SAS Visual Analytics Reviews

I use Visual Analytics for all the typical use cases except text mining. I used it to analyze data and monitor statistics, not text mining. I also use it for data visualization as well as creating interactive dashboards and infographics.

Visual Analytics is very easy to use. 

Visual Analytics doesn't allow machine learning and predictive analysis. You have to license another product from SAS for this. This was an issue because I had to pay extra to buy other products to get these capabilities. It can mainly be used for data analysis and visualization, but I can't do machine learning and creative analysis without buying an additional product.

I would like it if SAS could provide Visual Analytics as a SaaS, so  I don't need to install it and I could use it as a service on their servers, like Salesforce or Tableau.

We started using Visual Analytics about a year ago. 

Visual Analytics is stable if you deploy it correctly, but it's completely unstable if there is an error in deployment.

SAS technical support is magnificent.

The deployment isn't smooth. Deploying Visual Analytics on the cloud takes a lot of work, or you can use some providers that give you SAS as a service. For example, there is a provider called SaasNow. They host SAS Visual Analytics and the license. You can buy the license and deploy it there without the hassle of installation because deploying the software isn't easy.

I deployed Visual Analytics twice. The first time I used SaasNow. That was too expensive, so I deployed it myself on Amazon Web Services. I used some instructions about a container that I can use to deploy it on Amazon Web Services. SAS provided the container, making life easier for me when I deployed it on Amazon Web Services. That made it easier to implement instead of implementing myself from scratch.

I don't think the return on investment is high when I factor in the cost of additional components like text mining and machine learning. I can get similar benefits in other products like Tableau or Zoho Analytic. It's mainly used for data visualization and data analytics, so I can use Tableau in this case for a fraction of the price or Zoho Analytics. 

Visual Analytics is expensive for a small company like mine. You also need to deploy it on a server or cloud, so you pay for the license as well as the cost of the cloud or the server that you will deploy on. 

Moreover, it doesn't include all capabilities out of the box. You have to buy other plugins or components to use some features. For example, you have to buy SAS Visual Text Analytics if you want to use text mining, and you have to purchase another component if you want to use predictive mining with machine learning.

I would rate SAS Visual Analytics seven out of 10. I have to be careful when I rate. If I'm rating purely based on features, I would give it a nine. However, if I'm factoring in cost and return on investment, I have to lower this to seven overall.

I use the product primarily to visualize data in various fields such as government, education, and healthcare. It analyzes large datasets, detects anomalies and forecasts, and conducts scenario analytics.

The solution has greatly improved my organization by enabling more insightful data analysis. It allows users to ask and answer questions about the data they might not have considered otherwise. This capability surpasses traditional spreadsheets and coding methods by offering a more intuitive approach to data exploration.

The tool's most valuable features are its ease of use and advanced data visualization capabilities. Unlike spreadsheets or coding, it allows users to interact with the data and uncover previously hidden insights, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the data.

The integration aspects of the solution could be improved. While it can mask data, the process can be clunky and could benefit from a more streamlined approach.

I have been using SAS Visual Analytics for approximately ten years.

I rate the product stability an eight out of ten. 

The solution is highly scalable. It can handle thousands to millions of rows of data effectively.

My experience with customer service has been mixed. While I have encountered knowledgeable and helpful support staff, there have been instances where the support could have been more effective.

Neutral

I have used various data visualization tools such as Qlik, Power BI, Tableau, and Spotfire. I switched to this solution because it offers more powerful and intuitive data visualization capabilities, especially for large datasets and complex analyses.

The initial setup can be complex and depends on the specific environment and licensing. It typically requires some time and effort to configure properly.

It can be deployed as a SaaS solution or on-premises. It typically requires an installer and someone knowledgeable in business analytics and data management.

Generally, it does not require extensive maintenance, though occasional upkeep might be necessary.

The product is quite expensive. However, it can be worth the investment if you have the budget and require advanced data visualization and analysis.

I rate the pricing a nine. 

The solution adapts to evolving data environments by allowing for integration with various data sources and providing tools for data science and machine learning as needed.

It is a powerful tool, especially if you work with large datasets and need sophisticated analysis capabilities. However, its high cost and the complexity of its setup might be a consideration for some users.

I recommend it if the user has substantial data and the budget. Other tools like Tableau or Power BI might be sufficient for those with smaller datasets or budget constraints.

I rate it an eight out of ten.

We use the product for reporting. When we do reporting, we start with the data collection and also integrate that data into one source, the different packets of data. Then, we have one dashboard and have reports for different data sources.

We also do analysis. 

It doesn't require human intervention. When you were designing your databases, if you've designed them in a correct manner, everything is automated and you don't have to worry about anything.

Everything we want out of this solution we get in terms of the user requirements, and features. Everything is available to us. 

It's also user-friendly.

The product is stable, reliable, and scalable. 

Technical support is very quick to respond when we need their help.

If the cost could be a bit lower, we'd give it perfect marks. The reason we haven't rolled it out across the board is due to the fact that the licensing is so expensive.

We started using the solution in 2020, however, it was a pilot. The full use started in 2021.

The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable and the performance is good.

The solution can scale well. It's not an issue. 

We have less than 20 people licensing on the solution due to the licensing implications. They're a mix of IT and business people. 

Technical support is great. They are fast. This is due to the fact that we have a service level agreement with the SAS team.

Positive

We had a proof of concept and evaluated it against other solutions. This was the one that met our business requirements. That's why it was chosen.

The initial setup took us about six weeks. We had capacity issues. The people dealing with it had limited resources in terms of dealing with the setup. We only had so many people that were skilled. 

I'm not sure if the process was easy or difficult, however. I never asked my colleagues for their opinion. I wasn't part of the initial implementation process. 

While I don't have exact licensing details. I do understand that we pay an annual licensing fee. 

We are a customer and end-user. 

Our IT mostly handles the solution and therefore I'm not sure which version we're on. I assume it is the latest and is automatically updated. We're on an enterprise version. 

I'd advise potential new users to first pilot it and also ensure that you are clear about your business requirements before starting out. It will help make things go more smoothly.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten due to its agility and also in terms of its effectiveness. It's not a complicated app to use. 

This product is for dashboarding. We design dashboards for the higher management, for operations, and for the sales team. We facilitate the major components of the organization so that management can assess the profitability of the organization, and maintain financial health. We design dashboards for operations so they can optimize the entire process and another dashboard for our sales department. I'm the chief manager and we are customers of SAS. 

SAS VA is an amazing tool for handling complex data models. From our perspective, the main value is the ability to render bulky data. It also provides good flexibility to integrate with other applications.

The solution is a little weak at the front end.

I've been using this solution for seven years. 

The solution is scalable, we have around 300 users. 

SAS has a very supportive nature in India. We've used the local support as well as some support from the US. It's very good. 

Positive

The initial deployment took about four days and a couple of people were involved with that. We used a third-party vendor for implementation. Visual Analytics is a complex model. If I need to make changes, I have to hire a vendor or other external help. There's no internal team able to handle the level of complexity, so we have to spend more to maintain the configurations while maintaining the audit. We have two people who deal with maintenance.

I highly recommend this solution to those working in the finance sector. SAS has a huge data capacity which is not available in other tools. 

I rate the solution eight out of 10. 

We primarily use the solution data warehousing and business intelligence.

The best feature is that SAS is not a single BI tool. Rather, it is part of an ecosystem of tools, such as tools that help a user to develop artificial intelligence, algorithms, and so on. SAS is an ecosystem. It's an ecosystem of products.

We've found the product to be stable and reliable.

The scalability is good.

The web part could be better in terms of the interface. If we compare SAS with Power BI, Power BI is a long step far from SAS on the web tool, web interface. It's easier to develop a dashboard with Power BI for the web, than SAS for the web. It's some steps behind Power BI, from this point of view.

The preliminary setup is complex. 

The licensing ends up being more expensive than other options.

From a technical point of view, they should improve the list of data stores supported. A lot of new data stores, new, innovative data stores, such as Hive, HBase, Druid, and so on, are not directly supported by SAS.

We've used SAS in not more than three projects so far. It's difficult for us as we don't use it for low tier. We'll use it for a project, then, perhaps one year later, for another project, and so on. 

It would be quite impossible for me to answer how long we use it as it's sporadic, according to projects. We respond to our customers with the tool that they use, not that we use. If they use SAS, we use SAS.

The stability is quite good. There are no bugs or glitches. It's reliable. It doesn't suddenly crash or freeze. 

Scalability isn't an issue. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.

We've never used technical support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are.

We developed a lot of projects about business intelligence on Power BI for our customers. Power BI is easier to use on the web and it's easier to develop dashboards with it.

Microsoft BI, from a licensing point of view, is easier. It's a per-user license. Power BI is the right tool for companies that want a small time to market, a shorter time to market approach to business intelligence.

The initial setup could be improved. It's complex to use, it's not an easy-to-approach tool.

The product is expensive. From our point of view, from a consultant's point of view, it's quite expensive due to the fact that, compared to other products, such as Power BI, it's a more complex license model and it's more expensive in the end.

We are a consultant company and therefore we use many tools for our customers in order to achieve the final project result, however, we do not use this kind of software internally. We always have professional services on, for example, Microsoft Power BI and so on.

While we have a partnership relationship with Microsoft, we don't have any relation with SAS.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten overall.

We are using an on-premise version of SAS Visual Analytics and we soon are moving to the cloud.

I'm in the insurance sector, and there are lots of use cases for SAS Visual Analytics. The reporting tool can be used for multiple use cases. We are using it extensively.

If you are monitoring the sales in a daily manner, by using SAS Visual Analytics it would have improved. It's a reporting tool, and the tool will give you insights into where you are going wrong and where you are right. It gives you the information to where you can improve. It is very good for the reporting process.

Data handling is one of the best features of SAS Visual Analytics.

You have the flexibility to design your data models and overall it is a good tool.

The visualization should be better in SAS Visual Analytics. It is easy to use but when compared to other solutions it is lacking and the support is not very good.

The updates of the system take too much time and they charge a fee to upgrade.

In terms of visualization, SAS Visual Analytics it's stronger than Tableau and Microsoft BI, but they should improve their objects, the custom graphs, and the support. They don't have any object create case support from the SAS Visual Analytics. If you work with Microsoft BI, they have different solutions, they have different teams for support on the object. If you want to see different objects, you can request them, they can create and they can send them to the library. It's a very good thing for the Microsoft BI, but not for the SAS Visual Analytics.

I have used SAS Visual Analytics for approximately six years.

I have found the solution stable.

SAS Visual Analytics is scalable for users. However, the cost is a little high to justify it.

We have approximately 300 users using the solution. We have internal team members, sales members, and management using it.

I have used Microsoft BI and Tableau.

The implementation has many sections. The administrator section is very complex. The data management, it's very good, but the visualization is not good. The only complexity is the management. 

The full process took approximately five days.

We used a consultant that does the implementation of the solution. They were very good and had five years of experience.

We have an internal team that manages this solution. I have a large team to design the reports. There are four to five people who are developing, two people for the requirement gathering, and two people for the deployment.

The cost of the solution can be expensive. There is an additional cost for users.

You will mainly focus on the data transformation layer in SAS Visual Analytics. You have to work a lot on the data transformation, during this activity you will learn a lot about the data itself. This was a very good thing for me that I learned with SAS Visual Analytics.

I rate SAS Visual Analytics an eight out of ten.

It was helpful for creating KPI dashboards to report the status of the operations of the entire company to the management.

It provided the capability to visualize a bunch of data in an organized way.

In Brazil, there are few documents, courses, and other resources for studying and implementing the tool.

I used it for about two years at a previous company. 

It was very stable.

It is very scalable. We implemented it for many clients. We had about 200 clients.

In my experience, we didn't use technical support at any time.

We didn't use any other solution previously.

It seemed straightforward. Its implementation took about three to six months.

It was implemented by our consultants. We had about four to six people. After implementing it, the clients handled the operations and took care of its maintenance.

We didn't calculate ROI for implementations.

It was licensed for corporate use, and its licensing was on a yearly basis.

I would advise planning very well before implementing it. You should map the primary data very well.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Right now at the company, we have a few projects in Visual Analytics. We have more in Qlik, however, gradually, we will change to SAS Visual Analytics.

It's very good. Very good. For our use, it is better than Qlik. It's easier to use than other competitors.

It's easy to set up for the most part.

It's a stable, reliable product. 

The solution can scale. 

Technical support has been great in general.

I haven't come across any missing features.

While I've used SAS for about seven months, I've worked with data science for about three years.

It's very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. the performance is good. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

The solution can scale. It's not a problem.

We have 50 people on it right now, approximately. I'm not sure if we have plans to increase usage.

Technical support has been excellent. We are very happy with how helpful and responsive they have been.

Positive

We are also familiar with Qlik, however, this solution is better for us in general. We've also worked with Tableau. We've found the integrations with SAS better.

We haven't found the initial setup too difficult. I'd rate it three out of five. So far, the deployment has taken about two months. 

We have two or three people working on the deployment and maintenance. 

We handled the implementation in-house. 

While I can't speak to the exact price, likely after one year a company would begin to see an ROI.

I don't directly deal with licensing. I can't speak to the exact price of the product. 

We did evaluate other options. We did look at SAP, however, we focused on SAS in the end.

I'd recommend the solution to others. I would rate it ten out of ten. It's been great.