The prevalence and use of R statistical software

The rise in use of R as a statistical product has become more and more prevalent and it is especially important to note for anyone interested in Analytics. Not only is it a free software tool with a great support community but despite the learning hurdles that might need to be overcome, it turns out to be quite a lot more robust and flexible compared to its more established rivals.

Bob Muenchen of http://r4stats.com has forecast that in the next few years R will overtake SPSS and SAS in this game and he has devised a simple measure of doing it. Simply looking at the use of statistical software in Google Scholar articles.

The table below shows the overall state of play




There is a distinctly high use of the more traditional products in SAS and SPSS however the number are clearly declining. The break even point is likely to be soon if not this year then definitely in the next few and Bob offers up a few reasons for this including:

• The continued rapid growth in add-on packages
• The attraction of R’s powerful language
• The near monopoly R has on the latest analytic methods
• Its free price
• The freedom to teach with real-world examples from outside organizations, which is forbidden to academics by SAS and SPSS licenses (IBM is loosening up on this a bit)

Additionally, I see R as a robust and flexible tool compared to the others. Sure they are quite powerful and easy to use but not every problem can be solved by the same hammer. Additionally, the R online user support community is one of the most powerful I've ever seen with users willing to offer up their insights for others to share quite freely. 

All of this leads to the need for more and more software packages to integrate with R to find and solve real world problems. The flexibility of the package is key and organisations will know that their problems cannot just be solved by the software with the best name. Organisations that can work towards a solution that is fit for purpose will find themselves with less headaches and better short term and long terms outcomes.