Abstract
Outsourcing is an on-going trend for information technology, and application service providers could hold sufficient computing and utility power in on demand sense. As a result, Decision Support Systems (DSS) are encouraged to form a marketplace which decision tools and techniques become services on the Internet. DSS as services on the Internet have been discussed in recent research, especially for model-driven DSS. However, little research has been done by separating DSS according to characteristics of participators and combining together with compatible IT over the Internet. This study proposes a service framework for model-driven DSS (SF-MDSS) on the Internet and defines four roles: DSS users, model architects, solving-power providers, and a broker. DSS users can manipulate decision techniques without understanding their details. Model architects are able to focus on modeling decision problems free of irrelevant information technologies and also to unhook the binding of operating solvers. Solving-power providers are application service providers for outsourcing algorithms and computing environment. Moreover, through the discussion of establishing SF-MDSS from roles’ perspective, a business model of research and development services is recognized. Finally, an empirical DSS is adapted to SF-MDSS, and the business model is elaborated to show that DSS users and model architects can be significantly benefited in MDSS-SF from other alternatives.