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DSS News
by D. J. Power
January 20, 2002 -- Vol. 3, No. 2
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Check the Vendor Directory at DSSResources.COM
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Featured:
* DSS Wisdom
* Ask Dan! - What are Decision Support technology trends?
* DSS News Stories
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This newsletter has more than 750 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
According to Herbert Simon in a 1986 report, "There are no more
promising or important targets for basic scientific research than
understanding how human minds, with and without the help of computers,
solve problems and make decisions effectively, and improving our
problem-solving and decision-making capabilities."
Simon, Herbert A. "Decision Making and Problem Solving." Research
Briefings 1986: Report of the Research Briefing Panel on Decision Making
and Problem Solving. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1986
(http://dieoff.org/page163.htm).
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Call for Papers: Decision Support Systems mini-track at
AMCIS 2002-Dallas. Deadline 03/15/2002.
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Ask Dan!
What are Decision Support technology trends?
At the turn of the year, it is common to think about trends and future
developments related to many topics. The pace of technology change is
speeding up and the expectations for DSS in companies continue to expand
and grow. Chuck Russell posted a question on the DSSResources.COM
Bulletin Board about trends that may be driving companies to do more
modeling in support of decisions. Many of those trends deal with
managing risk and improving quantitative analyses, but improved
technologies should also drive companies to do more modeling. Recently,
Alexandre Gachet updated me on his research on distributed cooperative
DSS using Java based on the Jini technology. Hoda Hafez also wrote
recently asking about knowledge management technologies. So, what seem
to be the trends associated with information technology that may have a
major impact on the design and development of DSS? What are the DSS
technology trends?
Portals, hand-helds, mobile computing, and visualization tools are
driving Decision Support updates and innovations.
Object-oriented development tools, especially Java, seem to hold much
promise for building new model-driven DSS. Distributed and cooperative
DSS can both be built using such tools.
Network technologies are mission-critical in most companies. Computing
and network technologies have become more integrated and more powerful.
The speed and capacity of networks is increasing. Bandwidth expansion
can support interactive video and real-time decision support anywhere in
the world.
Open source software may impact some DSS development tools. With access
to source code programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the
software; advocates of open source software feel the software will
evolve faster. For example, Linux is becoming an important operating
system for Web servers in corporations.
Visualization technologies are more powerful than at any time in the
past. New software helps users visualize almost anything they can
imagine in a realistic, manipulatable format. Visualization tools can
help pilots simulate flights and help managers "try" new products.
The World Wide Web supports e-business including internal and external
global communications, decision making, and collaboration for managers.
Also, the Web can help managers gather, manage, share, and use
information. The Web is the platform for managing documents and
"knowledge".
Handheld computing is gaining greater acceptance, and the use of pocket
PCs integrated with cell phones by managers and other employees will
increase. Wireless Web devices are expected to outnumber wired devices
in the next few years. Pocket PCs support distributed access to
data-driven DSS, expanded communications-driven DSS and distributed
decision making. Mobile computing systems extend the reach of an
enterprise-wide DSS.
Large data storage systems and multiprocessing computers have removed
the constraints on what can be stored and how much data can be stored.
Data storage is faster and it is easier to organize and backup data of
all types. Data can be kept forever in a form that can be sorted,
analyzed and processed.
These are the major Decision Support technology trends. The list is a
bit dated even as it is written. Seizing opportunities to build
innovative DSS involves continuously monitoring technology trends.
Please send me your comments and questions on these and other trends
related to DSS.
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DSS News Stories: January 4 to January 15
01/15/2002 State of Minnesota standardizes on BroadVision’s enterprise
self-service applications for its e-government portal initiatives.
01/15/2002 BlackBerry End-to-End Security and 'Always On, Always
Connected' Email Earned RIM 20+ Industry Awards in 2001.
01/15/2002 More than 100 companies use RightAnswers in the fourth
quarter of 2002.
01/14/2002 IBM and Steelcase announce global initiative to design office
of the future.
01/09/2002 US Air Force Flies High by Standardizing on the Brio
Performance Suite.
01/08/2002 Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca gains market insights with
MicroStrategy Business Intelligence.
01/07/2002 Cognos® delivers $1 million ROI in first year to Trimac
Corporation.
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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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