What is SAS Enterprise Guide?

SAS Enterprise Guide is a Windows interface designed to facilitate advanced analytics. It is a point-and-click tool that allows users to navigate and manage their analytical tasks efficiently. As a menu-driven tool, it provides a user-friendly environment that simplifies the process of accessing, managing, and analyzing data.

With its wizard-driven capabilities, SAS Enterprise Guide supports users in exporting data to other applications, sharing results, and accessing data transparently. Its capacity to analyze data makes it a robust tool for a wide range of data-driven tasks in various industries.

What is SAS Enterprise Guide?

SAS Enterprise Guide is an advanced analytics software offering a point-and-click, menu- and wizard-driven tool that empowers users to analyze data and publish results. It provides a modern, flexible user interface with a tab-based organization of content and flexible window management. Released in June 2019, version 8.1 introduced features such as an updated user interface, new start page, optional projects, and new appearance themes.

Features of SAS Enterprise Guide 8.1

The 8.1 version enhances usability by allowing multiple items to run without locking the user interface and introducing the ability to drag data sets and variable names directly into a program. Additional utilities include a new search pane, updated favorites functionality, and general enhancements. The documentation for this version is accessible in the Help Center on support.sas.com.

Updates in SAS Enterprise Guide 8.2

Following the 8.1 release, version 8.2, launched in November 2019, further advanced the software by enabling direct connections to workspace servers, adding a new Git integration user interface, and allowing users to access and run tasks from SAS Studio 5.2. It also included the capability to manage keyboard shortcuts, providing a more personalized experience for users.

Latest Version: SAS Enterprise Guide 8.3

As the latest version, SAS Enterprise Guide 8.3 was released in August 2020. It uses the latest versions of the .NET Framework and VC++, ensuring compatibility with modern technology stacks. The update includes essential hot fixes and security patches for improved performance and security. Since November 2021, SAS Enterprise Guide 8.3 supports the Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise editions, accommodating the latest Microsoft operating system environments.

SAS Enterprise Guide vs Splunk Cloud

Functionality and Use Cases

SAS Enterprise Guide is primarily a Windows GUI tool for SAS used for analytics, data cleaning, manipulation, and statistics. It caters to various business units such as marketing, HR, and risk, with key functions in data preparation, ad-hoc queries, and exploration. In contrast, Splunk Cloud is a cloud-based platform focused on analyzing machine-generated data for operational intelligence, security, and compliance.

Usability

The SAS Enterprise Guide offers a user-friendly SAS experience, making it accessible to users in different departments. Splunk Cloud, while also user-friendly, emphasizes real-time data visualization and monitoring, targeting users who manage IT infrastructure and security.

Data Handling and Analysis

SAS Enterprise Guide is known for its flexibility in working with various data sources and its proficiency in handling large datasets. Splunk Cloud, similarly, is capable of processing vast amounts of machine data but is specifically optimized for log management and operational analytics.

Process Management

One of the key benefits of SAS Enterprise Guide is its ability to schedule, run, and keep a version history of processes, which is highly valued for ensuring regularity and compliance. While Splunk Cloud offers real-time monitoring and alerts, its process management capabilities are more aligned with IT operations rather than analytics workflows.

Overall Recommendation

SAS Enterprise Guide is recommended for organizations seeking a robust analytics tool that can handle large datasets and ensure regulatory compliance. Splunk Cloud is best suited for those needing a scalable solution for real-time operational intelligence and security compliance within IT environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the overall ratings for SAS Enterprise Guide and Splunk Cloud?

Both SAS Enterprise Guide and Splunk Cloud have an overall rating of 4.3.

How many ratings does SAS Enterprise Guide have compared to Splunk Cloud?

SAS Enterprise Guide has 487 ratings while Splunk Cloud has 76 ratings.

What operating systems is SAS Enterprise Guide supported on?

SAS Enterprise Guide is supported on Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise.

What are some of the key features of SAS Enterprise Guide 8.3?

SAS Enterprise Guide 8.3 features upgrades to the .NET Framework and VC++, includes hot fixes and security patches, and it's the latest version as of August 2020.

Can SAS Enterprise Guide connect directly to workspace servers?

Yes, starting with SAS Enterprise Guide 8.2, users can connect directly to workspace servers.

Sourcetable: A Streamlined Data Analysis Solution

Analyzing extensive data sets often exceeds the capabilities of traditional tools, but Sourcetable can handle over a million rows of data, positioning it as a robust alternative to SAS Enterprise Guide and Splunk Cloud. Its ability to manage data that doesn't fit in memory makes it a superior choice for complex data analysis tasks.

Unlike the traditional programming approach of SAS or the search processing language of Splunk, Sourcetable simplifies data querying with Excel-like formulas. This no-code interface allows for a more accessible and intuitive experience, making data analytics available to a wider audience without sacrificing depth of analysis.

The real-time creation of live charts and dashboards in Sourcetable provides dynamic visual data representation, rivaling the static reporting of other platforms. This feature ensures that data insights are always current and actionable, a distinct advantage over the reporting capabilities of SAS Enterprise Guide and Splunk Cloud.

Sourcetable's integration with various business applications and databases consolidates data into a single system of record. The provision of a data warehouse and SQL query editor further enhances its analytical power. This seamless synchronization and accessibility of data are crucial for organizations looking to streamline their data infrastructure.

With end-to-end encryption and reliable backups, Sourcetable ensures data security and integrity, offering peace of mind for businesses concerned with data protection. The commitment to not overwrite data guarantees the preservation of historical data, an essential feature for comprehensive data analysis and record-keeping.