SAS, the leader in business analytics software and services, has acquired technology and hired staff from rPath – a North Carolina-based provider of next-generation system automation technologies. By acquiring the code rPath developed and hiring select members of its team, SAS can better automate the set-up and management of SAS solutions in any virtual environment. It also increases SAS’s cloud and on-demand domain expertise needed to support customers tapping into these areas.

“Our customers are telling us that the cloud and other virtualization platforms are critical technologies for them, and they want greater use of SAS throughout their organizations,” said Keith Collins, Chief Technology Officer at SAS. “By acquiring rPath’s key technology and industry knowledge, we will expand our commitment to the virtual applications and appliances space on a global enterprise level. In addition, we will further enhance our ability to build and deliver SAS solutions, such as SAS High Performance Analytics, in a cloud environment. This is a great fit for SAS and we’re excited to have employees of rPath join our team.”

Founded in 2005 by former Red Hat technical employees, rPath is a start-up company that specializes in automating the assembly, provisioning and updating of diverse operating systems and middleware platforms and application stacks throughout enterprises. The rPath employees will join SAS on Nov. 30 to form the Platform Deployment Technologies group within SAS Research and Development.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than 60,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW^®. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2012 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.