Database Technology for Decision Support Systems

D ecision support systems are the core of business IT infrastructures because they give companies a way to translate a wealth of business information into tangible and lucrative results. Collecting, maintaining, and analyzing large amounts of data, however, are mammoth tasks that involve significant technical challenges, expenses, and organizational commitment. Online transaction processing systems allow organizations to collect large volumes of daily business point-of-sales data. OLTP applications typically automate structured, repetitive data processing tasks such as order entry and banking transactions. This detailed, up-to-date data from various independent touch points must be consolidated into a single location before analysts can extract meaningful summaries. Managers use this aggregated data to make numerous day-to-day business decisions—everything from managing inventory to coordinating mail-order campaigns.