The economy's had an effect on almost every business -- but some are able to weather it better than others.

SAS, which is based in Cary, announced at its media day Tuesday that it expects to make a profit this year, albeit a small one.

"We've been able to keep to our promise. We said at the beginning of the year we wouldn't lay off any employees, and we haven't," said Jim Davis, SAS Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. "As a matter of fact, we've hired in some high-priority areas."

SAS leaders say there are a couple reasons that the company remains profitable.

Its product, large-scale statistical analysis, is the type of thing that other companies need more and more as time goes on.

"What we offer the marketplace today, analytics, is something that is helping other large companies get through tough times," said Davis.

Davis said the fact that SAS is privately held has also kept it from having to make any rash decisions based on the economy.

"Wall Street is demanding quarterly results. We have never looked at things on a quarterly basis; we look at things on more of a long-term, one to two years out," said Davis. "So we continue to invest and that investment pays off, even in down economies."

For a long time, SAS has had very little competition in global-scale analytics, but over the last year, IBM has made a handful of acquisitions that put them in the ball park.

SAS officials say they're not worried.

"What is it IBM has got? They've got a tool-kit, if you will, that they can apply to solve business problems. What they haven't done is bring that to bear in the form of industry-focused solutions," said Davis. "We feel like we're in a good spot, because that's all we do, is focus in on industry-specific solutions. We don't sell hardware or databases or any of those other things that IBM does."

SAS also spent media day talking about future projects -- including plans for improved fraud detection.

"Where are the innovators today? There's no question the fraudsters are good innovators," said Davis. "So they're taking advantage of this market as well, unfortunately."

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