[R] Entire Organization Switching from SAS to R - Any experience?
Ross Boylan
ross at biostat.ucsf.edu
Fri Jul 17 20:00:18 CEST 2009
We use SAS and R here (a biostat department and consulting unit), in
part because there are some things SAS does that R doesn't. In
particular, we use SAS proc nlmixed with custom likelihood functions. R
has similar capability but does not allow custom likelihood; the authors
say adding it would be non-trivial.
I don't know how common such absolute barriers are, but they would be
one thing to watch for. As others have noted, datasets too big too fit
in memory are difficult in R (though the 3G barrier only applies to 32
bit hardware).
If you have "customers" who themselves do data analysis, they may also
resist change.
I would think switching from SAS to R is a pretty big deal; it would
probably be easier if you did not need to switch existing projects. Of
course, that still leaves you paying some license fees. But the switch
will have substantial short-term costs in time, if not money, even if
users are motivated.
Ross Boylan
On Thu, 2009-07-16 at 17:40 -0400, Kel Lam wrote:
> My institute has been heavily dependent on SAS for the past while, and
> SAS is starting to charge us a very deep amount for license renewal.
> Since we are a non-profit organization that is definitely not
> sustainable. The team is brainstorming possibility of switching to R,
> at least gradually. I am talking about the entire institute with
> considerable number of analysts using SAS their entire career.
> There’s a handful of us using R regularly. What kind of problems and
> challenges have you faced? Any insight is much appreciated. Thank
> you very much!
>
> Kelvin
>
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