Chapter 6 Decision Support System Development

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Chapter 6Decision Support System Development
Turban, Aronson, and Liang
Decision Support Systems
and Intelligent Systems, Seventh
Edition
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Learning Objectives

• Understand the concepts of systems development.
• Learn PADI, the phases of SDLC.
• Describe prototyping.
• Understand which factors lead to DSS success or
  failure.
• Learn the importance of project management.
• Describe the three technology levels of DSS.
• Understand the learning process involved in DSS
  development.

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Osram Sylvania Thinks Small, Strategizes
Big-Develops the Infonet HR Portal System Vignette

• Creation of a specialized business portal to
  solve specific problem
• Prototype
• Interactive, Web-based
• HR portal
• Think small, strategize big
• Focus on key problems first
• Plan to achieve quick small successes
• Intranet-based portal for hiring, job postings,
  benefits, bonuses, retirement information

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Systems Development Life Cycle

• Four phases
• Planning
• Analysis
• Design
• Implementation
• Cyclical
• Can return to other phases
• Waterfall model

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Tools

• Computer-aided software design tools
• Upper CASE
• Creates systems diagrams
• Lower CASE
• Manages diagrams and code
• Integrated CASE
• Combination
• RAD design tools
• Enterprise class repository and collaboration
• UML modeling
• Analysis and design software
• Code debugging methods
• Testing and quality assurance tools

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Successful Project Management

• Establish a baseline
• Define scope of project
• Manage change and scope creep
• Get support from upper management
• Establish timelines, milestones, and budgets
  based on realistic goals
• Involve users
• Document everything

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Implementation Failures

• Lack of stakeholder involvement
• Incomplete requirements
• Scope creep
• Unrealistic expectations
• Project champion leaves
• Lack of skill or expertise
• Inadequate human resources
• New technologies

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Evolutionary Disruptors

• Development environment
• Organizational cultural factors
• Loss of top management support
• User and analyst attitude
• User experience
• Development team capability
• Development process
• User education, support, involvement, training

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Project Management Tools

• Project management software can allow
• Collaboration among disparate teams
• Resource and program management
• Portfolio management
• Web enabled
• Aggregates and analyses project data

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Alternative Development Methodologies

• Parallel development
• Multiple development on separate systems
• RAD
• Quick development allowing fast, but limited
  functionality
• Phased development
• Sequential serial development
• Prototyping
• Rapid development of portions of projects for
  user input and modification
• Small working model or may become functional part
  of final system
• Throwaway prototyping
• Pilot test or simple development platforms

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Agile Development

• Rapid prototyping
• Used for
• Unclear or rapidly changing requirements
• Speedy development
• Heavy user input
• Incremental delivery with short time frames
• Tend to have integration problems

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DSS Development Methodology

• Prototyping
• Iterative design
• Evolutionary development
• Middle out process
• Adaptive design
• Incremental design

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DSS Prototyping

• Short steps
• Planning
• Analysis
• Design
• Prototype
• Immediate stakeholder feedback
• Iterative
• In development of prototype
• Within the system in general
• Evaluation integral part
• Control mechanism

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DSS Prototyping

• Advantages
• User and management involvement
• Learning explicitly integrated
• Prototyping bypasses information requirement
• Short intervals between iterations
• Low cost
• Improved user understanding of system

• Disadvantages
• Changing requirements
• May not have thorough understanding of benefits
  and costs
• Poorly tested
• Dependencies, security, and safety may be ignored
• High uncertainty
• Problem may get lost
• Reduction in quality
• Higher costs due to multiple productions

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Change Management

• Crucial to DSS
• People resistant to change
• Examine cause of change
• May require organizational culture shift
• Lewin-Schein change theory steps
• Unfreeze
• Create awareness of need for change
• People support what they help create
• Move
• Develop new methods and behaviors
• Create and maintain momentum
• Refreeze
• Reinforce desired changes
• Establish stable environment

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DSS Technology Levels

• DSS primary tools
• Fundamental elements
• Programming languages, graphics, editors, query
  systems
• DSS generator (engine)
• Integrated software package for building specific
  DSS
• Modeling, report generation, graphics, risk
  analysis
• Specific DSS
• DSS application that accomplishes the work
• DSS primary tools are used to construct
  integrated tools that are used to construct
  specific tools

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DSS

• Team developed DSS requires substantial effort to
  build and manage
• End user developed DSS
• Decision-makers and knowledge workers develop to
  solve problems or enhance productivity
• Advantages
• Short delivery time
• User requirements specifications are eliminated
• Reduced implementation problems
• Low costs
• Risks
• Quality may be low
• May have lack of documentation
• Security risks may increase

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DSS

• DSS is much more than just a DBMS, MBMS, GUI,
  interface, and knowledge component