If not, steps and strategy can be adjusted before too much time and too many dollars are spent in an effort that may or may not produce desired outcomes. We think that's the strongest statement in the industry. The program has already been tested by a number of federal government customers, including the Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Defense, Health Management Systems, and many others. SAS offers the integrator community 24 years of experience, visibility, and stability in the government marketplace and is represented in all 14 major U.S. government departments. The program's significance for our market is that they can select SAS as a partner who is willing to put some skin in the game for any large government contract, being committed to project progression and repeatable results.
Budgets are tight and are monitored under a microscope.
We are just beginning to discuss the program with administrators who need to evaluate needed programs such as ERP and data warehouses. Initial conversations on the program have been received with enthusiasm. University operators are demanding to work with vendors who have demonstrated a rich history of success in the government sector and whose approach and technology are flexible enough to function in government as well as transfer to a university setting. The Institute markets packaged business solutions for vertical industry and departmental applications, as well as an integrated suite of software tools and consulting services. These allow companies to transform the wide variety of data within their organizations into information that business users and researchers need to make better decisions.