DIGITAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a class of computerized information system that supports decision-making
activities. DSS are interactive computer-based systems and subsystems intended to help decision makers use
communications technologies, data, documents, knowledge and/or models to complete decision process tasks.

A decision support system may present information graphically and may include an expert system or artificial
intelligence (AI). It may be aimed at business executives or some other group of knowledge workers.

Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present would be as follows:

(a) Accessing all information assets, including legacy and relational data sources;

(b) Comparative data figures;

(c) Projected figures based on new data or assumptions;

(d) Consequences of different decision alternatives, given past experience in a specific context.

CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF DSS

There are three basic components in a DSS:
1. database
2. model base
3. user interface
Depending on the system, each of these components may be very simple or highly elaborate. The
database, or in advanced systems, a database management system (DBMS) or a data warehouse, consists
of structured, real-life information, such as customer account records, product sales history, employee
schedules, or manufacturing process statistics. The model base, or model base management system
(MBMS), contains one or more models for the kind of analysis the system will perform. For example, if
the purpose of the system is to supply sales projections under different conditions, one model might be a
linear regression formula derived from past sales and other factors. The user interface integrates the two
into a coherent system and provides the decision maker with controls for—and possibly feedback about—
managing the data and the models.

FOLLOWING ARE THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DSS’s:-

Principle 1: Emphasis on Partnership

A successful decision-support system is one that assists rather than replaces the human decision makers .Human
beings and computers are complementary in many respects. The strengths of human decision makers in the areas of
conceptualization, intuition and creativity are the weaknesses of the computer. Conversely, the strengths of the
computer in computation speed, parallelism, accuracy and the persistent storage of almost unlimited detailed
information are human weaknesses. Automation should be restricted to the monitoring of problem solving activities,
the detection of conflicts, and the execution of evaluation, search and planning sequences.

Principle 2: Cooperative and Distributed

Complex problem environments normally involve many parties that collaborate from widely distributed
geographical locations and utilize information resources that are equally dispersed. The decision-support system can
take advantage of the distributed participation by itself assuming a distributed architecture. This greatly reduces the
potential for communication bottlenecks and increases the computation speed through parallelism.
Another advantage of the distributed approach is the ability to modify some components of the system while the
system as a whole continues to operate with the remaining components.

Principle 3: An Open Architecture

The high degree of uncertainty that pervades complex problem environments extends beyond the decision making
activity of the collaborating problem solvers to the configuration of the decision-support system itself. The
components of the system are likely to change over time, through modification, replacement,
deletion and extension. It should be possible to implement these changes in a seamless fashion through common
application programming interfaces and shared databases.

Principle 4: Tools, not Solutions

The decision-support systems should be designed as a set of tools rather than as solutions to a predetermined set of
problems. The indeterminate nature of complex problems does not allow us to predict, with any degree of certainty,
either the specific circumstances of a future problem situation or the precise terms
 of the solution. Under these circumstances it is far more constructive to provide tools that will extend the
capabilities of the human decision maker in a highly interactive problem solving environment.

Principle 5: High Level Internal Representation

In this sense a tool is defined more broadly than a sequence of algorithms, heuristics or procedures that are applied
largely on the direction of a user. Tools can be self-activating, be capable of at least semiautonomous behavior, and
cooperate with each other and users in requesting and providing services.
A high level representation of the real world objects that define the problem system forms the basis of the
interactions between the users and the system and, also, the degree of intelligence that can be embedded in its
components.

Principle 6: Embedded Knowledge

The decision-support system should be a knowledge-based system. In this context knowledge can be described as
experience derived from observation and interpretation of past events or phenomena, and the application of methods
to past situations. Knowledge bases capture this experience in the form of rules, case studies, standard practices, and
typical descriptions of objects and object systems that can serve as prototypes. Problem solvers typically manipulate
these prototypes through adaptation, refinement, mutation, analogy, and combination, as they apply them to the
solution of current problems

Principle 7: Decentralized Decision Making

The decision-support system need not, and should not, exercise centralized control over the decision making
environment. Much of the decision making activity can be localized. For example, components of the system (e.g.,
mentor-agents) that are responsible for pursuing the interests of real world objects, such as soldiers in military
applications and technical and management personnel in commercial and industrial applications, can achieve many
of their objectives through service requests and negotiations that involve only a few nodes of the problem system.
This greatly reduces the propensity for the formation of communication bottlenecks and at the same time increases
the amount of parallel activity in the system.

Principle 8: Emphasis on Conflict Identification

The decision-support system should focus on the identification rather than the automatic resolution of conflicts.
This notion gains in importance as the level of complexity of the problem system increases. The resolution of even
mundane conflicts can provide subtle opportunities for advancing toward solution objectives. These opportunities
are more likely to be recognized by a human decision maker than a computer based agent. The identification of
conflicts is by no means a trivial undertaking. It includes not only the ability to recognize that a conflict actually
exists, but also the determination of the kind of conflict and the relationships that appear to have precipitated the
conflict.

Principle 9: The Computer-User Interface

The importance of a high degree of interaction between the user(s) and the various components of the decision-
support system is integral to most of the principles described here. This interaction is facilitated by two system
characteristics: a high level object representation; and, an intuitive user interface. The user interface should be
graphical in nature. The human cognitive system excels in pattern matching. Words and numbers require the
performance of a translation task that is relatively time consuming, subject to information loss, and carries with it
the potential for confusion and misinterpretation.
Principle 10: Functional Integration
In a distributed, cooperative decision-support system architecture the necessary level of integration has the potential
to be achieved, since functional modules and information resources are treated as sharable components. In such a
shared environment distributed databases may be accessed by any of the functional components whenever the need
arises and the necessary authorizations are available. The ability to switch from one functional mode to another then
becomes largely a function of the user interface and does not require the user to move out of the current application
environment. In other words, the physical separation of individual computer-based components need not exist at the
logical level of the user interface.

There are a number of Decision Support Systems. These can be categorized into five
types:
• Communication-driven DSS
Most communications-driven DSSs are targeted at internal teams, including partners. Its purpose are to help
conduct a meeting, or for users to collaborate. The most common technology used to deploy the DSS is a
web or client server. Examples: chats and instant messaging soft wares, online collaboration and net-
meeting systems.

• Data-driven DSS
Most data-driven DSSs are targeted at managers, staff and also product/service suppliers. It is used to query
a database or data warehouse to seek specific answers for specific purposes. It is deployed via a main frame
system, client/server link, or via the web. Examples: computer-based databases that have a query system to
check (including the incorporation of data to add value to existing databases.

• Document-driven DSS
Document-driven DSSs are more common, targeted at a broad base of user groups. The purpose of such a
DSS is to search web pages and find documents on a specific set of keywords or search terms. The usual
technology used to set up such DSSs are via the web or a client/server system.

• Knowledge-driven DSS:
Knowledge-driven DSSs or 'knowledgebase' are they are known, are a catch-all category covering a broad
range of systems covering users within the organization seting it up, but may also include others interacting
with the organization - for example, consumers of a business. It is essentially used to provide management
advice or to choose products/services. The typical deployment technology used to set up such systems could
be slient/server systems, the web, or software runnung on stand-alone PCs.
• Model-driven DSS
Model-driven DSSs are complex systems that help analyse decisions or choose between different options.
These are used by managers and staff members of a business, or people who interact with the organization,
for a number of purposes depending on how the model is set up - scheduling, decision analyses etc. These
DSSs can be deployed via software/hardware in stand-alone PCs, client/server systems, or the web.
Benefits of DSS
1. Improves personal efficiency
2. Expedites problem solving (speed up the progress of problems solving in an organization)
3. Facilitates interpersonal communication
4. Promotes learning or training
5. Increases organizational control
6. Generates new evidence in support of a decision
7. Creates a competitive advantage over competition
8. Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker
9. Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space
10. Helps automate the managerial processes.