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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
May 11, 2003 -- Vol. 4, No. 10
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Call for Papers: Special issue of DSS Journal on Web-based
Decision Support. Contact bhargava@computer.org, power@uni.edu
or daewons@psu.edu
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Featured:
* DSS Wisdom
* Ask Dan! - What are some examples of web-based DSS?
* DSS News Releases
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DSS News has more than 900 subscribers from 50 countries.
Please forward this newsletter to people interested in DSS.
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DSS Wisdom
Cohen, March and Olsen wrote: "An organization is a collection of
choices looking for problems, issues and feelings looking for decision
situations in which they might be aired, solutions looking for issues to
which they might be the answer, and decision makers looking for work
(1972, p. 2)."
From Cohen, M. D., J. G. March, and J. P. Olsen. "A garbage can model
of organizational choice." Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, pp.
1-25, 1972.
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Check the article by David Marco at DSSResources.COM
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Ask Dan!
What are some examples of web-based DSS?
by Dan Power
Most people who read about decision support systems want to try one.
This is understandable given the promise associated with an information
system that is intended to support and improve decision making. A
previous Ask Dan! identified some DSS demonstration software that could
be downloaded (DSS News, 01/05/2003). Those systems show some of the
possibilities, but web-based and web-enabled DSS are more accessible and
as powerful as DSS built using client/server technologies. In general,
it is much easier to try or "test drive" a web-based DSS. Web
technologies have expanded the range of DSS that are built and deployed,
but some "new" DSS are more impressive and consequential than others. A
few vendors have demonstrations on their sites of DSS built using their
software and there are many DSS targeted to the general public that are
available on the web. In general, narrowly targeted or focused DSS and
intra-organizational (internal) DSS are not accessible to the public.
Most types of DSS can be found on the web, but it is hard to find
publicly available examples of sophisticated, web-based,
communications-driven DSS. A first generation web-based GDSS, TCBWorks
(cf., Dennis, 1998), was available for academic use in the mid-90s, but
it is no longer accessible. Current demonstrations of web-based,
communications-driven DSS tend to have low levels of functionality and
focus on asynchronous communications.
Recently, Prof. Shashidar Kaparthi and I (Power and Kaparthi, 2002)
wrote an article that expanded and updated Chapter 11 in my DSS book.
Also, this semester my students evaluated some web-based DSS. So this
Ask Dan! shares some links and a fun exercise involving categorizing and
evaluating Web-based DSS. Innovative examples of all 5 categories of DSS
can be found on the Web, see if you can sort out the following web-based
DSS.
Web-based DSS Links
Some of these sites have multiple decision support tools and you may
need to "look hard" to find them. Some of the simpler tools are called
"calculators" and the more complex tools are full-fledged DSS.
Big Charts -- http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/
Databeacon Demos -- http://www.storydata.com
Documentum eRoom - http://www.documentum.com
elaws Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor -
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/fmla.htm
Fidelity Calculators - http://www.401k.com/401k/tools/tools.htm
Inspire - http://interneg.carleton.ca/inspire/
MSN Autos - http://autos.msn.com/Default.aspx
Pinnacor - http://finance.pinnacor.com/
Principal Financial - http://www.principal.com/calculators/index.htm
WATERSHEDSS - http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/
Categorization and Evaluation Exercise
Please evaluate one of the above web-based DSS. What type or category of
DSS is the application? Communications-driven, Data-driven,
Document-driven, Knowledge-driven or Model-driven? What is the purpose
of the specific DSS? Who are the targeted or intended users of the DSS?
What is your evaluation of the DSS? Is it useful? Is it likely to
improve decision making? Please explain and justify your conclusions.
References
Dennis, Alan R., "Lessons from Three Years of Web Development",
Communications of the ACM, v41, n7, July 1998, pp. 112-113.
Power, D., "Where can I find or download a DSS demo?" DSS News,
01/05/2003.
Power, D. and S. Kaparthi, "Building Web-based Decision Support
Systems", Studies in Informatics and Control, Vol. 11, Number 4, Dec.
2002, pp. 291-302, URL http://www.ici.ro/ici/revista/sic2002_4/art1.pdf
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DSS News Releases - April 28 to May 9, 2003
05/09/2003 Cognos 'Planning Leadership Awards' honor 'Best-In-Class'
enterprise planning solutions.
05/09/2003 California National Guard soldiers sharpen warfighting skills
with experimental training program.
05/09/2003 Creeth, Richman & Associates, Inc. releases OLAPObjects for
TM1 3.0.
05/09/2003 Raytheon's Risk Doctor(TM) solution selected by University of
North Carolina Health Care to meet HIPAA security requirements.
05/08/2003 Yale New Haven Health System selects Instantis to automate
Six Sigma project management and knowledge sharing across the
organization.
05/08/2003 Cognos delivers on corporate performance management vision.
05/08/2003 Logility Voyager Solutions 7.0 unveiled at Connections 2003.
05/07/2003 Junior Achievement launches online business simulator for
students.
05/06/2003 SAS forms partnership with leading risk management expert.
05/06/2003 BEA highlights enterprise access and integration to business
performance management software at Hyperion Solutions 2003.
05/06/2003 BMW Selects WebSurveyor for Online Survey Solutions.
05/06/2003 Cognos(R) BI Series 7 wins Network Computing Magazine 2003
Well-Connected Award for business intelligence.
05/06/2003 Microsoft and HP develop the industry's first dynamic data
center prototype.
05/06/2003 SGI tops graphics, server and workstation categories in World
Oil visualization center survey.
05/05/2003 Centerpulse selects Business Objects for end-to-end business
intelligence solution.
05/05/2003 Hyperion customers gain business insight with management
dashboards.
05/05/2003 Oracle demonstrates continued supply chain success with more
than 500 customers choosing Oracle Advanced Planning.
05/05/2003 Pinnacle releases Summit, a new XML-based global reporting
solution.
05/05/2003 Hyperion bridges financial and operational planning.
05/02/2003 CIOs face value quandary, Deloitte & Touche/IDG Survey shows;
analysis pinpoints delivery and communication of business value as top
challenges in IT.
05/02/2003 Teradata enables banks to find and cut hidden IT costs with
data mart consolidation program.
05/02/2003 EA's Command & Conquer Generals triumphs at retail outlets
nationwide; modern warfare-based game holds top position on sales charts
for two consecutive months.
05/01/2003 Business Objects drives enterprise performance management at
top government agencies in the U.S. and worldwide.
05/01/2003 Intergraph customers sweep three of four poster session
categories at 2003 GIS-T Symposium.
04/30/2003 Hummingbird maps out new GIS solution by linking documents to
geographic features.
04/30/2003 Microsoft Business Solutions releases Microsoft Business
Portal.
04/30/2003 Experian and Scorex form new global venture in decision
support and consulting sector.
04/29/2003 Decisioneering announces that Shell will begin worldwide
deployment of Crystal Ball risk analysis software.
04/29/2003 CorVu announces CorStrategy.Finance: budgeting and financial
consolidation software empowers organizations to link budgeting with
strategy.
04/29/2003 Brio Software delivers performance dashboards to Comerica
offices throughout the U.S.
04/29/2003 Boeing Center for Integrated Defense Simulation selects
Quantum3D independence for advanced military aviation simulation
applications.
04/28/2003 Polycom showcases breakthrough new products and
interoperability solutions at Networld+Interop.
04/28/2003 TANDBERG teams with WebEx to expand collaborative
conferencing offering.
04/28/2003 Government agencies seek better access to internal and
external information, new Artafact survey shows.
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2003 by D. J. Power. Please send your
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