Accenture, SAS to Launch Next-Generation Predictive Analytics Solutions
February 17, 2010
Accenture and business analytics software and services provider SAS today announced plans to expand their strategic relationship by jointly developing, implementing and managing next-generation predictive analytics solutions.
In forming the Accenture SAS Analytics Group, the companies intend to bring together Accenture’ industry and functional business knowledge with SAS’s analytics solutions and capabilities to help companies and government organizations understand and implement predictive analytics solutions, both companies said in a joint statement.
“Our enhanced relationship with SAS is a key element of Accenture’s strategy of aggressively addressing the opportunities around the next generation of analytics,” said William D. Green, Accenture’s chairman and CEO. “Companies that use predictive analytics to derive actionable insights from data and then use those insights to shape decisions, can improve business outcomes and substantially outperform competitors over the long term.”
John McHugh, head of Accenture’s Financial Services Industry customer relations management practice, noted that as economic conditions improve, the financial services institutions with the strongest capital and risk management, lowest operating costs and most innovative growth strategies will be best positioned to outperform the market.
“That is why world-class analytic technology is becoming a critical factor for banks, insurers and capital markets institutions,” said McHugh. “With it they can reduce credit risks and fraud, improve customer service, create products and services that are better tailored to their customers’ needs and increase the impact and efficiency of their marketing and cross-selling. With this partnership, we aim to help our clients quickly and decisively capitalize on these opportunities.”
The Accenture SAS Analytics Group plans to initially focus on developing a series of predictive solutions for the financial services industry, including banking and insurance; healthcare services, including payer/provider and pharmaceuticals; as well as the public sector, in areas such as federal and human services. In addition, cross-industry functional solutions are expected to start with customer acquisition and retention, as well as enterprise analytics.
Jim Goodnight, CEO at SAS, added, “In our long experience providing analytic insights to our customers, we’ve never seen leaders so readily adopting analytic approaches across their organizations. The Accenture SAS Analytics Group will help these companies take their business results to the next level by applying best-of-breed predictive analytics and best practices to complex questions and decisions.”
Plans also call for the formation of joint analytics showcases in multiple locations, starting with Chicago, London, Milan and Shanghai, where the companies intend to demonstrate their new industry and functional predictive analytics capabilities to clients.
