History of Decision Support Systems DSS

History of Decision Support Systems DSS
Decision Support Systems (DSS) date back to as early as 1965. The theory grew throughout the 1970s before it began to play a role in financial planning throughout the 1980s. Much of the history of DSS is still to be written, with anecdotal evidence helping with the documenting of this. The development of DSS has centred around how it can support decision-makers throughout every level of organisational structures. DSS played a vital role in Business Intelligence in the mid-1980s, as we’ll explore in this article. These systems allow businesses to make informed decisions and solve problems promptly with increased efficiency.

What are Decision Support Systems?
Bill Inmon explained DSS as being “a system used to support managerial decisions”, usually involving “the analysis of many units of data in a heuristic fashion”. These systems support the decisions made at various levels within an organisation by providing a suggested course of action. One DSS that you might be familiar with is the data-driven system of Business Intelligence.

DSS use everyday business information such as projected revenue and sales figures. These systems operate by gathering and analysing relevant data to produce comprehensive reports that can be applied to specific situations. A DSS can be produced by human users or through an entirely computerised program.

The Beginning - The 1960s
In 1964, Michael Scott Morton began his research that would be completed in 1967, focusing on the impact of computer-driven visual display devices to improve the managing of decision-making processes.

Model-oriented decision support systems first appeared in the late 1960s. Peter Keen and Charles Stabell, early developers of DSS, said the system came from “the theoretical studies of organizational decision making…and the technical work on interactive computer systems” carried out in the 1950s and early 1960s.

There remains some debate about the origins of DSS, and there’s a clear need to write its history. Klein and Methlie noted in 1995 that “a study of the origin of DSS has still to be written. It seems that the first DSS papers were published by PhD students or professors in business schools, who had access to the first time-sharing computer system”.

Theory Development - The 1970s
The development of DSS theory began in the early 1970s when the topic began to appear in business journals. Michael S. Scott Morton published his book ‘Management Decision Systems: Computer-Based Support for Decision Making’ in 1971. This book would form the foundation for the definition and implementation of model-oriented decision support systems.

Another milestone piece of research was T.P Gerrity Jr’s 1971 article, ‘The Design of Man-Machine Decision Systems: An Application to Portfolio Management’. His research focused on providing a way for investment managers to manage their clients stock portfolios. Since Gerrity’s work, research has continued on the use of DSS for portfolio management.

Throughout the 1970s, the principles of DSS were further developed. J.D. C Little set out criteria for management decision making systems - completeness of relevant detail, ease of control, robustness, and simplicity. In 1975, he designed his ‘Brandaid’ system for everyday advertising and marketing decisions.

During the 1970s, theory and practical issues around DSS became a popular topic at academic conferences, such as the ACM SIGBDP Conference on Decision Support Systems in California in January 1977. In 1978, researchers at Lockheed-Georgia would begin to develop the EIS known as ‘Management Information and Decision Support’ (MIDS) system.

Development of Business Intelligence - The 1980s
One of the most significant pieces of research came in 1980 when Seven Alter’s MIT doctoral dissertation was published through his book, ‘Decision Support Systems: Current Practice and Continuing Challenge’. The research within this book expanded the theory work around management DSS. 1981 saw the first international conference on DSS, held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Another noteworthy event in the 1980s was the publishing of Eric Carlson and Ralph Sprague’s book, ‘Building Effective Decision Support Systems’ in 1982. Their research expanded on how DSS could and should be built by organisations.

In this era, researchers work on developing a new category to facilitate group decision-making. Researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of Minnesota established some of the earliest Group DSS. Throughout the 1980s, group decision-making was one of the primary topics of research, particularly its consequences and impact. Companies began to commercialise Group DSS.

1984 saw the Teradata Database Computer being used by major corporations, including AT&T, Chrysler, and Wells Fargo, containing a relational database management system on its proprietary platform.

In 1985, Procter & Gamble attempted to build a DSS that would link sales information with retail scanner data, one of the first links to Business Intelligence. Howard Dresner popularised the phrase ‘Business Intelligence’ in 1989 as a definition for concepts and methods used to support the decision-making processes of businesses with fact-based systems.

The early P&G DSS was built by Metaphor Computer Systems, with many of the project’s alumni founding several Business Intelligence ventures. Information Advantage was founded by Richard Tanler, while Katherine Glossery became a go-founder of Brio Technologies.

The 1990s Onwards
In the early 1990s, database technologies became the main way of building DSS. Oracle and DB2 were the two most popular technologies used to produce DSS. Data-driven DSS became the focus throughout this time, driven by the work of Ralph Kimball and Bill Inmon.

The 1990s saw a shift from the mainframe focused DSS to a client/server focused DSS. Desktop OLAP tools were developed at this time to be utilised by DSS. Today, decision-making systems are being tailored to meet the needs of any industry or profession, whether it’s a government organisation or corporation. Gone are the days when DSS is limited to mainframe computers, with applications now available on portable devices.

DSS is still evolving as both a concept and technology. The age of the internet has sped up the development of DSS and given a new way for researchers to develop knowledge and technology. Many of the original academic institutions, such as the University of Arizona and MIT, remain the dominant researchers for DSS.