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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

CIS319: Decision Support

& Executive Information
Systems
Assignment #2

4/8/2010
Student #060399366
Kirt Lee Baptiste
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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 2
Company Information ........................................................................................................... 2
Definition of EIS ................................................................................................................... 2
EIS Architecture ................................................................................................................ 4
Evaluating ................................................................................................................................ 5
Decisions based on business process ................................................................................. 5
Performance....................................................................................................................... 7
Flexibility and scalability .................................................................................................. 7
Integration ......................................................................................................................... 8
Friendly user interface ...................................................................................................... 8
Summary of Salesforce CRM ................................................................................................ 8
Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................10
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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

: Can it function as an
EIS?
Introduction
Before we could attempt to critique and assess the software model Salesforce CRM and
whether or not it can function as an Executive Information Systems (EIS), its crucial that
we understand thoroughly what an EIS is and how theyre useful too organizations.

Company Information
Salesforce.com is an online software-as-a-service (SaaS) company distributing business
software, in which access to business software is purchased on a subscription basis
and hosted offsite. It is best known for its Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
products, which it delivers to businesses over the internet using the SaaS model. SaaS
business systems are delivered to users web browsers over the Internet from a centrally
hosted data center. SaaS eliminates the costs associated with procuring, installing and
maintaining business applications within the customer's information technology
infrastructure. SaaS or on-demand business systems are normally licensed for a monthly or
annual subscription fee instead of the much larger up front capital expenditures required of
the more traditional on-premise enterprise applications. As a result, on-demand
applications require substantially less initial and ongoing investment in software,
hardware, implementation services and perpetual IT labor.
The Salesforce.com CRM software subscription service comes in multiple editions: Group
Edition, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited, and the free trial version required for the
assignment was the Professional edition. Salesforce.com's CRM solution is broken down
into several modules: Sales, Service & Support, Partner Relationship Management,
Marketing, Content, Ideas and Analytics.

Definition of EIS
A number of researchers have provided definitions of Executive Information Systems (EIS).
Turban (1995) defines an EIS as a computer-based system that serves the information
need of top executives. It provides rapid access to timely information and direct access to
management reports. EIS is very user-friendly, supported by graphics, and provides
exceptions reporting and drill-down capabilities. It is also easily connects with online
information services and electronic mail (p.403).
Meall (1990) defines an EIS as a resource tool; a system that delivers rapid access to the
selected key information executives need for their decision making. Users should need no IT
or keyboarding skills. Access is more likely to be via icons and a mouse or a touch screen,
than a keyboard. Data is presented with the help of colour and graphics, in a form which is
highly structured and easy to understand (p.125).
For the purpose of this assignment, we define an EIS as a computer-based information
system that provides executives with easy access to internal and external information with
drill-down capability related to the critical success factors for running current and future
business operations.
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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

The following are the key features of an EIS are:

Ease of use
Access to both internal & external data
Critical success factor
Drill-down capability
To put it briefly, EIS is a subset of a class of technology solutions that are referred to as
business intelligence (BI) software. Its main objective is to provide real-time representative
information to the high-level management, to support strategic activities such as goal
setting, planning and forecasting, and also performance tracking.
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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

EIS Architecture
EIS architecture is similar to a Decision Support Systems architecture and its structured
on three distinct levels:

Data Management: Represented by relational databases, data warehouses and

other type of data sources;
Model Management: Level of extract, transformation and processing of data.
This level is based on different type of models for statistic interpretation, analysing
and forecasting data;
Data Visualization Tools: Provide a visual drill-down capability that assists
managers examine data graphically and identify complex interrelationships. EIS
attempts to present data in a form that is relevant for strategic decisions.

The architecture is implemented by the following technologies: data warehouse, OLAP,

Data Mining.

Conceptual Model of EIS

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Evaluating

EIS deployment takes on many risks: system design, data quality, and technology
obsolescence. Risks from system design stem from a poor conceptualization of an
enterprises true business needs before the deployment of technology. The risks mainly
linked to data quality are caused by whether or not data has been cleansed properly.
Technology obsolescence simply means the failure on the part of the vendor to anticipate
new technologies.
Large budgets and strategic information are involved in the deployment of EIS systems.
Because of this, theres a need to establish rigorous criteria for evaluating EIS systems.
These criteria are discussed below:

Decisions based on business process

EIS should never be seen or visualized as only data repository. Instead, the systems
implementation should be concerned with conceptualization of new data models, processes,
and indicators with the aim of forming the content of the EIS. An EIS ought to offer an
extensive understanding of the benchmarks that are useful in business process evaluation.
Salesforce CRM software functionality is delivered in a front-office suite across the
following core areas:

a. Marketing Management
b. Sales Force Automation (aka SFA)
c. Customer Support

Salesforce CRM software feature sets are generally considered broad but not deep across
the three CRM pillars of marketing, SFA and customer support.
It was noted that one of the weakest areas of Salesforce CRM is the marketing
management.
One of the strongest components of Salesforce CRM is the Sales Force Automation (SFA)
system; this system includes account, contact, activity and opportunity management.
Customer Support (aka Case Management ) was added to Salesforce CRM in a prior
release. It isnt quite considered a strong-point in the overall software, the case
management module does offer support for case management, automated assignment, case
queues and escalation.
This evaluation criteria specifically targets business intelligent (BI) aspect of Salesforces
CRM software. An outstanding library of out of the box reports are supplied by Salesforce.
Standard reports cover all of the major CRM software modules within the Salesforces
system including, accounts & contacts, opportunities, sales, leads, support and campaigns.
To create new reports a flexible report writer which employs a wizard based approach to
walk users through process of creating them is also provided by Salesforce. While using the
wizard, there was a steep learning curve which might take some hours to perfect depending
on the users level and understanding of report writing.
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An assortment of dashboards displaying data is expectedly provided Salesforce CRM, these

dashboards display data at a summary level usually in charts or gauges. Individual users
can easily manage and edit the dashboards.
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Performance
The performance feature naturally refers to response time. This is the time that a system
takes to response to its users. Most responses typically range from a few seconds to a
maximum of 30 seconds for routine queries. The databases complexity and the queries
being requested are usually the determinant factor of response times.
The performance of Salesforce CRM wasnt tested heavily due to the lack of reports which
couldve been imported into the software, thus, the evaluation of performance was based on
movement through the varies screens/pages of the software. This was generally very fast
and should be noted would be dependent on the internet connection the users possesses.
Upon future investigation I can across a website: trust.salesforce.com, here provided an
evaluation of performance based on enormous amounts of transactions and the times they
were completed.

Flexibility and scalability

The flexibility factor is the one that determines whether an EIS solution can continually
adapt to changing business conditions after the system has been delivered. An EIS should
be able to accommodate changes in any type of business process and functions like
personnel, services, and processes, as well as new mandates, laws, and regulations
requiring the capture of different types of data.
An EIS should be to expand so that it could accommodate data growth and changes to
organizational structure. An EIS also should allow content that is contributed to grow
without performance being slowdown.
Industry solutions in Salesforce CRM provide a great deal of flexibility and scalability.
Templates are offered by Salesforce CRM to support vertical industries through its
AppExchange directory. Examples of these include: financial services, public sector, high
tech and media and communications.
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Integration
The evaluation criteria integration involves two types of issues: data integration and
system integration. The ability to access data from a variety of systems is called data
integration. An EIS can become particularly effective if it can conquer the challenge of
information fragmentation, allowing executives to measure features of business processes
that involve information from inside and outside of the organization.
System integration refers to two things: the ability to extent the EIS software with new
capabilities and modules and the systems ability to coexist with other enterprise solutions.
Based on a laymens perspective Salesforce CRM passes integration evaluation with flying
colours. From using the setup menu the importation of contacts using email clients (such
as, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, etc.), to the desktop integration connecting with Lotus Notes,
Microsoft Office, etc, to the feature of the offline version of Salesforce which is available
for download, as well as, a mobile version which is available for download using the
Unlimited Package version of Salesforce CRM. And that was just the system integration
aspect, data integration is enabled through the ability to import data, such as, excel
spreadsheets, etc...

Friendly user interface

An EIS design should be structured in a manner as to allow managers who arent trained in
using query languages and advanced technologies, a swift, effortless and comprehensible
way to navigate into data and identify trends and patterns. EIS should permit the user
interface to accommodate different degrees of technical knowledge.

Summary of Salesforce CRM

Salesforce CRM key advantages include:

Industry leading help and online training support.
A native thin-client solution designed for hosted, on-demand Internet delivery.
Simple user interface that is well received by users new to CRM or online systems.
Several industry specific or vertical market solutions although somewhat light in
terms of deep functional foot print.
The AppExchange provides a foundation for extending the solution with deeper
functionality from specialist application providers.
And its key disadvantages include:

Simple user interface that is often quickly outgrown by experienced users.

Lots of screen refreshes and scrolling up and down; the transition between multiple
screens to process transactions can make for a laborious user interface.
Customization toolkits can be cumbersome to use.
Limitation in presentation of data in dashboards that doesnt reflect the application
security for specific users without significant administration effort.
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Data center reliability has been questioned and several prior interruptions in service
have been recorded.

EIS software evaluation should be a multi-staged process, a similar process to the one that
has been successfully used in DSS (Decision Support Software) evaluation, which might
include the following steps:

i. End user needs assessment

ii. Critical-success factor (CSFs) identification
iii. Feature analysis and capability review
iv. Resource needs assessment
v. Demonstration prototype development
vi. External users surveys
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Conclusion
Based on the information presented above, Salesforce CRM is evaluates favourable with
approximately all the criteria for evaluation. This coupled with the fact that Salesforce
CRM is SaaS product saves the hassle of in-house software and hardware architecture
therefore the EIS software would favourable among organisations. Also Salesforce CRM
possesses close to all characteristics of full capability EIS software, therefore, Salesforce
CRM could function as EIS.

An adaption of the Western Mining Corporations checklist for feature analysis and
capability review was created and assisted the evaluation of Salesforce CRM. But, due to
time limitations it wasnt possible to run through the checklist extensively.
CHECK NEXT PAGE.
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CIS319: Decision Support & Executive Information Systems

Applications to be easy and quick to develop

New users to be easy and quick to add to the system
Development Suitability for quick prototyping
Display alternatives output formats quickly

Learning time for developers

Learning time for users
Learning
Availability of appropriate documentation and
1. Ease of tutorials
Use Easy to add and modify data
Ability to maintain integrity and timelines of data
(handling of frequent updates)
Easy to add and modify screens, reports and graphs
Maintenance Availability of standard templates
Ability to copy existing screens, graphics, etc.
Ability to monitor system usage
Easy to add additional users
Ability to incorporate changes to corporate structure
Reports to be presented as both graphics and tables
Ability to display graphics, tables and text on single
screen
Ability to switch between tubular and graphic output
Ability to colour code exceptions on the current screen
Ability to present a summary screen listing all
exceptions throughout the system
Support analysis of budgeted, actual and forecast
figures
Effective presentation of time series data
2. Reporting Capability Ability to highlight variations
Support interactive user defined variance criteria
Retrieval of historical data as required
Maintain historical data and discard after a user
defined period
Analysis of historical data and identification of trends
Built-in restrictions to protect historical data
Facility for personalised queries (i.e., ability for users
to scan the database according to interactively defined
criteria)
Explanatory notes to be attached to reports
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Quality of graphics
Speed of presentation
Effective use of default colour coding
Ability to highlight areas of concern
Availability of individual colour schemes
Ability to include explanatory notes for each graph
Ability to produce a variety of graphs (pie, bar, 3D
3. Graphic Presentation
bar, line)
Automatic generation of simple, default formats which
can be customized
Easy to produce executives defined graphs
Automatic scaling
Graph limitation
Automatic legends
Drill down capability
Built-in statistical capabilities
Look-aside capability for interrupting a process to use
another facility
Screen scrolling (horizontal and vertical)
Multiple tasks to be operating and displaying
4. General Functionality
concurrently (e.g., windows, split screens)
Access to notepad facility
Integration with DSS
Import data from spreadsheets/word processing
Minimal screen repainting
Ability to display other languages
Version checking to ensure all users are accessing the
same version of software, applications and data
Interfaces with external databases and internal
systems
Efficient storage of time series data
Stored aggregates for rapid access
Built-in periodicity conversions
5. Data Handling
Efficient indexing and retrieval mechanism
Instantaneous distribution of new data among users
Ability to consolidate various sources and formats of
data into an EIS databases via manual input or
electronic data transfer from other system
Ability to sort screen data according to user defined
criteria
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Laser printer, plotter, colour printer, transparencies,

6. Output Options dot matrix
Large screen presentations for meetings

Response times
PC-mainframe communications uploading and
downloading data
7. Performance Efficient resource usage
Capacity issues (i.e., number of users, volume of data)
Reliability of software
Recovery facility

Ability to run VAXMAIL

8. Electronic Mail Ability to incorporate EIS reports and graphs into
mail facility

Restricted system access

9. Security Restricted function access
Add/edit/delete restrictions for applications and data

Local access
Across networks
10. Environment and Multi-user access to the same data
Hardware
Portability
PC-mainframe links
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Reference manual, introducing guide, tutorials

Overall style of documentation
Online, context sensitive help screens
11. Documentation
Meaningful error messages
Appropriate cross-referencing and indexing
Stand-alone chapters

Training courses for developers

Technical support
Local support
12. Vendor Support Timelines and smoothness of initial installation
Availability of off-the-shelf applications
Availability of source code
Hotline support