SDTM converter

SAS is still the most popular tool

Hi Gal, 

It looks like SAS is still the most popular tool for SDTM conversion.

There are many ETL (Extract Transfer Load) software designed for this work as well. The major problem is that they can help with simple part, while complicated transformations require manual programming. A simple part can be also easy done in SAS. Price and a need for new specialized skills are another obstacles to broad adoption of ETL tools by the industry.

Based on my experience, today most companies use SAS. Standardization of data collection process allows to re-use programs and develop SDTM mapping macro library.

~5 years ago I looked at CDISC Express which is (was?) an example of typical macro library which any experienced programmer would create for himself. A problem with CDISC Express was its very limited license which did not allow to do anything except software evaluation and providing feedback to developers. It looked as a marketing project to sell the company service for SDTM conversion. It may be some changes over 5 years.

Kind Regards, 

Sergiy

SDTM converter

"The major problem is that they can help with simple part, while complicated transformations require manual programming". This is not correct. There are several ETL tools on the market that allow the users to generate even complex mappings in a very user-friendly way.
"Price and a need for new specialized skills are another obstacles to broad adoption of ETL tools by the industry". Also not correct: some of these highly efficient tools come at a price that is lower than a license of the forementioned statistical software provider. As these tools work with "drag and drop" and have many wizards, the need for new skills is very limited.
Those interested to get a good overview, send me a mail on my private E-mail address and I can send you a list of such tools (there are several of them) with extra information.