Decision Support Systems, the Key to e-Commerce Success

A form of knowledge management (KM), a decision support system (DSS) is basically an interactive, flexible, computer-based system that aids in the process of decision-making. Decision support systems streamline the process of turning decision into action and are key to the success of e-commerce. Within the world of e-commerce, companies have built data warehouses containing an incredible amount of information on customers, suppliers, and their transactions with them; this information would be useless without DSS. Decision support systems provide companies with the ability to query, sort, filter, analyze and report this information to facilitate intelligent decision-making. So, what are the e-commerce-driven DSS?

The success of online customer interactions has driven innovations in DSS, such as user click-stream analysis, e-mail management and multichannel knowledge portals. Click-stream analysis allows companies to follow their customers electronic footprints on the Web. Each hypertext link a customer clicks represents a footprint that can be analyzed to help focus marketing efforts, determine buying habits and anticipate changing expectations. Click-stream data collection has led to larger, faster databases forcing companies to develop new models for database design, storage, backup and archiving. The next DSS is intelligent e-mail management.

Email has replaced the traditional in-person transactional relationship between a company and its customers and business partners. Eric Hahn, founder of Proofpoint, an antispam firm, called on software developers to think of email in-boxes as control centers that combine email, instant messaging, voice mail and other communications. The industry has moved in this direction with improved interfaces between the email client and the email user. Technology improvements have transformed e-mail clients into knowledge management platforms. For example, Microsoftís Outlook now allows users to group email messages by conversation, date and user. Additionally, advances in spam control are seen in filters that actually learn from the userís behavior what is and isnít spam. Finally, user authentication promises the elimination of email and Internet fraud, abuse and data intrusions. The last DSS to discuss is the multichannel knowledge portal.

A multichannel knowledge portal (KP) allows users to search, process and present data contained in corporate intranets using a Web browser. With KP applications, managers use a familiar interface to access corporate data to analyze and report sales activity and productivity. It also helps them glean an understanding of employeesí performance related to their peers or measured against the performance of entire workcenters. The KP allows managers to monitor performance and production trends at any level in the organization. The KP gives managers the information needed to facilitate educated decisions and gives them the tools to anticipate and quickly respond to the changing e-commerce landscape.

A DSS is a form of KM that aids in the process of decision-making. They streamline the decision-making process by eliminating the time-intensive chore of researching and compiling information. The evolving world of e-commerce has driven innovations in DSS in the form of user click-stream analysis, e-mail management and multichannel KPs. These innovations help companies understand the current business landscape and give them the ability and agility needed to make timely, educated decisions.