TEAM-DEVELOPED DSS

6.10 TEAM-DEVELOPED DSS

A t e a m - d e v e l o p e d D S S r e q u i r e s a s u b s t a n t i a l e f f o r t , t h o u g h t h e t e a m m a y consist of o n l y a f e w p e o p l e , like t h e t e a m t h a t d e v e l o p e d t h e H R I n f o N e t i n t h e O p e n i n g Vignette. Team-developed DSS need extensive planning and organization. The plan- ning a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n d e p e n d on t h e specific DSS, t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n in which it will be u s e d , a n d s o on. C e r t a i n activities a r e g e n e r i c a n d c a n b e p e r f o r m e d b y a n y t e a m .

A c o m p l e x D S S r e q u i r e s a g r o u p of p e o p l e to build a n d m a n a g e it. T h e n u m b e r of p e o p l e i n t h e g r o u p d e p e n d s o n such f a c t o r s a s t h e size o f t h e e f f o r t a n d t h e t o o l s u s e d .

DSS I N FOCU S 6 .2 7

CONSULTANTS: CANT LIVE WITH THEM, CANT LIVE WITHOUT THEM (AND CAN'T ELIMINATE THEM!)

CIOs are using fewer consultants for enterprise pro- by an average of some 20 percent over the legacy sys- jects. Just as in the project-management success studies,

tems they replaced. In mid-2002, companies were seeing

many organizations are not achieving their goals in the same occur with CRM. Companies are dissatisfied enterprise projects. In a Conference Board survey of

with the pricing and delivery models of consulting ERP project managers released in 2001, 40 percent of

firms. In a survey of IT and business leaders by

the respondents indicated that they had failed to Peerstofte Research, none of the Big Five rated better achieve their original business case, even after a year or

than a C in terms of the respondents' willingness to rec- more of operations. More than 20 percent shut down

ommend them.

the projects before completion. For all the companies, even the ones claiming success, on average costs were 25

Source: Modified from Christopher Koch,"It's Time to Take

percent over budget, and annual support costs went up

C H A P T E R 6 DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Some companies have initiated a D S S e f f o r t with as few as two or t h r e e people; others have employed as m a n y as twelve to fifteen.

T h e organizational placement of t h e D S S d e v e l o p m e n t g r o u p varies. S o m e typical locations are within t h e IS d e p a r t m e n t , as a highly p l a c e d executive staff group, or within a functional group such as finance, accounting, or marketing.

T h e p r o c e s s t h a t a D S S t e a m follows d e p e n d s o n t h e specific a p p l i c a t i o n . T h e

g r o u p m a y be temporary, created f o r a specific DSS, or it m a y be p e r m a n e n t , in which case the group m e m b e r s are assigned to specific D S S projects.

M a n y of t h e D S S d e v e l o p e d f r o m t h e 1980s to t h e mid-1990s w e r e large-scale, complex systems designed primarily to provide organizational support. Such systems are still u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t for complex p r o b l e m s and for company-wide applications. T h e s e systems a r e c o n s t r u c t e d by a t e a m c o m p o s e d of users, i n t e r m e d i a r i e s , D S S developers, technical support experts, and IS personnel. B e c a u s e t h e r e can be several people in each category, the t e a m s can be large a n d their composition may change over time. D e v e l o p i n g a D S S with a t e a m is a complex, lengthy, costly process. Since t h e early 2000s, tools and generators have improved, which, m e a n s that smaller t e a m s can handle complex D S S development.

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