There are many loser products (negative ROI). Which loser product(s) will hang on merely because they are looked upon as pets by the founders?
24 replies (most recent on top)
I came on in 1984 and it was dead by then I think. Never saw a prototype but I don’t know for sure.
Yes, it was called the SAS Plum. Mid- to late 1980s, I think? But I believe it remained an idea on paper. I do not recall that it ever actually materialized, did it?
I remember. Wasn’t it called something like the plum?
Nobody remembers the SAS Machine? It was a PC with its own OS that did only SAS. I forget which company made the CPU or anything about the OS.
NOTHING beats the silliness of the SAS Video Editor. Yes, SAS actually tried to get into this market at one time.
SAS/LAB may have started as a pet project, but it became the opposite: its development staff were removed.
It was rescued primarily by the heroic effort of one developer. For that effort, SAS/LAB consistently brought in over $1M per year — a nice profit.
SAS could have increased SAS/LAB’s revenues by adding more staff. It’s so much easier to grow a revenue stream than to start one.
But SAS/LAB lost political support, so its staff never increased. For many years, it existed as a zombie, reliably earning that $1M per year, but never growing.
SAS/INSIGHT met a similar fate. SAS started these revenue streams, but when it could have increased them, instead abandoned them.
SAS/LAB?
"I miss Curriculum Pathways!"
Wut, doesn't it have over a million users?
I miss Curriculum Pathways!
I miss Southpeak!!!
Looks like there's a video game analytics thing going on under BH. Pet project if there ever was one. I'd love to know how much Head of Games gets paid.
Can I nominate SAS Viya? Please please please let me call SAS Viya a product for purposes of this poll!
"Still waiting for SAS Trader!"
Gone around the time of the demise of SAS/ENGLISH, and not coming back from the dead!
"SAS/English?"
Long gone, too.
Still waiting for SAS Trader!
Is Cyber gone?
SAS/English?
"Is SAS Publish still in development?"
AFAIK, that is long gone, and was stopped before SAS/GIS.
Is SAS Publish still in development?
Which products are pets?
No way. They made somebodies upper right quadrant.
CI360
And many pet employees, directors with no reports, etc.