A Decision Support System (DSS) is a computer-based system that helps organizational decision-making. It supports managers at different levels and helps make rapidly changing decisions. DSS can be fully computerized, fully human, or a combination. It helps compile useful information from various sources to identify and solve problems. An expert system is a computer system that emulates human expert decision making through knowledge-based reasoning. A content management system (CMS) allows centralized publishing, editing, and modifying of content from a main interface and provides workflow management in a collaborative environment.

1. Decision Support System
A Decision Support System (DSS) is a computer-based information system that supports
business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations,
and planning levels of an organization and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly
changing and not easily specified in advance. Decision support systems can be either fully
computerized, human or a combination of both.
DSSs include knowledge-based systems. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-
based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from a combination
of raw data, documents, and personal knowledge, or business models to identify and solve
problems and make decisions.
Decision Support System Features and Capabilities
Solve semi-structured & Unstructured problems
Support To Managers At All Levels
support Individual and groups
Inter dependence and Sequence Decision.
Support Intelligence, Designee,Choice.
Adaptable & Flexible
Interactive and ease of use
Interactive and efficiency
Human control the process
Ease of development by end user
Modeling and Analysis
Data Access
Stand alone Integration & Web Based
Support Varieties Of Decision Process
Benefits of Decision Support System
Improves personal efficiency
Speed up the process of decision making
Increases organizational control
Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker
Speeds up problem solving in an organization
Facilitates interpersonal communication
Promotes learning or training

2. Generates new evidence in support of a decision
Creates a competitive advantage over competition
Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space
Helps automate managerial processes
Create Innovative ideas to speed up the performance
Expert System
Is a computer system that emulates the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert
systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning about knowledge, like an expert,
and not by following the procedure of a developer as is the case in conventional
programming. The first expert systems were created in the 1970s and then proliferated in the
1980s. Expert systems were among the first truly successful forms of AI software.
An expert system has a unique structure, different from traditional computer programming. It is
divided into two parts, one fixed, independent of the expert system: the inference engine, and one
variable: the knowledge base. To run an expert system, the engine reasons about the knowledge
base like a human. In the 80s a third part appeared: a dialog interface to communicate with
users. This ability to conduct a conversation with users was later called "conversational"
Expert System Features
Goal driven reasoning or backward chaining - an inference technique which uses IF
THEN rules to repetitively break a goal into smaller sub-goals which are easier to prove
Coping with uncertainty - the ability of the system to reason with rules and data which are
not precisely known
Data driven reasoning or forward chaining - an inference technique which uses IF THEN
rules to deduce a problem solution from initial data
Data representation - the way in which the problem specific data in the system is stored and
accessed
User interface - that portion of the code which creates an easy to use system
Explanations - the ability of the system to explain the reasoning process that it used to reach
a recommendation.
Content Management System
A Content Management System (CMS) is a computer program that
allows publishing, editing and modifying content as well as maintenance from a central interface.

3. Such systems ofcontent management provide procedures to manage workflow in a collaborative
environment. These procedures can be manual steps or an automated cascade.
The first content management system (CMS) was announced at the end of the 1990s. This CMS
was designed to simplify the complex task of writing numerous versions of code and to make the
website development process more flexible. CMS platforms allow users to centralize data
editing, publishing and modification on a single back-end interface. CMS platforms are often
used as blog software.
Content Management System (CMS)
Is a computer program that allows publishing, editing and modifying content as well as
maintenance from a central interface. Such systems of content management provide procedures
to manage workflow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual steps or an
automated cascade.
The first content management system (CMS) was announced at the end of the 1990s. This CMS
was designed to simplify the complex task of writing numerous versions of code and to make the
website development process more flexible. CMS platforms allow users to centralize data
editing, publishing and modification on a single back-end interface. CMS platforms are often
used as blog software.
Features
The core function of content management systems is to present information on web sites.
CMS features vary widely from system to system.
Simple systems showcase a handful of features, while other releases, notably enterprise
systems, offer more complex and powerful functions.
Most CMS include Web-based publishing, format management, revision control (version
control), indexing, search, and retrieval.
The CMS increments the version number when new updates are added to an already-
existing file.
A CMS may serve as a central repository containing documents, movies, pictures, phone
numbers, and scientific data.
CMSs can be used for storing, controlling, revising, semantically enriching and
publishing documentation.

4. Other CMS
Component content management system (CCMS) - is a content management system that
manages content at a granular level (component) rather than at the document level. Each
component represents a single topic, concept or asset (for example an image, table, product
description, a procedure).
Features
Greater consistency and accuracy.
Reduced maintenance costs.
Reduced delivery costs.
Reduced translation costs.
Version and control over the documents and the contents - reused or not.
Check impacts on reused content changes.
Improved collaboration and automation with workflows.
Manage documentation releases.
Ease of links and content maintenance.
Further reduce translation costs.
Higher collaboration.
Improved modularity.
Integration with editors.
Web content management system - is a software system that provides website authoring,
collaboration, and administration tools designed to allow users with little knowledge of
web programming languages or markup languages to create and manage website content with
relative ease. A robust WCMS provides the foundation for collaboration, offering users the
ability to manage documents and output for multiple author editing and participation.
Features
Automated templates - Create standard output templates (usually HTML and XML)
that can be automatically applied to new and existing content, allowing the
appearance of all content to be changed from one central place.
Access control - Some WCMS systems support user groups. User groups allow you to
control how registered users interact with the site. A page on the site can be restricted
to one or more groups. This means an anonymous user (someone not logged on), or a
logged on user who is not a member of the group a page is restricted to, will be
denied access to the page.

5. Scalable expansion - Available in most modern WCMSs is the ability to expand a
single implementation (one installation on one server) across multiple domains,
depending on the server's settings. WCMS sites may be able to create microsites/web
portals within a main site as well.
Easily editable content - Once content is separated from the visual presentation of a
site, it usually becomes much easier and quicker to edit and manipulate. Most WCMS
software includes WYSIWYG editing tools allowing non-technical users to create
and edit content.
Scalable feature sets - Most WCMS software includes plug-ins or modules that can be
easily installed to extend an existing site's functionality.
Web standards upgrades - Active WCMS software usually receives regular updates
that include new feature sets and keep the system up to current web standards.
Workflow management - workflow is the process of creating cycles of sequential and
parallel tasks that must be accomplished in the CMS. For example, one or many
content creators can submit a story, but it is not published until the copy editor cleans
it up and the editor-in-chief approves it.
Collaboration - CMS software may act as a collaboration platform allowing content to
be retrieved and worked on by one or many authorized users. Changes can be tracked
and authorized for publication or ignored reverting to old versions. Other advanced
forms of collaboration allow multiple users to modify (or comment) a page at the
same time in a collaboration session.
Delegation - Some CMS software allows for various user groups to have limited
privileges over specific content on the website, spreading out the responsibility of
content management.
Document management - CMS software may provide a means of collaboratively
managing the life cycle of a document from initial creation time, through revisions,
publication, archive, and document destruction.
Content virtualization - CMS software may provide a means of allowing each user to
work within a virtual copy of the entire web site, document set, and/or code base.
This enables changes to multiple interdependent resources to be viewed and/or
executed in-context prior to submission.
Content syndication - CMS software often assists in content distribution by
generating RSS and Atom data feeds to other systems. They may also e-mail users
when updates are available as part of the workflow process.
Multilingual - Ability to display content in multiple languages.
Versioning - Like document management systems, CMS software may allow the
process of versioning by which pages are checked in or out of the WCMS, allowing
authorized editors to retrieve previous versions and to continue work from a selected
point. Versioning is useful for content that changes over time and requires updating,
but it may be necessary to go back to or reference a previous copy.

6. Knowledge Management Systems
A Knowledge Management System (KMS) is a computerized system designed to support the
creation, storage, and dissemination of information. Such a system contains a central repository
of information that is well structured and employs a variety of effective and easy to use search
tools that users can use to find answers to questions quickly.
Knowledge Management Systems Features
Completely Web-Based Application – only a standard web browser is needed to manage
& use the system
Easily Installed and Accessible on your Company Intranet or Website
Industry Standard Architecture (MS SQL Server, ASP/ASP.Net)
Available as In-House & Hosted
No Additional Hardware is Required (can typically be installed on existing servers)
Utilizes Existing IT skills with minimal need for re-training
Access Levels: Ability to define where articles can be viewed (Public, Intranet,
Departmental or Private)
User Roles: allows customizable user roles to define what your users may and may not do
Multi Department/Group Knowledge Management: allows knowledge base articles to be
managed at the department or group level. This allows each department to create and
manage their own information
Portal Views: The public view can be set so that authenticated contacts can view only the
designated information
Searchable Attachments: Ability to do Full Text searching of attached MS Office and
PDF documents
Natural Language Engine: Gain better search results by disregarding unimportant words
Thesaurus Engine: Allows for better search results by expanding related words
Search Filters: Provides the ability to use broad or narrow search filter classifications

7. Business Intelligence
Business intelligence, or BI, is an umbrella term that refers to a variety of software applications used
to analyze an organization’s raw data. BI as a discipline is made up of several related activities,
including data mining, online analytical processing, querying and reporting.
Companies use BI to improve decision making, cut costs and identify new business opportunities. BI
is more than just corporate reporting and more than a set of tools to coax data out of enterprise
systems. CIOs use BI to identify inefficient business processes that are ripe for re-engineering.
With today’s BI tools, business folks can jump in and start analyzing data themselves, rather than
wait for IT to run complex reports. This democratization of information access helps users back up
with hard numbers business decisions that would otherwise be based only on gut feelings and
anecdotes.
Although BI holds great promise, implementations can be dogged by technical and cultural
challenges. Executives have to ensure that the data feeding BI applications is clean and consistent
so that users trust it.
Business intelligence is comprised of information that contains patterns, relationships, and
trends about customers, suppliers, business partners, and employees. Business intelligence
systems process, store, and provide useful information to users who need it, when they need it.
Business Intelligence Features
Reporting tools read data, process them, and format the data into structured reports that
are delivered to users. They are used primarily for assessment.
Data-mining tools process data using statistical techniques, search for patterns and
relationships, and make predictions based on the results
Knowledge-management tools store employee knowledge, make it available to
whomever needs it. These tools are distinguished from the others because the source of
the data is human knowledge