annual report

2009
Leadership and INNOVATION
Our customers can count on us – today and tomorrow.
Our leadership is built on the combined strengths of our
software, our domain expertise and more than 34 years
of experience helping customers across organizations,
industries and governments around the globe succeed.
We listen to customers to understand their needs, and
we give our employees the freedom to explore new ideas
to address those needs.
While our company continues to grow, we remain true to
our long-standing goal of helping customers transform
how their businesses work and sustain a culture of fact-
based decision making. Our business analytics framework
provides customers with a flexible and straightforward path
for achieving their key objectives and gaining maximum
return from their information assets. Today, SAS is the
world’s largest privately held software company, with more
than 11,000 employees and staffed offices in 55 countries.
Together, we provide software and services to more than
45,000 sites in 119 countries. And the guiding principles that
launched this company in 1976 are still the foundation of our
growth and success:
 Commitment to customers.
 Appreciation of and dedication to employees.
 Adherence to the highest standards of quality and
performance of our software.
 Continual innovation that creates lasting value.
As the economy continues on its journey toward recovery,
we pledge to maintain and enhance these principles, for they
have proven their value in helping us achieve success since
the company’s inception in 1976 and will continue to do so for
many years to come. For more than 34 years, SAS has given
our customers THE POWER TO KNOW®.
www.sas.com | annual report | 2009
2009 | annual report | www.sas.com
Jim Goodnight, CEO and founder of SAS.

Letter From the CEO

Our optimism and determination in the face of an uncertain SAS is well-positioned to continue helping our customers
economy paid off last year, and we finished 2009 – our 34th succeed. Our strong commitment to research and development
consecutive year of growth – with global revenues of US$2.31 – we reinvested 23 percent of revenue back into R&D last year –
billion, up 2.2 percent over 2008 results. Our revenue from resulted in another year of prodigious innovation. We released 21
software sales alone jumped 3.3 percent at a time when the new products or bundles last year, including SAS 9.2 platform
software revenue of other major vendors has been declining. Phase 2, which included classic SAS products as well as 87
business intelligence and data integration solutions.
Customers are increasingly turning to SAS® solutions to maxi­
mize effective customer relations, more effectively manage The capabilities of SAS software were again validated in 2009 by
operations and engage in better risk management. Software revenue leading analyst firms. In June, IDC called SAS the “overwhelming
was strong in several areas, including customer intelligence, credit leader” in advanced analytics,1 saying that enterprises choose
risk, supply chain and text analytics, attesting that companies SAS Analytics more often than the other 16 analytics suppliers
striving to survive in a down economy, and succeed in times of combined. Chartis Research again named SAS as the leader in
recovery and growth, need such solutions to answer complex its Operational Risk Management Systems 2009 report in June.2
business problems, spur innovation and enable success. SAS was also named as a leader in the firm’s July report, Credit
Risk Management Systems 2009,3 and in November, SAS was
Growth rates of our industry-based software solutions were ranked No. 1 in the prestigious RiskTech100 rankings, an annual
highest in financial services, government, health care, insurance international listing of the top risk technology vendors.4
and retail. Strong sales to financial services firms demonstrates
the confidence these companies have in our ability to help Gartner positioned SAS in the Visionaries quadrant of the Magic
them solve intricate business issues and navigate changes in Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management 5 and placed
customer needs, business models and regulatory oversight. our DataFlux subsidiary in the Leaders quadrant of its Magic
The public sector showed growing interest in using data as Quadrant for Data Quality Tools 6 in June. In September, the firm
a key strategic asset for combating fraud, halting declining placed SAS in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for
tax revenues, managing service levels and achieving greater Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services.7
transparency. And retailers turned to our software solutions to And in December, Gartner placed SAS and DataFlux in the
improve margins and counter the effects of sluggish consumer Visionaries quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Data Integration
spending by taking into account regional, local and even store- Tools.8
level buying preferences of their customers.

1 IDC, Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2008 Vendor Shares, Doc # 218598, June 2009,
www.sas.com/news/analysts/idc-ww-bi-tools-2008.pdf
2 www.sas.com/news/analysts/chartis-risk-0609.pdf
3 www.sas.com/news/analysts/chartis-credit-risk-0709.pdf
4 www.sas.com/news/analysts/chartis-risk-1109.pdf
5 Gartner Research, “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management,” by Kimberly Collins and Adam Sarner, July 15, 2009. www.sas.com | annual report | 2009
See the full report at www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article2/article2.html
6 Gartner Research, “Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools,” by Ted Friedman and Andreas Bitterer, June 9, 2009.
See the full report at www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/dataflux/167657.html
In November, Forrester Research gave SAS top rank for cost
and profitability analysis and a top score in product strategy
and vision.9 And in December, Forrester ranked SAS Customer
Intelligence No. 1 in optimization, analytics and reporting, and
installed base.10 SAS also had a strong showing in application
usability, real-time analytics, budget management and
forecasting, architecture and campaign design.
Of the top 100 companies on the 2009 FORTUNE Global
500®, 92 are current SAS customers. And in the US, 80
percent of new commercial accounts were small and midsized
businesses, showing that organizations with annual sales of
less than $500 million also recognize the value of business
analytics from SAS.
In all, nearly 1,400 new customers around the world chose
SAS. Customers new to SAS in 2009 included: Anglopharma,
Bombay Stock Exchange, the Clorox Company of Canada Ltd.,
Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, Fiat Automóveis, Lego Systems
Inc., Loyalty New Zealand, Niagara Health System, Dex One
Corp. (formerly R.H. Donnelley), Telefonica, TV 2 AS (Norway),
WestJet, Wet Seal Inc., Wistron Corp. and Vattenfall.
Looking forward, we believe that 2010 will be another strong
year for SAS. While economic recovery is under way in many
parts of the world, it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy.
Organizations will react by continuing to focus on improving
customer-centricity, enhancing top-line revenue growth and
optimizing their businesses in 2010.
2009 | annual report | www.sas.com
SAS is well-positioned to play a critical part in recovery
efforts. By providing our customers with a business analytics
framework that can grow over time, we empower them to meet
both the demands of today’s economy and the opportunities
of tomorrow with:
 Data management capabilities that improve the
flow of and access to information throughout
organizations.
 Greater insights into data for making quick,
meaningful decisions.
 Risk analysis and optimization solutions to save
money.
 Customer intelligence and marketing automation to
drive sustainable revenue growth.
 Social network analysis to uncover fraud and terrorist
threats as well as business opportunities.
Finally, as a debt-free global company, SAS offers our
customers another valuable commodity: stability. We attribute
this to our 34-year focus on listening to our customers and
meeting their needs with robust, reliable and relevant products
and services. SAS is poised for growth again in 2010. The
momentum is greater than it has ever been for this company,
and the future looks promising indeed.
Sincerely,
James H. Goodnight, PhD, CEO
7 Gartner Research, “Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services,” by Douglas McKibben and David
Furlonger, August 28, 2009. See the full report at www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article3/article3.html
8 Gartner Research. “Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools” by Ted Friedman, Mark A. Beyer and Eric Thoo, November 25, 2009.
See the full report at www.gartner.com/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article5/article5.html
9 The Forrester Wave: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009 report,
www.sas.com/news/analysts/forresterwave-bus-perf-q409.pdf
10 The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Campaign Management Platforms, Q4 2009 report,
www.sas.com/news/analysts/forresterwave-cm-104330-1209.pdf
Stability and Growth – 34 Years and Counting
SAS achieved its 34th consecutive year of growth in 2009, with
global revenue reaching US$2.31 billion, up 2.2 percent over
2008. SAS saw healthy sales growth in multiple industries. Sales
to the retail industry increased by 12 percent, despite a very
challenging environment for that sector. Sales to the health care
industry were up by 8 percent. And sales to the oil and gas
industry increased by more than 30 percent.
Our growing network of alliance and channel partners played
an integral role in 25 percent of new sales and half of the top 50
global deals. Specifically, there are strategic initiatives including
partnerships with leading business consultancies and systems
integrators, expansion of in-database activities across multiple
partner platforms, and a continued focus on building third-party
channels.
Partnerships with global systems integrators such as Accenture,
Capgemini, Deloitte and Wipro Technologies offer customers
the specialized resources and expertise to deploy SAS Business
Analytics throughout the enterprise. In addition, SAS continues
to drive the momentum of in-database analytic innovation with
technology partners such as Teradata and Netezza.
Global Presence, Global Success
SAS’ revenue growth remained distributed around the globe.
The Americas accounted for 44 percent of total revenue; Europe,
Middle East and Africa (EMEA) contributed 45 percent; and
11 percent came from the Asia Pacific region.
Of the 120 countries where SAS does business, 83 percent saw
growth in software sales. Among mature markets, growth rates
for software sales were highest in the US, the UK, Canada,
Germany and the Netherlands. In developing markets, double-
digit percentage gains were achieved in most of
Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and pockets of
Asia and Latin America.
Even in a challenging global economy, SAS did not waver in
its commitment to our 11,000 employees and our core belief
that happy, healthy employees are more productive. In 2009,
SAS was again recognized as an employer of choice around
the world. In the EMEA region, we received workplace awards
for our offices in Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Portugal
and Finland. In the Asia Pacific region, we received workplace
awards in China, Australia and India.
In the Americas, we were recognized in Canada and Mexico,
and as this annual report was being produced, we received
notification that we ranked No. 1 on the FORTUNE 100 Best
Companies to Work For list in the US – our 13th consecutive
year on the list.
www.sas.com | annual report | 2009
 2009 Revenue

Revenue by Region

Americas EMEA
44% 45%

Asia Pacific Other 1%

11%
Health Care 2%

Energies & Utilities 3%

Education 3%

Retail 4%
Revenue by Industry
Life Sciences 6%

Financial Services 42%

Manufacturing 6%

Communications 7%

Services 11%

Government 15%
Revenue Growth 1976-2009

2009 | annual report | www.sas.com

 www.sas.com/resources
From here you can access analyst records,
learn about customer successes, download
white papers, view Webcasts and more.

SAS Institute Inc. World Headquarters   +1 919 677 8000

To contact your local SAS office, please visit: www.sas.com/offices
SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA
and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Copyright © 2010, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. 104422_S52892US.0410