SAS, a provider of business analytics software and services, has updated its Enterprise Data Integration Server to include support for the popular open source data framework Apache Hadoop. This integration not only brings the power of SAS analytics to Hadoop, but also makes it easier for SAS customers to use and manage Hadoop effectively along with their existing data sources, thus enhancing the value of customers' big data.
A defining feature of SAS analytics is its ability to run on a variety of different platforms. Apache Hadoop will join over three dozen data sources supported by SAS, including Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Teradata including Teradata Aster, Sybase, Netezza, EMC Greenplum and MySQL. "Relative to some other vendors, SAS is agnostic when it comes to the data store in which information is kept," Mark Troester, IT/CIO strategist for SAS, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "That gives us an advantage in that we can go in based on the individual requirements of a customer and really design the right system for them."
Because Hadoop is still a nascent technology, organizations that seek to implement this open-source data infrastructure often find it difficult to manage. Troester explains, "Hadoop is a relatively new technology and there is a lack skilled resources that are available in the market to work with map MapReduce, which is the programming environment for Hadoop." Integrating SAS analytics with Hadoop will provide customers with greater control and management over their Hadoop environment. "We have extensive information management tools that are graphically based where a SAS person can use our tools to interact with Hadoop and not have to code into a different environment that they're not familiar with."
According to SAS, it currently maintains 35% market share of the advanced analytics market, sees great potential in integrating Hadoop into its analytics technologies as the framework matures. With approximately 85% of enterprise data being unstructured, Hadoop is opening up this valuable trove of information to big data analytics. Looking forward, Troester states, "As Hadoop matures, we will be doing additional work that will allow us to push more processing into the Hadoop environment."
For more information about SAS business analytics, go here.