This article has the purpose of giving my point of view about the general panorama of the use of intelligent information systems in some companies in our country, to compare them and reflect on the common advantages that these companies have achieved by adopting this technology. The article handles some concepts from the approach of various authors that enrich the general idea of the use of decision support systems, mentions the general elements of these systems, illustrates some practical examples to clarify the concept and also talks about the trends in the use of these systems in the future in our country.
Intelligent systems are systems designed to support the complex analyzes required to discover business trends. The information obtained from these systems enables managers to make decisions based on accurate analysis of business trends. They are interactive information systems that provide information, tools or models to help managers or professionals make decisions.
Business intelligence is achieved through Knowledge Management, supported by Information Technologies that include Decision Support Systems (DSS) tools and the contribution of experts.
Decision Support Systems (DSS) can be considered as a third generation of Information Systems, whose objective is to try to discover what would happen if a series of decisions are made, or to go further by automatically providing decisions or suggestions to assist the administrator. This type of systems began to emerge in the 1970s, and were defined (Sprague 1983) as:
- Systems based on computer systems that help those who make decisions focused on poorly structured problems through direct interaction with data and analysis models.
The generic nature of the term DSS has given rise to specific systems focused on specific types of problems, such as Management Information Systems (MIS), Expert Systems (Expert Systems, ES), Neural Networks (Neural Networks, NN), Executive Information Systems (EIS), Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), Management Support Systems (MSS) or Help Executives (Executive Support Systems, ESS) and Office Automation (Office Automation). All of them have in common the 5 points indicated above.
The applications of these tools, the most complex, are given from the multidimensional analysis of corporate data, which provides the ability to manipulate and explore the company's data from any conceivable angle, with which they can obtain a truly vision multidimensional company.
In Mexico, the use of these decision support systems is in full development, large companies, especially transnational companies installed in the country, are the ones that are applying this technology in their processes, however, there are some small companies and medium-sized companies (SMEs) that are using them to take advantage of all the benefits they offer, such as efficiency and effectiveness in decision-making.
Given that national SMEs represent a very important contribution to the economic development of the country, it is very important to be aware of the way in which these companies seek competitiveness in an increasingly open and global market. Survival in an increasingly demanding market is causing companies to look for ways to stay afloat, and a DSS represents precisely a lifeline for these companies. The expected benefits of implementing a DSS range from cost savings to customer satisfaction, but the main problem is that SME entrepreneurs do not know this. The requirements for the implementation of a DSS in an SME are not more complex than the initiative of the entrepreneur and many decisions to make,With this we realize that DSS is a technology that is available to SMEs.
An example of the use of DSS systems in Mexico is the one published by the newspaper Reforma about the launch of the use of a spy car manufactured in the United States as support for insecurity in our country. The units, called “Mobile Command Centers”, can be equipped with sensor, satellite, radar and video camera systems, in order to serve as an operations center for security forces that intervene in an emergency situation. Among the systems that can be implemented within these units, DSS systems are mentioned, as interactive systems that incorporate data and data models, this software supports the unit to create a command in case of incidents.
Another example of this application is seen in the El Norte newspaper report, where the company DSS de México implemented an Institutional Intelligence system in Profepa, pointing out that although it is not so easy to measure the return on investment in a government institution, with these systems have very great advantages, such as knowing how resources are used, where taxes are going and what goals are met, in addition to the fact that the cost is only a fraction of transactional systems or ERPs.
As well as these, there is a great variety of cases of successful large-scale application of this type of systems in Mexican companies, which have conferred true intelligence to the business, providing it not only with marked efficiency, but can eventually make the difference between the survival or disappearance of a company.
All of this will allow a business not only to survive, but it will also give it an important competitive advantage in the new economy, where the big one will no longer devour the little one, but the agile one will beat the slow one.
conclusion
Thanks to the advances in information systems and information technologies, it is necessary for Mexican companies to develop the ability to adapt to changing environments. Business intelligence lies in the competence to make decisions, for dynamic approaches to problems and opportunities and to develop the internal resources and capacities of the organization. Generate strategic changes built with the resources of the organization, to develop a more flexible and dynamic organization, with the support of technologies for decision making and the intervention of business experts. It is important to understand that decision support tools are just that, tools, and that selection and use simplify many operations and processes in the business.but that decision makers are the cornerstone.
Factors that it takes into account, to a greater or lesser degree, such as the speed of change, innovation of new business models, new relationship structures between companies, their clients and associates, the connectivity of people, organizations and countries, and the value of knowledge resident in the company; their knowledge and skills and the use of intelligent systems for decision making, this integration is called Business Intelligence, which generates competitive advantages.
I agree with what Enrique Canales said in his article for the newspaper Mural, about the situation in our country, in which people are more concerned about events of political corruption than about the application of new technologies in companies and he recommended that if people forget about this situation 6 days a week and we each take care to start looking for new ways to do things and apply technology, such as these decision systems and learn to use them for the benefit of our companies Perhaps the development of our country will accelerate a bit.
Bibliography
Turban Efraim & Aronson Jay (2001). Decision Support Systems and Intelligent systems. 6th. Ed. Prentice hall.
Sprague Ralph & Watson Hugh (1993). Decision support systems: putting theory into practice. 3rd. Ed. Prentice Hall
Canales Enrique (2004). Technology Administration. Interface Supplement. Mural newspaper
Tuya Javier & Díaz Adenso (1998). The Decision Support Systems: Architecture and Business Applications. NOVATICA, Vol. 133, pp. 53-59, Reform / Drafting (01/28/2004), Launch of Auto Spy Manufactured in the US, Provider Terra Networks México, SA de CV
Navarrete Roberto (06/08/2004). Business Intelligence: The current need, Sánchez Verónica (06/10/2002). They make it easier for governments to measure indicators. El Norte newspaper. Monterrey Mexico.
