Decision-making software

Decision-making software (DM software) is used to help individuals and organizations with their decision-making processes, typically resulting in ranking, prioritizing or choosing from among alternatives.

An early example of DM software was described in 1973. Before the advent of the World Wide Web, most DM software was spreadsheet-based, with the first web-based DM software appearing in the mid-1990s. Nowadays, many DM software products (mostly web-based) are available – e.g. see the comparison table below.

Most DM software focuses on ranking, prioritizing or choosing from among alternatives characterized on multiple criteria or attributes. Thus most DM software is based on decision analysis, usually multi-criteria decision-making, and so is often referred to as “decision analysis” or “multi-criteria decision-making” software – commonly shortened to “decision-making software”. Some decision support systems include a DM software component.

DM software can assist decision-makers “at various stages of the decision-making process, including problem exploration and formulation, identification of decision alternatives and solution constraints, structuring of preferences, and tradeoff judgements.”

The purpose of DM software is to support the analysis involved at these various stages of the decision-making process, not to replace it. DM software "should be used to support the process, not as the driving or dominating force."

DM software frees users "from the technical implementation details [of the decision-making method employed], allowing them to focus on the fundamental value judgements". Nonetheless, DM software should not be employed blindly. "Before using a software, it is necessary to have a sound knowledge of the adopted methodology and of the decision problem at hand."

As mentioned earlier, most DM software is based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). MCDM involves evaluating and combining alternatives' characteristics on two or more criteria or attributes in order to rank, prioritize or choose from among the alternatives.

DM software employs a variety of MCDM methods; popular examples include:

There are significant differences between these methods and, accordingly, the DM software implementing them. Such differences include:

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