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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
April 14, 2002 -- Vol. 3, No. 8
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Check the Article "What is OLAP?"
by Nigel Pendse at DSSResources.COM
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Featured:
* DSS Wisdom
* Ask Dan! - What criteria should be used for evaluating DSS software
packages?
* Spreadsheet-based DSS Tip - Add Hyperlinks to Integrate Your DSS with
the Web
* What's New at DSSResources.COM
* DSS News Stories
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Check Dan Power's new book, Decision Support Systems: Concepts and
Resources for Managers. Get more information at
http://www.dssresources.com/dssbookstore/power02.html .
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This newsletter has more than 800 subscribers from
50 countries. Please forward this newsletter to people interested in
Decision Support Systems or suggest they visit DSSResources.COM.
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DSS Wisdom
Henry Mintzberg (1971) noted "The management scientist can learn to help
the manager to the extent he can develop an understanding of the
manager's work and the manager's information. To date, strategic
planners, operations researchers, and information system designers have
provided little help for the senior manager. They simply have had no
framework available by which to understand the work of the men who
employed them, and they have had poor access to the information which
has never been documented. It is folly to believe that a man with poor
access to the organization's true nerve center can design a formal
management information system." (p. B109)
from Mintzberg, H. "Managerial Work: Analysis from Observation."
Management Science, Vol. 18, No. 2, Oct. 1971, pp. B97-B110.
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Ask Dan!
by D. J. Power
What criteria should be used for evaluating DSS software packages?
Some people might be quick to list criteria like ease of use, cost of
the package, capabilities, vendor reputation and ease of installation.
Although such factors are important and need to be considered in most
situations, this question should be framed more broadly and some other
issues should be addressed before specific criteria are discussed.
First, it is important to determine that buying a package versus
assembling and customizing software for a DSS project is the appropriate
response. It is often hard to know where the dividing line is between
"buying off-the-shelf" and "building" because once the customization for
the DSS becomes significant then buying a package has been transformed
into a development project (even though that may not have been
intended). So it is important to recognize that DSS software selection
is a sequential decision situation. Begin the process by specifying
requirements and ask "What functions and tasks will managers perform
with the DSS? When and how will it be used?"
Second, if the decision is to buy "off-the-shelf", then one must
determine what products might meet the need. It is important to
recognize that one must identify comparable software packages -- or they
can't be compared. "Off-the-shelf" is often appropriate for task
specific or vertical market DSS software like healthcare scheduling
software, collaboration and groupware software, Web-based reporting
software, enterprise portal software, data mining software and
competitive intelligence software.
Third, once comparable products are identified then one can ask "which
one is best in this particular situation?" At this point criteria can be
specified and products can be compared. Evaluators need to recognize
that dominant alternatives and dominating criteria exist in situations.
Sometimes one criterion is so important in making a choice that all
other criteria take on a secondary role. For example, the cost of the
package may be so important that relatively high cost packages have no
chance of being selected. In the same vein, some software packages may
be so appropriate and be such a "good fit" with the perceived need that
other packages receive little consideration. For example, a manager
developing a small-scale, model-driven DSS may almost without explicit
evaluation "choose" to develop the application in Microsoft Excel.
Prescreen the list of possible DSS products to eliminate those that do
not meet constraints like the need to "fit" with other software or with
existing processes, or the need to meet special regulatory or legal
requirements. Also, eliminate products that don't meet technical
constraints in terms of operating systems or infrastructure.
Fourth, if a dominant alternative doesn't exist and if no one criterion
dominates all others, then approximately five major criteria should be
identified and weighted for evaluating the comparable DSS packages.
Criteria should be generally independent of each other. Some criteria
that should be considered and tailored to the situation include the
following:
1) Capabilities -- examine the functions that a DSS product can perform
and how important they are to the decision support need of targeted
users. Determine if the package can be customized and in what ways. Does
it meet the need? Does it provide the desired support?
2) Cost of the Package -- examine the total cost of ownership including
acquisition costs, implementation and training costs, maintenance costs,
and any annual software license costs.
3) Ease of use -- the ease of learning and using the capabilities of a
product to accomplish tasks. Ease of use is in the mind of the user so
ask users to assess this criterion.
4) Ease of installation and operation -- how easy is it to configure,
deploy and control use of a product. Is it easy to transfer information
to and/or from other company information systems? Are there potential
technical implementation problems?
5) Performance -- what is the speed or capacity of the product when
performing its functions. Also, part of the performance criterion should
be software reliability.
6) Vendor reputation and reliability -- the vendor matters, but in
emerging product areas this criterion can be difficult to assess. What
kind of vendor and technical support is needed and is available?
One hopes that comparable packages will have similar benefits, but in
some cases it is necessary to rate and compare the anticipated benefits.
Over the years, the most common task that I have helped with is software
evaluation. In many of those situations, political and bureaucratic
issues have impacted what happened. In evaluating new fundraising
software, it was clear the technical people wanted "anyone other than
the current vendor". In another situation, everyone waqnted to upgrade
capabilities, but it was clear the staff was psychologically "locked in"
to their current vendor who was pushing a major new product. At a credit
union, a group was evaluating data mining software, but cost was the
dominant criterion. In many cases, a company is much better off to make
no purchase than to be swayed solely or primarily by the cost of the
product.
AVOID buying shelfware, software that gathers dust on a shelf instead of
being used for its intended purpose. I have some shelfware that I
bought with good intentions, but I have had no time to implement it. I
also have some old "obsolete" versions of software that still meet my
needs; I have had no real reason to upgrade or no funds to make a
discretionary upgrade.
Recognize that vendors can create the perception of need and a vendor
representative may even be willing to help identify the requirements.
Also, recognize the impact of personal relationships with vendor
representatives on software evaluations.
If you prepare a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a DSS project, it
should focus on goals, capabilities and the vision for the project. Set
up the RFP so it is easy to compare proposals. Get the same information
from each vendor. Use the internet and sites like DSSResources.COM to
identify vendors.
You may also want to read Power (1997) for more evaluation suggestions
and my book titled Decision Support Systems: Concepts and Resources for
Managers.
For a major project, you may want to hire a consultant to support your
organization's software selection process. Also, it is often helpful to
purchase evaluation reports from groups like Gartner and The OLAP
Report. Try packages before you buy! Summarize your evaluation for each
of the major alternative packages!!
One would like to think that evaluations of DSS software packages are
primarily rational, technical decisions, but personal biases, company
political and bureaucratic considerations can and often do impact
software evaluations.
REMEMBER -- The ultimate responsibility for making a good software
purchase decision rests with you, the buyer.
Power, D. J. "Tips for Choosing Enterprise-wide DSS Software". DS*Star,
The On-Line Executive Journal for Data-Intensive Decision Support,
November 18, 1997: Vol. 1, No. 7
Power, D. J. Decision Support Systems: Concepts and Resources for
Managers. Quorum Books, 2002.
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Spreadsheet-based DSS Tip: Add Hyperlinks to Integrate Your DSS with the
Web
Excel provides the capability to include internal and external
hyperlinks in cells. Developers can enhance navigation of a complex
application with hyperlinks, link to documentation in a word file or go
to a web page.
Choose the cell where you want a link and press Ctrl + K or use the
Insert | Hyperlink menu to create a hyperlink. When the Insert
Hyperlink dialog box opens, choose whether you want to place the link
in this document or go to another document or web page. Then type in the
cell or URL you want to link to and click OK. Now you have a hyperlink.
Try it! You can Edit the Hyperlink or Delete it.
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What's New at DSSResources.COM
04/14/2002 Posted article by ProClarity Staff, "ProClarity Helps Major
Preferred Provider Organization Enhance its Value in Many Ways",
ProClarity Corp., 2002, URL DSSResources.COM/cases/emerald_health.htm.
04/07/2002 Posted article by Pendse, N. "What is OLAP",
DSSResources.COM, 04/07/2002, URL
http://dssresources.com/papers/dssarticles.html.
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DSS News - April 2 to 11, 2002
04/11/2002 Corel includes Crystal Reports in its Technology Research
Group Portal.
04/11/2002 TyMetrix Collaborative Matter Management selected by
Microsoft as best productivity tool.
04/10/2002 eOptimize uses the Microsoft .NET platform in Healthcare
Enterprise Scheduling Solution.
04/10/2002 Call for Papers: 2nd International Workshop on Integration
and Collaboration Aspects of Data Mining, Decision Support and
Meta-Learning.
04/08/2002 DecisionPoint enhances analytical capabilities associated
with Oracle 11i.
04/03/2002 Ascential Software introduces MetaRecon product that reduces
implementation time for data integration projects.
04/02/2002 Banco Popular invests in Web-based reporting solution from
Cognos.
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at http://dssresources.com/newsletters/ .
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2002 by D. J. Power. Please send your email to
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