DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Decision support system is a term that has a broad and a narrow meaning. It's sort of like the word "medicine," which can mean the whole medical profession or just cough syrup.

In its narrowest sense a decision support system (DSS) is software that uses models, information, and an interactive user interface to help you make decisions. A DSS lets you look at information in different ways to come to a conclusion about what the best course of action might be for a certain situation. Usually a DSS is software that requires a lot of input from you.

In the broadest sense, a decision support system is any computer aided decision tool, that is, any software that helps you make decisions. This includes everything from spreadsheets and geographic information systems to customer relationship management systems to artificial intelligence.

Computer-aided decision tools come in two basic categories: those that help you make the decision and those that make the decision for you. The latter are artificial intelligence systems, that do the analyzing and decision-making more or less independently.

Below are two examples of how decision support systems have helped very diverse businesses.

• Starbucks and Zurich U.S. Insurance
  
  Starbucks' employees spend their days handing hot liquid to customers – and we know how that can leave you open to lawsuits. Remember the woman who spilled hot coffee in her lap, sued McDonald's and was awarded a lot of money? Starbucks doesn't want to find itself in the same boat – and neither does the company's insurance company.
  
  To manage and minimize claims, Zurich uses a decision support system that compares floor designs in its 3,500 locations and then analyzes number and types of accidents at different times of the day and from different foot-traffic patterns. The system even compares accident data from different parts of the country and different times of the year. With decision support, Zurich and Starbucks can determine where their risk is greatest and take steps to minimize the problem. Read more about this topic at PC Magazine's Web site.
  


• Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF)
  
  Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad regularly tests the rails its trains ride on to prevent accidents. Worn out or defective rails result in hundreds of derailments every year, so it's important to address the problem. Using a decision support system to schedule raid testing, BNSF decreased its rail-caused derailments by 33 percent in 2000, while the other three large railroad companies had a 16 percent rise in such accidents.
  

Add-In Features for Excel

In the text you saw how an Excel spreadsheet can help you with the analysis of variables related to a specific decision. What if Excel doesn't have the features you need? Well, you can add features with any number of add-on packages.

For example, there's JWalk's Power Utility Pak (PUP) which boasts an advanced date-function library. This feature would be great for genealogists and historians who may need to use pre-1900 dates for calculations. Another feature lets you extend Excel's graphing capability. Find out more at Jwalk's Web site.