Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems
Saturday, November 12, 8:00am-5:00pm
Fee: $75 - sign up when you register for the meeting

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Workshop Organizers: Ravindra K. Ahuja, Abhijit A. Pol and Guvenc Sahin, University of Florida, Gainesville

Decision Support Systems
Information systems are critical to the efficient functioning of any organization. Traditionally, information systems have been used for relatively simple data processing and data presentation. However, as information systems have become more pervasive and organizations have become larger and more complex, an enormous amount of data is being routinely generated. To assimilate this data and derive meaningful decisions of managerial and economic significance requires developing intelligent information systems or decision support systems. A decision support system (DSS) uses the data residing in spreadsheets and/or databases, models it, processes or analyzes it using problem-specific models and methodologies, and assists the user in the decision-making process through an interactive graphical user interface (GUI). A DSS combines O.R. skills with IT skills and enables a user to run sophisticated operations research models with user-friendly interfaces. DSS are gaining widespread popularity and DSS development skills are highly sought after in the industry. In this one-day hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to develop database-driven and web-enabled decision support systems.

Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems
A web-enabled decisions support system using databases requires data, a database management system (DBMS), a programming language and a mechanism for web enabling. Out of these components, a DBMS is used to store, manage and process the data while a programming language is used to GUI, to do complex data processing and presentation, and to incorporate external optimization engines. Web enabling makes the DSS accessible on larger scale through popular Internet interfaces like Internet Explorer and Netscape. Several software packages can be used to build such a DSS. We believe that Microsoft Access as a DBMS, Visual Basic (VB) .NET as a programming language, and Active Server Pages (ASP) .NET for web enabling is easy to teach to students. We have developed material for one full course on this topic for undergraduate and graduate students - in this workshop we will give a highlight of this course.

Workshop Contents
This one-day workshop will be a hands-on workshop where participants will learn database design principles, MS Access, VB.NET and ASP.NET technologies to develop decision support systems. We will also provide guidance on how to offer courses using this material. The workshop participants are encouraged to bring their laptops and learn the material hands-on as new topics are taught. We will illustrate all the topics using a case study that participants will progressively build during the workshop. No prior background in MS Access and VB.NET is necessary, but may be helpful. The workshop participants will receive a CD containing a preprint of the book, Developing Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems, coauthored by Ravindra K. Ahuja and Abhijit A. Pol, and associated course material. We expect the participants to get an excellent jump-start to offer either a full course on web DSS development or add some material to existing courses.

Workshop Program

Workshop Preparation
We encourage our workshop participants to bring their laptops and learn the material hands-on as new topics are taught. However, to ensure that you are ready for a hands-on exercise, you need some preparation. You should install the following software on your laptop, download a test case study, and make sure that you are able to run it.

List of software necessary for installation on your laptop:

· Microsoft Access [2002 and later version]
· Internet Information Server (IIS)
· Visual Studio .NET [2003 and later version]

To assist the installation process and to answer some related FAQs, please download an Appendix chapter from http://www.ise.ufl.edu/it/webdssinstall.pdf. This should answer most of your difficulties. If you have more questions, please direct them to abhijit@ufl.edu.

After successful installation it is important that you verify the fact by downloading a sample case study from http://www.ise.ufl.edu/it/webdsssamplecase.zip. Also download the PDF file http://www.ise.ufl.edu/it/webdsscaseinstall.pdf that has instructions on installing and running the sample case study.