SAS to WPS Conversion Services

MineQuest is now offering conversion services for SAS sites running on z/OS, Unix and its derivatives (AIX, and Solaris) and Windows Server platforms and are interested in dramatically reducing their annual SAS licensing costs. Using WPS, MineQuest will convert your SAS/Base code to execute and run under WPS on either z/OS or radically reducing your costs by running it on a multi-processor Windows Server.

What is WPS?

World Programming System (WPS) is a SAS/Base clone that implements the SAS language in the data step and many of the SAS/Base procedures.  WPS also implements most of the SAS/Access product line so it allows you to access the data in your organizations databases in a very similar manner to SAS/Access.  Furthermore, WPS includes an Internet module that can replace SAS/IntrNet.

It’s our experience that most sites that have SAS on the mainframe use it primarily for heavy lifting of data and for reporting of data. The SAS procedures used for this heavy lifting is almost always SORT, Means, Tabulate and Freq. Other reporting is often performed using the data step for custom reports. With WPS, we can help you preserve your investment in your SAS source code, and still allow you to leverage your SAS developers training and knowledge.

Why Convert to WPS? (The SAS Pricing Conundrum)

If you are responsible for paying the license fee for SAS on a large system, you know how expensive it can be. Since the cost of SAS is priced by MIPS, and as the mainframes get faster, the pricing of SAS continues to escalate with the increase in MIPS. It’s not uncommon for SAS to be the single most expensive piece of software on your system. It can be even more expensive than the OS itself!

The MineQuest & WPS Solution

The solution to controlling cost and maintaining your investment in SAS code is to convert from SAS to WPS. We can convert your SAS/Base code to execute under WPS allowing you to drop your expensive SAS licenses. Our SAS Developers each have more than 20 years of experience using and writing SAS code and are knowledgeable and efficient in converting your code and SAS based production systems to WPS.

The greatest costs savings will be realized by migrating your SAS code to execute in a Windows Server environment. With multiple processors, these servers can often and easily outrun the same code that was executed on the mainframe. This holds true whether your mainframe is running z/OS or any of the UNIX derivatives. Considering that a WPS license on a Windows Server running a dual core processor be had for as low as $600 depending on the exchange rate (£300) it only makes sense to consider this option first. The other option is to license WPS for your mainframe running z/OS. Please contact us for information on licensing and costs for z/OS.

For those z/OS sites that want to continue to leverage the investment in mainframe hardware, MineQuest, can assist in your SAS to WPS conversion. We understand that issues of data security, administration and backup maybe the primary factors preventing the migration to a Windows Server platform. MineQuest can assist in your mainframe code conversion with new programming, rewrites, and performance analysis and reviews.