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DSS for micro and mainframe
systems red to the mainframe and users must learn two different languages. Also, the mainframe DSS features are not available on the micro. An identical subset of the mainframes DSS on the micro with a direct communications link and full screen data entry. This structure eliminates the language and incompatibility problems, at the same time offers improved flexibility but also extends a great deal of power to users who may not require it. A micro-style product offered by a mainframe vendor that typically offers a wider range of mainframelike features but is usually not compatible with the mainframe DSS. The user usually cannot transfer all aspects of the micro spreadsheet to the mainframe and has to learn a communications procedure to begin to do so.
DSS for microand mainframe by MARLENE BROWN
D
ecision support systems (DSS) that run on both micros and mainframes are becoming more prominent and this growth is likely to continue. The need for a DSS strategy that encompasses both kinds of hardware was underlined by several speakers at the Info conference held in New York in November 1983. A DSS is an interactive computer system that a manager or analyst utilizes in supporting a specific semior unstructured decision. The DSS assists the manager or analyst by providing a set of functions which will be helpful in this decision-making situation. These functions may include data retrieval and manipulation, graphical displays of data, means for comparisons, and interactive modelling of all or part of the situation. According to Theodore Klein, president of the Boston Systems Group, a DSS should be developed with particular emphasis on ease of user interaction, user learning, modifiability, and the rapid transfer and understanding of conceptual ~formation. The real power of the DSS is most apparent when modelling large and
Abstract: Decision support systems(DSS) are becoming more popular as a means of assistingmamzgersin the decision making process, The real benejitsof DSS are to be found when micros become more integrated with mainframes. A DSS which runs on both mainframes and micros facilitates this ~~~~t. Keywords: data processing, decision support, computer systems. Marlene
Brown is a technical
journalist.
~0126 no 1 january!february
1984
complex situations. When micros themselves are more integrated with mainframe computers then they will take a far more active part in these larger-scale decisions. Already, we can see the growing demand by the DSS micro users for the links which will enable micro users within an organization to connect with mainframe databases.
DSS on micros and mainframes A DSS which links micros and mainframes is a distributed DSS, and uses micros for financial modelling and data manipulation and then passes the data to the mainframe for more complex modelling not available on micro packages. Thus, distributed DSS can reduce timesharing costs and broaden the base of computer users within an organization. Chris Brown, product manager at EPS Inte~ational Inc, highIighted some distributed DSS problems, for example, redundancy of data and effort, loss of control and security at the corporate level. Incompatibility of different micros can also cause a problem if the micro-buying strategy is not well established and this means increased support and training are required. Three categories of distributed DSS in use today were outlined by Brown: l
Spreadsheets on the micro with a separate mainframe-based DSS. This is an inexpensive structure with a large user base and a great deal of idea-sharing between users. However, files must go through a conversion process to be transfer-
0011~84~84/01~2~02$03.~
0
1984 Butterworth
Linking corporate
micros
Tying personal computers together by means of DSS is major challenge facing the corporate DPM. James Beattie, manager of marketing and sales systems for Savin Corporation, highlighted two major points when devising a DSS: l l
goals have to be moving targets DPMs must make every effort to develop a system that will recoup its cost within three years.
Beattie estimated the success of any DSS by the impact of management decisions made with its help and advocated that DSS must be fully planned if it is to succeed at all. The DSS (Comshare’s System W) at Savin Corp. is dubbed ‘Stars, for Sales Tracking and Reporting System’, and measures salesmen’s efforts, not in terms of how many Savin copiers they must sell in a year but rather in terms of how many ‘activities’, namely, customer contacts, follow-ups and product demonstrations, it will take to finalize a sale. Continued on page 3.2
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd.
23
DSS for microand mainframe by MARLENE BROWN
D
ecision support systems (DSS) that run on both micros and mainframes are becoming more prominent and this growth is likely to continue. The need for a DSS strategy that encompasses both kinds of hardware was underlined by several speakers at the Info conference held in New York in November 1983. A DSS is an interactive computer system that a manager or analyst utilizes in supporting a specific semior unstructured decision. The DSS assists the manager or analyst by providing a set of functions which will be helpful in this decision-making situation. These functions may include data retrieval and manipulation, graphical displays of data, means for comparisons, and interactive modelling of all or part of the situation. According to Theodore Klein, president of the Boston Systems Group, a DSS should be developed with particular emphasis on ease of user interaction, user learning, modifiability, and the rapid transfer and understanding of conceptual ~formation. The real power of the DSS is most apparent when modelling large and
Abstract: Decision support systems(DSS) are becoming more popular as a means of assistingmamzgersin the decision making process, The real benejitsof DSS are to be found when micros become more integrated with mainframes. A DSS which runs on both mainframes and micros facilitates this ~~~~t. Keywords: data processing, decision support, computer systems. Marlene
Brown is a technical
journalist.
~0126 no 1 january!february
1984
complex situations. When micros themselves are more integrated with mainframe computers then they will take a far more active part in these larger-scale decisions. Already, we can see the growing demand by the DSS micro users for the links which will enable micro users within an organization to connect with mainframe databases.
DSS on micros and mainframes A DSS which links micros and mainframes is a distributed DSS, and uses micros for financial modelling and data manipulation and then passes the data to the mainframe for more complex modelling not available on micro packages. Thus, distributed DSS can reduce timesharing costs and broaden the base of computer users within an organization. Chris Brown, product manager at EPS Inte~ational Inc, highIighted some distributed DSS problems, for example, redundancy of data and effort, loss of control and security at the corporate level. Incompatibility of different micros can also cause a problem if the micro-buying strategy is not well established and this means increased support and training are required. Three categories of distributed DSS in use today were outlined by Brown: l
Spreadsheets on the micro with a separate mainframe-based DSS. This is an inexpensive structure with a large user base and a great deal of idea-sharing between users. However, files must go through a conversion process to be transfer-
0011~84~84/01~2~02$03.~
0
1984 Butterworth
Linking corporate
micros
Tying personal computers together by means of DSS is major challenge facing the corporate DPM. James Beattie, manager of marketing and sales systems for Savin Corporation, highlighted two major points when devising a DSS: l l
goals have to be moving targets DPMs must make every effort to develop a system that will recoup its cost within three years.
Beattie estimated the success of any DSS by the impact of management decisions made with its help and advocated that DSS must be fully planned if it is to succeed at all. The DSS (Comshare’s System W) at Savin Corp. is dubbed ‘Stars, for Sales Tracking and Reporting System’, and measures salesmen’s efforts, not in terms of how many Savin copiers they must sell in a year but rather in terms of how many ‘activities’, namely, customer contacts, follow-ups and product demonstrations, it will take to finalize a sale. Continued on page 3.2
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd.
23