Decision Support Systems for Business Intelligence, Second Edition

Chapter 9. IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

To implement a DSS is to realize the planned system. Implementation includes interpreting designs into code, but it goes far beyond coding. It also includes creating and populating databases and model bases and administering the final product, which means installation, deployment, integration, and field testing. Training users and ensuring they accept the DSS as a useful and reliable tool is yet another aspect of implementation. Finally, evaluation includes all of those steps to ensure that the system does what is needed and does it well. We will begin the discussion with implementation.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

The success of any implementation effort is highly affected by the process adopted by the implementation team. Unfortunately, there are no standard steps to ensure success; what works well in one implementation might be inappropriate in another. However, Swanson has noted nine key factors in the success or failure of information systems. These include measures that address the system itself (such as design quality and performance level), the process of design (such as user involvement, mutual understanding, and project management) and the organization within which the DSS will be used (such as management commitment, resource adequacy, and situational stability). Table 9.1 provides examples of how these factors may facilitate or inhibit the implementation process. Throughout this book, specific strategies for addressing these nine factors ...