WEB-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS: PART II
by D. J. Power

EXAMPLES OF WEB-BASED DSS IMPLEMENTATIONS

A number of DSS software companies provide case studies of successful DSS implementations at their Web sites. All of the Vendors are reporting favorable results from Web-based DSS.

Arborsoft reports (see http://www.arborsoft.com/essbase/custmrspot1.html ) Bell Canada is implementing a Web-based DSS. According to a Bell Canada spokesperson "... the cost of deploying traditional client/server OLAP software makes it prohibitively expensive to enable the entire enterprise for OLAP ... The Web dramatically alters the cost dynamics of delivering applications to users." He notes "All users need are a Web browser and a laptop computer. There's almost no training required, very low client costs and zero infrastructure costs. The intranet acts as a free wide area network."

Bell Canada installed the Essbase Web Gateway. Arborsoft says "hundreds of business, operation and sales managers will be able to compose their own interactive queries right from their Web browser rather than accessing static data reports prepared by financial analysts. They can navigate, analyze and even update their sales forecasts without the need for proprietary client software."

On January 23, 1998, Information Advantage announced that ED had chosen DecisionSuite and WebOLAP (tm) to support implementation of the EDS knowledge management strategy. "EDS is rolling out DecisionSuite to several hundred users performing on-line analyses on a 50 GB database. 1998 deployment could scale up to 9000 knowledge worker desktops." Larry Ford, president and CEO of Information Advantage said in the press release, "The Web enables multinational organizations, like EDS, to provide applications that deliver content to the end-user without the traditional, costly barriers of installation, training and maintenance."

According to a MicroStrategy case study, Societe Generale USA chose a multi-tier architecture that enabled the support of both client server and web computing. MicroStrategy software enabled Societe Generale USA to provide support for executive and power users, running on either PCs or UNIX workstations and provided a web browser interface.

CONCLUSIONS ABOUT WEB-BASED DSS

The World-Wide Web has created a major opportunity to deliver more quantitative and qualitative information to decision-makers. Client-server architecture and networks permit Information Systems professionals to centralize and control information and yet easily distribute it in a timely manner to managers who need it. Also, intranets or company internets are providing many opportunities for securely delivering information from data warehouses and external databases to a manager's desktop in a format that permits and encourages frequent use and follow-on analysis.

The Web has not resolved all problems associated with building, developing and delivering enterprise-wide DSS and many questions about Web-based DSS remain controversial. The following questions are still being debated, but I'll share my opinions. Can a Web-based DSS provide a company with a competitive advantage? SOMETIMES, especially in knowledge oriented businesses. Does a Web-based DSS have significant cost advantages compared to other competing DSS technologies? USUALLY, especially in large-scale implementations where companies have multiple sites. Will a Web-based DSS speed application deployment and increase access to both structured and unstructured data? YES, in most situations.

Will a Web-based DSS improve decision making? Perhaps, I'm an optimist. Will Web-based DSS provide a broader knowledge base for decision making? YES, in most cases once the "knowledge" is on-line. Does Web access increase the value of a data warehouse? YES, if the data is meaningfully displayed and drill-down is available to decision makers.

Does a Web-based DSS provide timely, user-friendly and secure distribution of business information? YES, if a good product is selected and if the implementation is successful. Can a Web-based DSS be managed? YES, the tools for managing the Web server and web content are maturing. Will information on the Company Web expand in an uncontrolled manner? NO, not if a person manages the knowledge base. Will managers be able to locate what they need when they need it? PROBABLY, staff need to organize information in meaningful ways and search engines need to be available for unexpected information queries.

Does Web-enabled DSS/OLAP help mobile managers, sales staff, customer support staff? YES, information access and analysis is much easier and more widely available. Are Web agents and alerts useful and practical? YES, if you understand what they are and how to use them.

The Web makes it possible to deploy a global enterprise-wide DSS. Will Web-based DSS facilitate corporate growth? Improve productivity? and Improve profitability? YES.
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For more information, e-mail: power@uni.edu