SAS vs Oracle comparison for statistical modeling

Question

Hi,
I am working on a project that require a lot of statistical analysis. as we are in a preliminary phase of determining which way to go, someone recommended to use SAS.
would you be able to share your experience/comments related to SAS vs Oracle comparison when it comes down to using statistical models within each of these applications. and is there a list of all statistical models that Oracle offers (it could be handy to compare it with our requirements.)
Plus, would also like to know if there is a way to test these models... just like APEX is offered free for testing purposes @ apex.oracle.com
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

You don't go into much detail regarding what types of statistical technques that you might want to use. First, Oracle both partners with SAS and competes and SAS. In terms of Oracle technology for statistics and models, we ship about 50 basic statistical technques with EVERY Oracle Database for free. Those stats include below. See SQL Reference Guide for details:
Descriptive Statistics
DBMS_STAT_FUNCS: summarizes numerical columns of a table and returns count, min, max, range, mean, median, stats_mode, variance, standard deviation, quantile values, +/- n sigma values, top/bottom 5 values
Correlations
Pearson’s correlation coefficients, Spearman's and Kendall's (both nonparametric).
Cross Tabs
Enhanced with % statistics: chi squared, phi coefficient, Cramer's V, contingency coefficient, Cohen's kappa
Hypothesis Testing
Student t-test , F-test, Binomial test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test, Chi-square, Mann Whitney test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, One-way ANOVA
Distribution Fitting
Ranking functions
rank, dense_rank, cume_dist, percent_rank, ntile
Window Aggregate functions (moving & cumulative)
Avg, sum, min, max, count, variance, stddev, first_value, last_value
LAG/LEAD functions
Direct inter-row reference using offsets
Reporting Aggregate functions
Sum, avg, min, max, variance, stddev, count, ratio_to_report
Statistical Aggregates
Correlation, linear regression family, covariance
Linear regression
Fitting of an ordinary-least-squares regression line to a set of number pairs.
Frequently combined with the COVAR_POP, COVAR_SAMP, and CORR functions
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, Anderson-Darling Test, Chi-Squared Test, Normal, Uniform, Weibull, Exponential
Additionally, Oracle has a Database Option called Oracle Advanced Analytics which delivers 12+ hi-performance, data mining algorithms (e.g. clustering, decision trees, regression, association rules, anomaly detection, text mining, etc.) as native SQL functions that can be called from SQL, the R language or the Oracle Data Miner workflow GUI (ships with SQL Developer). There is a LOT more information on the OAA Option here http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/options/advanced-analytics/index.html?ssSourceSiteId=ocomen.
Hope this helps. cb