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SAS to cut 14 education division jobs: Some sales shift to Web
(News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 24--Cary-based SAS is cutting more than a dozen positions from its education division as the software maker looks to reorganize the unit around Web-based sales.
The shift will help SAS lower prices for education customers and gain a stronger share of that market, according to the company. And the Web-based sales and distribution model will reduce the need for sales support.
"As a result, the company is eliminating 14 positions, mostly in sales," SAS spokesman Dave Thomas said in an e-mail response to The News & Observer.
Affected employees will remain on the payroll for 60 days and are encouraged to apply for other open positions within the company. Any employees who do not find jobs at SAS will receive a severance package and free outplacement assistance, Davis said.
In net terms, the staff reduction is small. SAS, the largest privately owned software company in the world, is adding about 120 workers in Cary this year, bringing its total to about 4,300. It has 67 job openings in Cary and 115 in the United States.
The reorganization of the education unit -- which focuses on school districts, colleges and state education departments -- is part of a wider trend in the company, and indeed the software industry.
SAS' business intelligence and analytics software enables big public and private institutions, particularly banks, to mine vast expanses of data. They do this to spot trends, make forecasts and make their operations more efficient.
But increasingly, SAS and other big developers are opting to make their software available over the Web, sometimes through lease agreements, rather than sell it outright through licensing agreements.
"It's what the market wants," said Derrick Wood, a software analyst with Pacific Growth Equities in San Francisco.
Wood said Web-based software has become much safer for large institutions because of improvements in Web security. It also lets customers pay for software on a monthly basis as needed. This eliminates the big upfront cost of buying software and the continuing expense of maintaining it, perhaps advantageous during leaner economic times.
"But for SAS, it's probably more of a long-term strategic move," Wood said. Government and research sectors were among the last to embrace the Web-based software model because of security concerns, Wood said, many of which have been allayed.
frank.norton@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-8926
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