March 19, 2009 -- SAS (Cary, NC), a provider of business analytics software and services, announced that it is building a 38,000-sq. ft. cloud computing facility to provide the additional data-handling capacity needed to expand the SAS OnDemand offerings and hosted solutions.
As the need for hosted solutions grows, the company expects that new research and development jobs will be generated at its Cary, NC world headquarters, where the majority of its R&D employees (more than 1,400) are located.
"This project is proof that, despite the down economy, SAS continues to grow and innovate," says Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. "The growing demand by our customers for hosted solutions has given us this opportunity to invest even further in North Carolina and the Cary community."
In keeping with SAS' commitment to protecting the environment, the facility will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards for water and energy conservation. The sustainable construction methods encourage recycling of materials, similar to the SAS Executive Briefing Center, also under construction on the Cary campus. SAS' first LEED building, SAS Canada's headquarters in Toronto, opened in April 2006.
In keeping with LEED standards, about 60 percent of the project's construction and equipment spending will be in North Carolina. Approximately 1,000 people will be involved in its design and construction.
The facility will include two 10,000-sq.-ft. server farms. Server Farm 1 is anticipated to be on-line mid-2010 and to support growth for three to five years. Server Farm 2 will be constructed as a shell and will be populated with mechanical and electrical infrastructure once Server Farm 1 reaches 80 percent capacity. The facility will be built on SAS's Cary campus.
On the Web:
www.sas.com