SAS evaluated in leading industry analyst

The Gartner report explained that "a holistic approach to enterprise risk management (ERM) requires software products that can maximise a firm's ability to capture measure and manage risk exposures consistently across the organisation".This research provides "a guide to credit, market and operational risk management (CRM, MRM and ORM, respectively) vendor software that includes risk-specific functionality, as well as capabilities that support enterprise-level, cross-discipline management of risk and performance".

The Gartner report recommended for organisations seeking ERM to "deploy solutions consistently across the entire institution (for all businesses and geographies), and avoid siloed approaches. Most institutions will develop a technology road map for incremental implementation of risk solutions based on enterprise-level performance priorities." Gartner continued by stating institutions should "use configuration, not customisation, to meet current and longer-term functional requirements".

To help organisations with ERM strategy, the SAS Business Analytics Framework can be used to build superior solutions, with SAS Risk Management for Banking covering market and credit risk and SAS Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) supporting operational risk and compliance needs. The framework provides measurement reporting and integration of information, and linking the enterprise risk function with other business areas such as financial management and customer management.

SAS combines strong risk analytics with superior data management and business intelligence capabilities to create a framework on which to deliver adaptable risk solutions to meet Gartner's recommendations.

SAS offers a variety of methods to support customer pricing modelling requirements via in-house developed models as well as from third-party vendors, such as FINCAD and FEA. SAS has sophisticated functionality providing scenario analysis, stress testing, and concentration analysis as well as the ability to manage complex products with the option to change, add or modify process, data or functionality.

In the report, Gartner found that organisations need to "create an enterprise-level data structure and IT architecture blueprint to support business risk management requirements that is co-ordinated with the institution's broader data structures and architecture". Gartner believes they should "evaluate a vendor's ability to enable a single, co-ordinated mechanism that supports the evaluation and response to risk threats and opportunities", as well as "use technology to minimise and take control of risk, not just to monitor and report it".

With the SAS solution's single integrated risk technology framework, one metadata layer connects the entire solution from data integration, data quality and data management. This also provides a holistic view of risk across credit, market and operational risk solutions, capital and performance management enabling management of complex interrelationships and converging risks. The single risk engine in SAS solutions for both market and credit risk and the fully integrated business intelligence capabilities leads to lower total cost of ownership.

SAS eliminates manual processes for data quality and data transformation, so organisations can avoid the need for upload, download and re-load of data across multiple platforms with reduced errors and operational losses.

Gartner also advises organisations to "plan strategically beyond tactical functionality, assess how vendors can improve the management of risk interdependencies, and integrate risk and performance management”.

"SAS offers a portfolio of risk and compliance products that can build on existing implementations, or provide a fast track for new customers," said Andre Zitzke, Practice Lead Risk at SAS South Africa. "Banks need to have analytical capabilities that can quickly evolve to meet changing business and regulatory requirements."