Meyer:  From a marketing perspective, how is the Business Intelligence conversation working for you?

Andrew:  Intel wants to help establish a leadership position in Business Intelligence.  In defining enterprise Business Intelligence as a solution that spans multiple data sources from transactional data to legacy databases to operational data has a big impact on the infrastructure requirements and that is the heart of our concern and why we are working with SAS to define enterprise Business Intelligence in that manner rather than simply being able to query and report or have the graphical interfaces.

To define enterprise: we are talking about spanning an operation of whatever size.  We are using a global umbrella rather than a silo or divisional.

Scott:  In the Intel vernacular it is just a fancy way of saying business and business customers.  Enterprise is non-consumer.

Gene:  The Intel field sales organization Customer Solutions Group is focused on Fortune and Global 500 companies which are very much aligned with the corporate sales force of SAS.

Meyer:  How do you characterize your relationship with SAS?

Scott:  We are co-marketing in terms sponsorship of an event, not co-branding. 

Meyer:  Can you tell me more about why Intel is aligning the brand with strategy instead of physical technology?

Andrew:  Intel is very pro-active and vocal in a lot of different areas about market leadership.

Meyer:  So in a way you power the intellectual side or creative side behind, for example, the music industry.

Andrew:  You will see that too.  The Intel branding activity spans business, creativity, and the arts and education.  All of those things are converging under the brand umbrella.

Meyer:  Is there an overarching strategy behind being present in all these categories, beyond say the greatest mind share? 

Andrew:  That is a philosophical question.  Too bad Eric and Sellars aren’t here to answer that question.   Ultimately Intel is a platform company.  The days of Intel saying we build micro-processors, the best, the fastest, and the greatest manufacturers, are behind us.  As a platform company we are interested in the ways people use our product.  So that is why we are associating the brand with though leadership. 

Gene:  From an Intel field sales perspective we look for technology that has business relevance and business impact.  It is not about selling every chip and about getting every order.  It is about the projects that are game-changing, transformational, and have impact at the highest level in the companies that we call on.  We see this that as an opportunity to work with SAS to change what companies do and how they do it in a way that is profound and have them adopt technology with a new frame of mind.  Clearly this is why Intel is a market leader.

Part of that is our strategy for growth; we are looking to expand the market and not get the remaining market share that we don’t have.  To do that means we have to think out of the box, raise the tide for everyone, and that means find the business relevance of technology and put resources to it.