It is the first time in the 30-plus years of the Cary, N.C.-based company's history -- other than sales to the federal government -- that the company will sell through partners, said Jim Davis, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at SAS. The company has signed on about 28 resellers for its enterprise BI server, data integration tool, forecasting server, data mining tools and analytic software bundles, Davis said. Its other products will continue to be sold only through direct sales.

"As we have seen BI become more strategic and mainstream in organizations, we recognize the part a reseller channel can play in creating more volume for us," Davis said. "I don't think with a direct sale channel of a couple of thousand people worldwide you can take full advantage of the marketplace.

In the U.S., SAS will focus channel sales on users with US$1 billion in annual revenue and less.