I’ve heard from four different people that something big is supposed to happen in January 2026, but nobody would give me details. I’m curious what they might be talking about. Any guesses?
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It's all management fluff to create the illusion of progress in the absence of any meaningful evidence of progress.
- This*
@16k I agree that was his point. But the 20x salary BS doesn’t help their message one bit.
And the idea that execs should always know everything without needing touch points seems very idealistic to me. Real world is going to need communication and “what are you guys working on” moments. Unless you want extreme micromanagers. And no I am not an exec. I have very intentionally stayed IC for 30 years.
A big personality will have convinced the powers-that-be that he can make a difference. He just needs to enact his special game plan.
The new year will start and the plan enacted. People will move, scores will be settled.
Ge-z. It's almost like you work there or something. This describes every re-org I've seen in the last 15 years at SAS. It's all management fluff to create the illusion of progress in the absence of any meaningful evidence of progress.
Here’s what will happen:
A big personality will have convinced the powers-that-be that he can make a difference. He just needs to enact his special game plan.
The new year will start and the plan enacted. People will move, scores will be settled.
Then they’ll take their new recipe for the same cow patty, ball it up, and throw it against the wall. It won’t stick. It will run down the wall and slump to the floor as always.
They’ll adjust this strategy throughout the year. Same effect, with more score settling.
At the end of the year, the cycle will begin anew with a new big personality.
Watch and see.
I think @15m’s point was simply that a high exec should know what is happening in January, but that one didn’t.
Good luck to all.
@15m Asked what your team will be working on? Oh my.
Wow 20x. What do they pay you 20,000 bucks a year?
High up exec in professional services asked in the meeting what will our team be doing in next few months. He's paid about 20 times more than us .... sums it all up
Oh, Daddy, I earned it!!!
There is still time! Return your Christmas gift’s before the credit card bills are due in January!
@x3 Oh, you positive Paulies. IPO, 3+ billion, profitability
Don't be silly. January must be time for the layoffs and mass exodus!
A new accounting system was put in place, around the time the new CFO was hired. So I’m hopeful that SAS is progressing slowly toward GAAP.
I’m also hopeful that SAS is progressing slowly toward an IPO or sale. The new accounting system, new CFO, visits to NYSE and NASDAQ, and creation of subsidiaries are all preparations.
Until the company is sold or IPO’d, I have no hope for new products. I worked in R&D under a dozen different managers. I experienced an insular culture, dominated by politics and sycophants. Only a few leaders knew how to build quality products that grew revenues, and they were blocked by those who could not.
But the CEO is not greedy, and has loyalty to his employees. He is clearly not trying to maximize short-term profits. I suspect he is laying off just enough to ensure a profit. He has to do that, because profitability is his company’s best selling point.
So I expect 2026 will bring "more of the same". As long as revenues continue flat, and expenses increase 2-3% with inflation, SAS must continue laying off 2-3% each year. That’s the sad math.
It’s a decline, but at least it’s a gentle one. Good luck to all.
something big is supposed to happen in January 2026
Oh, you negative Nellies. Layoff, layoff, layoff.
Don't be silly. January must be time for the IPO!
Is there any reason to expect real change in operations if SAS remains profitable and Goodnight remains owner?
OP: a real concern for SAS in 2026 is more of the same. Specifically another year of layoffs, stagnant revenue growth, no GAAP, no IPO or buyers, no new products that excite the SAS user base, and finally, most importantly, more defection away from SAS.
@s7 I walk the walk just fine. Thanks anonymous virtual guy for your input.
OP ---- Were any of the 4 people in upper level management who might be privy to confidential info or were they all ICs/lower level managers unlikely to be in that loop? If the former, then my guess is some significant (maybe 5%) layoffs. If the latter, another meaningless and disruptive reorg, with a small number of people losing their jobs, and no positive impact on the future of SAS (similar to what these clowns have been doing for the last several years).
A real concern that SAS should have in 2026 will be the impact of AI automation on its overall business.
There are plenty of alternative vendors who are pursuing this with substantially more capitalization and talent than SAS.
“Whisper”, The Secret Number
Had a very special view,
Always so bright and shiny,
But never known to me or you…
All of the doubtful people
Used to laugh and call it fake
They would lay off more folks
And serve the rest a piece of cake…
(Sung to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer)
There will surely be layoffs, because the announcement mentioned reducing duplication. That was a decent and fair warning given by SAS.
But I’m not expecting any large layoff, because SAS just laid off 3% of the company (in China). Revenues would have to be pretty poor to require another large layoff so soon.
Rather, I expect some people in duplicate positions will be laid off immediately, while others will be given a choice of a lesser position or a severance package.
Also, in any reorg, some folks are left unhappy. So there will probably be some additional headcount reduction by attrition.
My guess is that SAS will complete this reorg and its accompanying small headcount reduction and consider the results before making further cuts.
@s0 you saying: the goal of 1B for Viya revenue is most certainly is “in sight” short term now. And then later walking back and saying wait for the numbers. That is chicken -hit big talk and no walk..
The egg will be all over your face when once again Viya does not move the needle.
Can somebody share January 2026 guesses? That's what this post is about.
@rq wait for the numbers if you work internally. If not then I can’t help you. Keep making stuff up from the outside.
Show me the chicken little that goes with your fizzle,
@nq says "The goal of 1B for Viya revenue has most certainly not been “in sight” for years. It most certainly is “in sight” short term now."
Show me the steak that goes with your sizzle.
@rc “it was supposed to have been the greatest analytic platform like nobody's ever seen before.”
Yup. That was the dream.
We built Viya to serve end users whose needs could not be met by SAS9. From the SAS Help Center: “SAS 9 and SAS Viya are two unique platforms built for different use cases.”
Many people say that's revisionist history and that it was supposed to have been the greatest analytic platform like nobody's ever seen before.
@r5 They are indeed unique platforms behind the scenes. But to end users (SAS programmers and solution users) it is the same thing. Do they benefit from it being faster and scalable? Indirectly sure.
But it doesn’t change their day to day for the most part. Are their additions to the language? Yes. But that is like most languages when going to major new versions.
The point stands that a search for “SAS” on indeed.com is useless to distinguish between the versions.
@nq We built Viya to serve end users whose needs could not be met by SAS9. From the SAS Help Center: “SAS 9 and SAS Viya are two unique platforms built for different use cases.”
https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/vdmmlcdc/8.1/whatsdiff/n0m306a3p9spz7n1ew3j9scjiqjf.htm
SAS hit $3.2B in 2015, and again in 2021. There has been no change in direction.
@nm what makes you think every job that comes back from a “SAS” search on indeed.com means SAS 9 versus Viya? Viya is just another version of SAS. Highly different in terms of architecture and deployment. Not different in terms of end users. End users don’t give a cr-p how it is deployed.
The goal of 1B for Viya revenue has most certainly not been “in sight” for years. It most certainly is “in sight” short term now.
“ Viya might be growing $50 Million more than SAS9 is declining. But even so, that’s just a rounding error on $3 Billion.”
That is fair if it is 50 million. But you don’t know what the number is. Could be 100 million, 200 million, 4 million. What is the magic number that isn’t a rounding error? No point guessing. We’ll know soon enough.
Not all “around 3 billion” are the same. 2.8 billion is around 3 billion and would be terrible.
3.2 billion is around 3 billion but would be respectable and a step in the right direction.
Again why guess. We’ll know soon enough. Take it at face value (good news) until then.
Job searches indicate companies’ investments.
For SAS expertise, US companies are investing in 3000+ open positions. That’s good news; it shows that SAS9 is not dying yet.
A total of two jobs indicates that Viya is not growing fast. But we knew that. Having $1B is “in sight” is nice — but that goal has been “in sight” for ten years.
Does Viya’s growth exceeds SAS9’s decline? That’s believable. Viya might be growing $50 Million more than SAS9 is declining. But even so, that’s just a rounding error on $3 Billion.
Most probable scenario: SAS9 is declining, but slowly. Viya is growing, but slowly. Revenues for 2025 will be, as usual, around $3 Billion.
@mg I’m not a data scientists so I’m not sure what three fingers pointing back at myself even means…. I’m sure something profound.
I do know that if I was a data scientist I wouldn’t wager the success/growth rate of a piece of software by a single weakly put together indeed.com search such as “SAS” and “Viya”. In fact I would give it zero weight because umm “garbage in garbage out”.
But if you honestly think that search is indicative of things then more power to you.
@mg um ok
The secret love children will retain their special jobs. They earned it!
"I hope none of you are data scientists"
When you point a finger at others, three fingers are pointed back at yourself. Are you the forester lol?
"I’m shocked anyone put out a job posting specifically referencing Viya."
Why? Because there are so few sites using Viya?
You realize that SAS programming works essentially the same in SAS 9 and SAS Viya?
From the comments on this site, it sounds like it's functionally incomplete but that's OK because it makes up for that deficiency by being slower. Is that true?
@h6 That was vague.
If you are talking about indeed.com numbers searching based on SAS versus Viya then I would contend those are meaningless numbers intentionally meant to feed one’s own preconceptions.
You realize that SAS programming works essentially the same in SAS 9 and SAS Viya?
Hiring for SAS skills applies to both. I’m shocked anyone put out a job posting specifically referencing Viya.
As for one side not having numbers that isn’t true. There is precisely one side that has the real numbers and it isn’t the one you seem to think. Just because you don’t know numbers doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Whenevee positive numbers are brought up this crowd dismisses them out of hand because the don’t fit your SAS angst properly. Or they don’t align with some half baked indeed.com search.
I hope none of you are data scientists
@gv On one side, numbers. On the other, none.
@gt that oft repeated refrain is silly.
It would show in US job postings on indeed.com:
SAS: 3000+
Viya: 2
Meaningful and impactful Viya growth would be celebrated with copious amounts of social media chatter. Has anyone caught that buzz?