Att D - SAS vs EpiInfo

Attachment D – SAS vs EpiInfo Comparison_draft

SAS and Epi Info Comparison

SAS and Epi Info were compared across seven broad categories: users, purpose, strategic plan alignment, capabilities, computing platforms, (social) networking, and educational support.

Conclusion: Epi Info is a subset of SAS within each of these categories, and Epi Info would not adequately support the overall public health program and science mission of the agency.

Category		SAS	Epi Info
Users	Intended Users	Communications, Education, Government, Health Care Providers, Health Insurance, Life Sciences (~2600 at CDC)	Physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, and other public health workers lacking a background in information technology (~ 600 of 2600 CDC SAS users)
Purpose	Purpose	An integrated environment for predictive and descriptive modeling, data mining, text analytics, forecasting, optimization, simulation, and experimental design for collection, classification, analysis, and interpretation of data	Simple tools for rapid creation of data collection instruments and data analysis, visualization, and reporting using epidemiologic methods
CDC IT Strategic Plan	Tools and capabilities to model, analyze, and graphically address complex scientific challenges for CDC scientists	Strong	Weak
	Implement and integrate science with public health program execution for a comprehensive approach to operations (e.g., LIMS, laboratory automation and networking, and biocomputing)	Strong	Weak
	IT tools for knowledge sharing, creation, communication, and delivery of health information and interventions	Strong	Weak
Capability	Big Data: Data collection and management, Data analytics, E-science collaboration environments	Yes	No
	Database Connectivity	Strong (n=22)	Weak (n=3)
	Business Intelligence	Strong	Weak
	CDC Research Data Center Support	Yes	No
	Data collection, advanced statistical analyses, GIS mapping capability	Strong	Moderate-to-weak
	Analytical Tools: Exploratory, Custom, or Customizable	Strong	Moderate-to-weak
Platforms	Server (CSP/Grid Computing, Windows, Unix)	Yes	No
	Desktop (Windows, Apple)	Both	Windows
	Formal User Certifications	Yes	No
Source: CDC unpublished data	Academic Course Offerings and Degree Coursework (K-12, Higher Education)	Yes	No
Networking	Social Network	Yes	Yes
	Web sites devoted to analyzing Popularity of Data Analysis Software	Yes	No
	Google PageRank (1-10)	High (8)	Moderately High (7)
	Code Sharing	Yes	Yes

Source: CDC unpublished data

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