.