Briefs

CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2001
SAS(R) e-Intelligence, data mining solutions to help power new ZLE
solutions that provide a single, integrated view of business and
customer transactions as they occur, in real-time

SAS Institute, the market leader in e-intelligence and data
warehousing, announced today that it has been selected as a business
partner for Compaq Computer Corp.'s new Zero Latency Enterprise (ZLE)
initiative, which promises a single, up-to-the-second view of
customers and products.

SAS was one of the first software partners to be selected by Compaq
for ZLE because its SAS(R) e-Intelligence and data mining solutions -
which power the SAS Solution for Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) - are crucial to achieving the ultimate promise of the ZLE
architecture and market-specific ZLE offerings: the integration of all
applications, platforms and databases so that information about a
transaction becomes available enterprise-wide the moment it occurs.

With a ZLE solution in place, companies will be able to respond
instantly to any event in real time. Any transaction can be captured
and delivered to AlphaServer or ProLiant systems running SAS'
Enterprise Miner(TM) software, for example. In turn, information from
this analysis can trigger instantaneous actions, such as personalized
offers while the customer is interacting with the store via Web or
phone, based on customized business rules and analysis. First Targets:
Telecomm, Financial Services and Retail

Compaq is targeting its first ZLE solutions at the highly competitive
telecommunications, financial services, and retail markets, where
immediate insight into customer actions and business transactions
offers a compelling competitive advantage.

"Today, SAS e-Intelligence, CRM and data mining solutions provide
retailers, banks and telecommunications firms with the ability to
better understand and predict online customer behavior and integrate
this information with that from more traditional channels and customer
touchpoints," said Graeme Woodley, SAS' senior vice president of
business development and channel operations. "New Compaq ZLE solutions
for these industries - with SAS e-Intelligence at their core - will
help companies make sense of the huge volumes of data generated by
e-business and e-commerce applications, and build and strengthen key
relationships with their customers in real time."

"ZLE solutions will enable retailers, banks and telcos to offer
ultra-personalized service, create effective Web-based campaigns,
perform global supply-chain management, and even detect fraud by
leveraging consolidated, up-to-the-second information available at
every customer touchpoint," added Woodley. SAS at the Core of the ZLE
Framework

The Compaq ZLE architectural framework (www.compaq.com/zle) combines
leading enterprise application integration (EAI) technology and a
real-time Operational Data Store (ODS). Surrounding these two key
architectural elements are the independent software vendor (ISV)
partner applications that are enabled to take advantage of real-time
data. Compaq recognized SAS as a key provider of CRM technology
including data mining and analytics, as well as extensive data
extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) capabilities that
leverage the use of information in any ZLE environment. Both are core
ZLE services, crucial to providing access between the ODS, customer
and other databases, and the variety of information sources that exist
in an enterprise business environment.

For more information, visit www.sas.com