The Google Chrome Cloud OS- Basically a computer with a browser and a lot of marketing. And Apps.
And below a much better Google Cloud App called You Tube Video.
Another OS: Google Chrome
November 19, 2009The SAS-WPS Lawsuit- Preliminary Hearing
November 19, 2009
But seriously.
WPS response to SAS Lawsuit
November 19, 2009Citation : http://teamwpc.co.uk/press/press_statement_le_claim
David takes on Goliath as World Programming aims to break SAS’s monopoly in the High Court
LONDON, UK (18th November, 2009) – Last week, SAS Institute, the multi-billion dollar US corporate, trumpeted the fact that it had issued proceedings against a recent entrant to the world of business analytics software, World Programming Limited (WP).
Using innovative development techniques, WP have done something that they believe the SAS Institute never dreamt possible. WP have invested 50 man years producing a competing SAS language interpreter, known as the WPS Software, which enables anyone to write and run SAS language applications without requiring any software from the monopoly provider, the SAS Institute.
WP produce and sell their interpreter at a fraction of the cost of the SAS version. The introduction of competition into the SAS interpreter market has been warmly welcomed.
WP have retained a leading team of Technology Lawyers to defend the claim and to fight SAS Institute head on in the High Court.
Oliver Robinson for WP said:
“SAS seem to have issued this claim with the sole intention of scaring us and our customers, or perhaps they have been badly advised.
Our company has worked really hard over the last 7 years to produce a successful product and this claim looks like a last-ditch attempt by SAS to hold onto its monopoly position.
We knew our WPS software was good but with version 2.4 released last month it must be even better than we thought to provoke this seemingly desperate response from the SAS Institute”.
Alexander Carter-Silk, head of the Technology Group at Speechly Bircham which is advising WP, said:
“SAS are claiming that the way in which WP has used a $100 learning package bought on Amazon was not permitted by the terms of the click wrap license.
SAS is alleging that WP have run “the SAS Learning Edition software for the purposes of observing its operation and functions in order to develop the WPS software in a way which reproduces the operation and functions of the SAS System”. European law provides that one can lawfully observe the operation and functioning of a computer program and develop interoperable or alternative solutions which perform the same function. So far as we can see, WP have honoured both the spirit and the letter of the law. We are surprised that a company of SAS’s repute would want to pursue this action”
The claim brought by SAS will provide WP with a very public platform from which to prove that the WPS software is a legitimate alternative to the SAS interpreter and to show that WP have honestly established themselves as a true competitor to the SAS Institute.
The case is on-going.
Oh dear. Another fine mess.
SAS Scoring Accelerators
November 19, 2009One of the most interesting SAS product launches of 2009. I am currently reading SAS Enterprise Miner and I am quite impressed – in fact we have a 1500 processor HPC cluster , besides access to Kraken, the 3 largest HPC in the world. It is interesting to see possible application uses for that. Of course I am currently fiddling with R based parallelized clustering on them.
SAS® Scoring Accelerator
Citation-
http://www.sas.com/technologies/analytics/datamining/scoring_acceleration/index.html
Quickly and accurately process and score analytic models built in SAS® Enterprise MinerTM
What is SAS® Scoring Accelerator?
SAS Scoring Accelerator translates and registers SAS Enterprise Miner models into database-specific functions to be deployed and then executed for scoring purposes directly within the database. SAS Scoring Accelerator is a separate product that works in conjunction with SAS Enterprise Miner.Why is SAS® Scoring Accelerator important?
SAS Scoring Accelerator automates the movement of the model scoring processes inside the database. Faster deployment of analytic models means more timely results, enabling business users to make important business decisions. Better-performing models help ensure the accuracy of the analytic results you’re using to make critical business decisions.For whom is SAS® Scoring Accelerator?
SAS Scoring Accelerator is specifically for organizations that use SAS Enterprise Miner. It is designed for chief scoring officers and IT to score analytic models directly inside the database.Key Benefits:
- Achieve higher model-scoring performance and faster time to results.
- Reduce data movement and latency.
- Improve accuracy and effectiveness of analytic models.
- Reduce labor costs and errors by eliminating model score code rewrite and model revalidation efforts.
- Better manage, provision and govern data.
Key Features:
Export Utility:
- Functions as a plug-in to SAS Enterprise Miner that exports the model scoring logic including metadata about the required input and output variables.
Publishing Client:
- Automatically translates and publishes the model into C source code for creating the scoring function inside the database.
- Generates a script of database commands for registering the scoring user-defined function (UDF) inside the database. Scoring UDFs are available to use in any SQL expression wherever database-specific built-in functions are typically used.
- Supports a robust class of SAS Enterprise Miner predictive and descriptive models including the preliminary transformation layer.
SAS Scoring Accelerator interfaces with the following relational databases:
- SAS® Scoring Accelerator for Teradata
- SAS® Scoring Accelerator for Netezza
Interview Phil Rack WPS Consultant and Developer
November 19, 2009Here is an interview with Phil Rack based on some queries I had posted regarding WPS.
How does the WPS – SAS lawsuit affect assurance of future service and sales support?
I think this law suit brought by the Institute will do nothing to hurt or hinder WPS sales and reputation. Quite the opposite… this is actually good PR! I received a few calls from major fortune 50 companies since this has happened wanting to take out a trial of the software. If SAS is so fearful of WPS, the thought is that it must be pretty decent. So, the PR has been helpful.
It’s also important to note that the claims being made by SAS are not about copyright or intellectual property. It’s one that is contractual in that they (SAS) claim WP used the learning edition in such a manner that is was used outside the license agreement. So to use the SAS Learning Edition to observe, test, learn and master their software is illegal? Obviously, the courts will have the final say but personally, I think SAS is on thin ice on this charge.
What about an on demand or a cloud version, PHIL?
I’m not aware of any cloud or on demand services for WPS right now. That is not to say that it’s hasn’t been talked about. One thing I would personally like to see is the ability for WPS customers who have the desktop version to be able to seamlessly access the cloud (i.e. EC2) and run larger data sets or multiple tasks with WPS than they can on their desktop. Of course, there has to be some subscription model where the user gets charged back by Amazon for use of their services, but this is just one example of something that I think may be helpful for some customers.
Why is the Linux version not cheaper than the Windows version at 858$ per license. I remember Last year’s price was 600$ plus tax that made it like 660$.
Actually, the price for version 2.3.5 was $660 without tax.
The price for the Linux version is the same as for Windows. I don’t see why it should be any less than the Windows version. I believe that SAS charges significantly more for their Linux version than for their Windows version. I think the market will tell if there is a demand for WPS on Linux and if the pricing is appropriate.
The price has gone up with the new release of WPS 2.4. This is the first increase in price in four years. With all the new features, i.e. the SDK and the introduction of WPS-Statistics, the price increase reflects the amount of work and effort that had to go into creating the software. Plus, compare the access engines between WPS and SAS and price that out. WPS is an amazing value when you do that exercise.
Also keep in mind that WP is sensitive to organizations that are charitable non-profits that have needs for SAS Language software and can’t afford the outrageous prices that SAS charges for their software. Because WP understands the role of charitable non-profits in our society, MineQuest can offer a 50% discount to these charitable organizations so they can license desktop versions for as low as $429 a year and server versions for less than $1,000.
About : Phil Rack is President of MineQuest, LLC. and has been a SAS language developer for more than 25 years. MineQuest provides WPS and SAS consulting and contract programming services and a reseller of WPS in North America. You can read more at http://www.minequest.com
