FRONTLINE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

8.15 FRONTLINE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Decisions at all levels in an organization contribute to its success. But decisions that max- imize a sales opportunity or minimize the cost of customer service requests are made on

the front lines by those closest to situations that arise during the course of daily business. Whether it is an order exception, an upselling opportunity, or a contract that hangs on a

decision, a decision-maker must be able to make effective decisions rapidly based on

4 7 6 P A R T 111 ' COLLABORATION, COMMUNICATION, ENTERPRISE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS, AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

DSS IN ACTION 8.41 BROCADE'S CELESTE BAM SYSTEM

Brocade is testing the Celequest B A M application suite changing prices to the quality of the components manu- to build business models to analyze data in the familiar

factured for Brocade by suppliers. They can then access spreadsheet format. Formulas can be added, just like in

static data from the data warehouse, compare them Excel.

against historical trends, and automatically get results. Brocade is using the Celequest B A M system to look at data from the manufacturing process. Managers need to know when the data fall outside acceptable lim-

Source: Adapted from Ephraim Schwartz, "Is BAM a Scam or

its. Managers can monitor everything from constantly

Score?" InfoWorld, July 3,2003.

Frontline decision-making is the process by which companies automate decision processes and push them down into the organization and sometimes out to partners. It includes empowering employees by letting them devise strategies, evaluate metrics, analyze impacts, and make operational changes.

Frontline decision-making serves business users, such as line managers, sales exec- utives, and call center representatives, by incorporating decision-making into their daily work. These workers need applications to help them make good operational deci-

sions that meet overall corporate objectives. Frontline decision-making provides users with the right questions to ask, the location of needed data, and metrics (e.g., for cus- tomer and product profitability) that translate data into corporate objectives and sug- gest actions that can improve performance. Some aspects of CRM function as frontline systems. For example, the Chicago White Sox CRM (DSS in Action 8.27) helps sales- people interact directly with their existing and potential customers. Real-time analytic application products have emerged to support these actions (see Section 5.12 for more on real-time analytics).

Today's transactional applications and decision support tools do not by them- selves readily enable frontline users to make better decisions. Systems like those from SAP AG and Siebel Systems do not implement simple decision processes or present data in a way that can be analyzed in complex situations. Executives may obtain con- text from reports and systems created from them (e.g., financial or executive informa- tion systems), but these do not provide frontline workers with guidance on daily prob- lems. At the same time, traditional decision support from vendors like Pilot Software,

Cognos, and Business Objects SA is intended for experts who can access data, slice- and-dice it, and give it business meaning, but are unlikely to be at the front lines. So organizations need a new generation of enterprise analytic applications to implement frontline decision-making.

FRONTLINE SYSTEMS

In frontline decision-making, every operational process has a corresponding decision process for evaluating choices and improving execution. For example, order manage- ment has cross sellcross selling suggestions, and a customer service representative can offer additional items to customers based on their specific needs.

Frontline decision-making automates simple decisions—like freezing the account of a customer who has failed to make payments—by predefining business rules and the events that trigger them. At more complex decision points, such as inventory allo-

C H A P T E R 8 ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

alternatives, business impacts, and success measurements—to make the right decision. In order for business users to take advantage of ordinary decision support, they have to know what questions to ask, where the information resides, and the components of any metric.

The frontline software that began to appear on the market in late 1999 can help solve standard problems, such as what to do if a specific bank customer withdraws 100 percent more than the average withdrawal, by packaging a self-service solution that requires business logic (including rules, algorithms, intelligent systems, etc.) in a single browser. Also provided are metrices such as lifecycle expectancy, decision workflow, and so on. Finally, to be successful, such systems must work hand in hand with transac- tional systems.

Real-time frontline systems are under development as executive information sys- tem capabilities have moved to the operational level of the organization. Look for new developments in conjunction with real-time analytics and active warehousing.

According to Forrester Research Inc., such systems are essential for the survival of many companies, but it will take five years for the technology to mature. The major

current vendors are Hyperion Solutions Corporation, N C R Corporation, SAS Institute Inc., and i2 Technology. However, almost all the SCM, ERP, and business intelligence vendors mentioned in this chapter may deploy such systems. For further details, see McCullough (1999) and Sheth and Sisodia (1999).