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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
November 23, 2003 -- Vol. 4, No. 24
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Featured:
* Ask Dan! - Is there a relationship between Decision Support Systems
(DSS) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)?
* DSS News Releases
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Ask Dan!
Is there a relationship between Decision Support Systems (DSS) and
Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)?
by Dan Power
Editor, DSSResources.COM
Recently, Gary Bowrin asked about the relationship between Decision
Support Systems (DSS) and Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) in a posted
message on the free DSS Forum at DSSResources.COM. This Ask Dan! tries
to consolidate and expand upon my responses to Gary's question.
First, there is a relationship. BAM is the "real-time" evolution or
descendant of the Executive Information Systems (EIS) and Analysis
Information Systems of the 1980s and early 1990s. One should categorize
Business Activity Monitoring systems as examples of Data-Driven DSS.
Also, BAM is an example of a real-time DSS. Let's check the web for more
information on the BAM buzzword.
What is BAM?
According to the Tibco website, "Business Activity Monitoring (BAM)
refers to the aggregation, analysis, and presentation of relevant and
timely information about business activities inside your organization
and involving your customers and partners. BAM provides more accurate
information about the status and results of various operations,
processes, and transactions so you can make better decisions, more
quickly address problem areas, and reposition your organization to take
full advantage of emerging opportunities." Check Tibco at
http://www.tibco.com.
Industry analysts Kevin Strange and Bill Gassman, Gartner Group, state
"Business activity monitoring (BAM) refers to the real-time monitoring
of business metrics and to the process for issuing alerts when problems
or opportunities arise."
Sengen (www.sengen.com), a technology consulting firm, notes "Through
Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), companies are providing real-time
access to critical business information by drawing data from multiple
application systems and other internal and external sources and
synthesizing them into quality reports - enabling a broader and richer
view for faster and better informed business decisions."
What is the need for BAM?
A Mentisys White paper argues "Organizations are feeling an increasing
need to overcome traditional delays and lag times in business
transactions. The move to real time is being fueled by different needs
in different sectors: financial services corporations strive to meet the
demands of regulators to close financial transactions quickly;
manufacturers face competitive pressures that force a shorter
time-to-market for new products; there is a universal demand for
improved customer service, requiring more timely responses."
What are the claimed benefits of BAM?
In addition to those in the Tibco quote above, the Mentisys white paper
makes a number of claims. BAM solutions "provide insight, helping users
interpret business events and make decisions more quickly." Also, BAM
solutions enable users to "resolve discrepancies and eliminate delays
through improved informed decisions and responsiveness. This improves
operations efficiency and helps reduce costs." Finally, BAM improves the
quality of real-time decisions. Some of these claims seem plausible in
specific situations. However, BAM does not necessarily provide more
accurate information or decision insight. Real-time DSS can sometimes
improve operations efficiency and help reduce costs.
A Case Study -- Tanker Operator
Vendor firstRain (http://www.firstrain.com) has a number of BAM solution
examples. The following is a summary of one case that should help
explain BAM. Senior management of a major tanker and Floating Storage
and Offloading (FSO) operator wanted "to monitor key corporate
performance metrics, drawn from different applications and different
systems in different locations -- in real-time." firstRain implemented
its Transportation and Logistics Monitor to create customized dashboards
that provided key executives with decision support information. "Each
dashboard monitors key corporate performance metrics drawn from several
applications and systems, as well as data from the operator’s partners
and suppliers. Components of the company’s proprietary shipping
application were extracted for use in the executive dashboard,
maintaining the original application's full functionality." Executive
users "can subscribe to receive alerts that are triggered whenever
metrics exceed pre-defined subscription parameters, allowing them to
'manage by exception'." Users of the system can then access data and
applications to help them act on the alert.
Conclusions
Readers may recall the Ask Dan! columns on "Real-time DSS" from a year
ago (Power, 11/24/2002; 12/08/2002). The controversy over real-time DSS,
real-time data warehousing, and active data warehousing is continuing in
the trade literature. This past summer Neil Raden discussed technical
issues associated with storing real-time data in a database. He noted
the problems with maintaining a set of fact tables and with updating
dimension and aggregate tables. Those technical problems have not been
completely solved. Raden notes however the "demand for real-time data
mixed with historical and enterprise perspective is growing rapidly."
In the Ask Dan! of December 8, 2002, Marc Demarest, President of
Noumenal, commented on real-time DSS. The following conclusions are
based on his arguments and I recommend those interested in BAM check
that column. So what about real-time DSS?
1. Real-time means providing data "as soon as things change";
2. There is always some delay or latency in real-time DSS;
3. Real-time decision support should be push-based; and
4. Real-time decision support is not always the best solution.
So is BAM a good thing? For some businesses and some activities like
emergency response monitoring and dispatching, tracking of airplanes,
ships, and trucks, and especially currency trading, BAM is necessary and
probably even mission critical today. Other activities and situations
need to be carefully evaluated before implementing BAM.
Vivek Ranadive, CEO of Tibco, has been advocating real-time technology
for more than 5 years. His book (1999) "The Power of Now" presents some
good arguments for creating what he terms "event-driven enterprises".
Ranadive notes "Equipping employees with event-driven information
constantly reminds all your people that the profit and loss of the
company rests in their hands, and every moment is a distinct opportunity
either seized for the benefit of the home team or lost to the
competition (p. 59)."
So real-time, data-driven DSS is here to stay; but BAM may go the way of
other buzzwords. As always your comments, suggestions and feedback are
welcomed.
References
firstRain Staff, Transportation and Logistics Monitor Solution,
http://www.firstrain.com/bam/log/case/default.asp.
Mentisys Staff, "Business Activity Monitoring from Mentisys", White
paper, http://www.mentisys.com/literature/papers/bam.pdf.
Power, D. J., "What is "real-time" decision support?," Ask Dan!, DSS
News, 11/24/2002.
Power, D. J., "When is "real-time" decision support desirable and
needed??," Ask Dan!, DSS News, 12/08/2002.
Raden, Neil, "Real Time: Get Real Part I," Intelligent Enterprise
Magazine Data Warehouse Designer (edited by Ralph Kimball), June 17,
2003, http://www.intelligententerprise.com/030617/610warehouse1_1.shtml
.
Raden, Neil, "Real Time: Get Real Part II," Intelligent Enterprise
Magazine Data Warehouse Designer (edited by Ralph Kimball), June 30,
2003, http://www.intelligententerprise.com/030630/611warehouse1_2.shtml
.
Ranadive, V., "The Power of Now: How Winning Companies Sense and Respond
to Change using Real-time Technology," New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Strange, Kevin H. and Bill Gassman, "Digging Deeper Into Business
Activity Monitoring," Gartner, July 8, 2003,
http://www4.gartner.com/pages/story.php.id.8910.s.8.jsp.
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DSS News Releases - November 10 to November 21, 2003
Read them at DSSResources.COM and search the DSS News Archive
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2003 by D. J. Power. Please send your questions to
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