SAS, the leader in business intelligence, is helping organisations accurately measure and manage their environmental impact. Today's announcement of SAS for Sustainability Management introduces the first decision-support software platform for proactively identifying innovative strategies that effectively address complex environmental, social, and economic situations while achieving stakeholder objectives.

"While most executives agree that a green strategy is a good idea, few know how to value or prioritise their initiatives," said Kimberly Knickle, Practice Director, Emerging Agenda, Manufacturing Insights, an IDC company. "They struggle with the business case, waiting to implement strategies until outcomes can be predicted more reliably."

According to a McKinsey survey , environmental issues including climate change top the agenda in executive suites worldwide. But measuring and managing environmental impact is difficult, intricate work that stretches across an organisation's operations. Causal relationships connecting issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, use of scarce resources, ethical sourcing and regulatory compliance make it extremely complex to invest in green technology and expand sales of products and services with measurably better environmental performance.

"Lessening our impact on the environment and mitigating the future risk of depleting our planet's natural resources is becoming a priority in shaping every organisation's strategy," said Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS. "With SAS, organisations can optimise business strategies for minimising risks and costs, developing new lines of business, and improving resource use, environmental or otherwise."

Cisco Systems is using SAS to support its sustainability efforts. "Cisco believes that new innovative technologies and the power of collaboration are keys to achieving our sustainability goals and minimising our impact on the environment," said Laura Ipsen, Co-chair of Cisco's EcoBoard and Senior Vice President of Cisco Global Policy and Government Affairs. "By partnering with SAS and utilising SAS for Sustainability Management, Cisco can better prioritise projects and resources that create a positive return for the environment, shareholders, and our employees. The SAS solution will enable us to simulate the impact on carbon footprint, waste reduction targets, greenhouse gas emissions and other goals so we can more effectively predict and manage the impact of our operations on the environment."

SAS for Sustainability Management, based on the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform, uses the Global Reporting Initiative framework to report on Triple Bottom Line indicators. These indicators relate to the three spheres of sustainability - environmental, social, and economic, using SAS' predictive abilities to validate strategies, identify causal relationships, forecast improvement scenarios and drive innovation. The SAS Corporate Social Responsibility Report conforms to the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.