SAS chief technology officer arriving for business forum

MANILA, Philippines - SAS Institute senior vice president and chief technology officer Keith Collins will be in Manila on April 22-24, as part of an Asia-Pacific tour.

Collins, an internationally renowned IT resource person, will be the main speaker of a top-level business forum hosted by SAS on April 23 in Makati. 

Collins’ visit to the Philippines will include meetings to reiterate SAS commitments to bring the best technology services to Filipino clients.

Business analytics leader SAS Institute produces software that helps companies worldwide transform their data into predictive insights about company performance, customers, markets, and risks.

Collins’ presence in Manila is proof of SAS’ continued investment in the country and confidence in its excellent pool of IT skills.

He is the third SAS global executive to visit Manila after SAS EVP Mikael Hagstroem early this year and SAS CEO James Goodnight in 2007.

For the April 23 event on “The Future of Analy-tics: Accelerating Innovation and Optimization in the New Normal,” Collins will share his insights on the future of business analytics and his forecasts on the industry landscape in the coming years.

Expected to attend the forum are key executives of top business firms in the country.

Early in his career, Collins formed the Office of the CTO to serve as a technical resource and adviser in peer-to-peer discussions with executives in IT organizations.

The team helps customers create effective business intelligence strategies through thought leadership, IT domain expertise and anticipating key technology trends that shape clients’ needs and the market.

Collins accomplishes this by providing IT executives with an architectural view of SAS and by leading product and technology innovations of SAS for the future.

Collins has been instrumental in leading SAS’ evolution as a provider of industry-specific solutions that deliver the benefits of powerful analytic technologies into the hands of users.

He led efforts to develop the company’s breakthrough SAS Business Analytics Framework, which is redefining business intelligence as it is known today.

Collins oversees daily operations for SAS research and development as well as information services and technical support.

In 2009, SAS earned worldwide revenues of $2.31 billion, up 2.2 percent over 2008. The company reported that growth rates were highest in banking, government, health care, insurance and retail.

SAS recently ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in America.