First business intelligence (BI) software vendor Cognos makes an announcement that it is developing an integrated BI serach tool with Google, now rival BI vendor SAS has launched itself into the game.SAS has announced new technology with Google that will allow joint clients to perform contextually relevant searches through the Google search interface to surface information, analysis and reports from SAS BI software, beginning this summer.

According to SAS, the combination of the Google Search Appliance with the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform will give users more information than what ordinary keyword searches would return from an initial query, enabling them to think and act more strategically on their business intelligence knowledge. Google OneBox for Enterprise uses the same technology that provides information on stock tickers or weather information on Google.com.

In the same way that SAS has expanded access to BI information by creating targeted user interfaces for its software that match the skill levels of individual users, SAS and Google will provide joint customers who activate the OneBox for Enterprise feature of the new Google Search Appliance with a familiar, secure way to search for real-time information delivered by SAS BI software.

Google OneBox for Enterprise combined with SAS enterprise business intelligence will aim to deliver relevant search results for business users in the same way it does for any visitor to the Google website looking for information about local news, weather or restaurants. For example, when a SAS customer types a phrase such as “fourth quarter 2005 sales” into a Google-powered intranet search engine, it will (hopefully) return a snapshot of relevant information including reports, data and analysis along with links to other results that could
consist of the top selling products, top salespersons or top 10 customers for that time period. All search results will be filtered through existing enterprise security protocols, delivering intelligence tailored to each user’s individual access rights.

“Google is excited to work with SAS to deliver business intelligence information and help employees spot trends right from their Google search box,” said Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager of Google Enterprise. “We’re aiming to make enterprise search as comprehensive and useful as web search and our partnership with SAS is a big step forward in that direction.”“SAS is committed to delivering the best business intelligence in the industry by enabling organisations to get access to relevant information when they need it,” said Keith Collins, senior vice oresident and chief technology officer of SAS.

“The combination of SAS’ business intelligence and Google’s search expertise allows customers to quickly access and understand critical information by exposing associated data, analysis and reports to even more business users, broadening the value and impact of business intelligence and helping companies improve their own enterprise BI strategies.”{moscomment}