10/08/2022

Decision Support Systems and Data Warehousing

Week 02: IS22225 Business Intelligence
Dr S. Thuseethan, Department of Computing and Information Systems

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

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Abstract representation of a system

 BI refers to computer-based techniques used in spotting, digging-out, and

analyze inputs to produce outputs
 Three phases of intelligence: input, output and transformation process

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Feedback mechanism

 A system will often incorporate a feedback mechanism

 The output is fed back into the system as an input flow

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Rationality and problem solving

 A decision is a choice from multiple alternatives, usually made with a fair

degree of rationality.
 The decision-making process is part of a broader subject usually referred to as
problem solving!

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Types of decisions

 Structured decisions
– A decision is structured if it is based on a well-defined and recurring decision-making
procedure.
 Unstructured decisions
– A decision is said to be unstructured if the three phases of intelligence, design and choice
are also unstructured.
 Semi-structured decisions
– A decision is semi-structured when some phases are structured and others are not.

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What is a Decision Support System (DSS)

 There are many definitions of a DSS, but all have three themes:
– applied to unstructured problems
– supports but does not replace the decision process, and
– is under the user’s control.

 Common characteristics
– Intended to support decision makers rather than replace them
– Supports all phases of the decision-making process
– Focuses on effectiveness of the process rather than efficiency
– Is under control of the DSS user
– Is interactive and user-friendly
– Can support multiple independent or interdependent decisions

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What a DSS can and cannot do?

 Can The DSS is expected to extend the decision maker’s capacity to process
information.
 Can The DSS solves the time-consuming portions of a problem, saving time for
the user.
 Can Using the DSS can provide the user with alternatives that might go
unnoticed.
 Cannot It is constrained, however, by the knowledge supplied to it.
 Cannot A DSS also has limited reasoning processes.
 Finally, a “universal DSS” does not exist.

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Ingredients of a DSS

 The basic components of a DSS can be stated as:

– The data management system
– The model management system
– The knowledge engine
– The user interface
– The users

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Data and Model Management

 An increasing focus on the value of data to an organization pointed out that

the quality and structure of the database largely determines the success of a
DSS.
 A database organizes data into a logical hierarchy based on granularity of the
data.
 The hierarchy contains four elements:
– Database
– Files
– Records
– Data elements

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DSS Knowledge Base

 Any true decision requires reasoning, which requires information.

 The knowledge base is where all of this information is stored by the DSS.
 Knowledge can just be raw information, or rules, heuristics, constraints or
previous outcomes.
 This knowledge is different from information in either the database or model
base in that it is problem-specific.
 Knowledge in the base can be categorized into two simple groups.
– Facts represent what we know to be true at a given time.
– Hypotheses represent the rules or relationships we believe to exist between the facts.

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User Interfaces

 An interface is a component designed to allow the user to access internal

components of a system.
 In general, the more common the interface, the less training need be provided
to users. Think, how many Windows programs use the same menu structure as
Microsoft Word?
 The general functions of a DSS interface are;
– Communication language: allows for interaction with the DSS in a variety of ways,
identifies form of input, provides support to DSS users, captures previous dialogues so
future interactions can be improved.
– Presentation language: provides for presentation of data in a variety of formats, allows for
detailed report generation, can provide multiple views of the data.

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The DSS User

 In a DSS, the user is as much a part of the system as the hardware and
software.
 User roles are decision maker, intermediary, maintainer, operator and feeder
 Patterns of DSS use
– Subscription mode – the decision maker receives regularly scheduled reports
– Terminal mode – the decision maker interacts directly with the DSS.
– Clerk mode – the decision maker uses the system directly, but not online. Output
response may take some time.
– Intermediary mode – the decision maker interacts through the use of one or more
intermediaries.

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Stores, Warehouses and Marts

 A data warehouse is a collection of integrated databases designed to support

a DSS.
– foremost repository for the data available for developing business intelligence
architectures and decision support
 An operational data store (ODS) stores data for a specific application. It feeds
the data warehouse a stream of desired raw data.
 A data mart is a low-cost, scaled-down version of a data warehouse, usually
designed to support a small group of users (rather than the entire firm).
 The metadata is information that is kept about the warehouse.

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Data marts

 Data marts are systems that gather all the data required by a specific company
department
– E.g., marketing or logistics
 Can be considered as a functional or departmental data warehouse of a
smaller size and a more specific type
 Contains a subset of the data stored in the company data warehouse

Data
warehouse

Data Data Data

mart mart mart

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Data quality

 Verify, preserve and improve the quality of data is a constant concern of those
responsible for the design and updating of a data warehouse
 Major factors that may affect data quality
– Accuracy
– Completeness
– Consistency
– Timeliness
– Non-redundancy
– Relevance
– Interpretability
– Accessibility

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Data integrity: problems, causes and remedies

Problem Cause Remedy

Incorrect data Data collected without due care Systematic checking of input data
Data entered incorrectly Data entry automation

Uncontrolled modification of data Implementation of a safety program for

access and modifications

Data not updated Data collection does not match user Timely updating and collection of data
needs
Retrieval of updated data from the
web
Missing data Failure to collect the required data Identification of data needed via
preliminary analysis and estimation of
missing data

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Data Warehousing Typology

 The virtual data warehouse – the end users have direct access to the data
stores, using tools enabled at the data access layer
 The central data warehouse – a single physical database contains all of the
data for a specific functional area
 The distributed data warehouse – the components are distributed across
several physical databases

Assignment 01
Search for the keyword “Federated Learning”
Write a report on “Federated Learning in <application domain>”

Example of < application domain> can be “medical imaging”, “finance”, etc.

Important: should be submitted with original text and figures!

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Data Warehouse Technologies

 No one currently offers an end-to-end data warehousing solution.

 Organizations buy bits and pieces from a number of vendors and hopefully
make them work together.
 SAS, IBM, Software AG, Information Builders and Platinum offer solutions that
are at least fairly comprehensive.

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The Future of Data Warehousing

 As the data warehousing becomes a standard part of an organization, there will

be efforts to find new ways to use the data.
 This will likely bring with it several new challenges:
– Regulatory constraints may limit the ability to combine sources of disparate data.
– These disparate sources are likely to contain unstructured data, which is hard to store.
– The Internet makes it possible to access data from virtually “anywhere”. Of course, this
just increases the disparity.
 Artificial Intelligence operations in Data Warehousing will become a must!
– Machine learning algorithms trained on more data will generate more accurate actionable
and proactive insights to make data operations efficient as well as more cost-effective.

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Homework

 What is Online transaction processing (OLTP) and Online analytical processing

(OLAP)
 OLTP vs OLAP
 What characteristics need to be considered
– Volatility, Timeliness, Time dimension, Granularity
– Updating, Activities, Flexibility, Performance
– Users, Functions, Purpose of use
– Priority, Metrics, Size

 E.g.,
– Timeliness
− OLTP: current data only
− OLAP: current and historical data

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Dr S. Thuseethan
https://sites.google.com/view/thusee/home

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