Corps of Engineers Operations and Maintenance Budget Decision Support System (COMB-DSS): System Concept, Design and Prototype Evaluation. Volume 2. Appendixes B Through G

This report describes the development, testing, and evaluation of the Corps of Engineers Operation and Management Budget Decision Support System (COMB DSS) developed under the Improvement of Operations and Management Techniques (IOMT) Research Program. This decision support application was designed to assist the Operations, Construction and Readiness (OCR) Division, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (HQUSACE), with analysis of yearly Operations and Maintenance (O&M) budget submittals by the Corps Divisions. The report discusses the budget process for O&M project funding, the analysis needs of management at HQUSACE, a detailed description of general decision support system design, and the prototype design for assisting in the decision making process at HQUSACE. Decision support systems are computer-based information systems that typically contain four components: a database for storing large volumes of descriptive data, a user interface such as menus for information management, an analysis component for performing operations on the data, and report generation capability. The COMB DSS contains five analysis capabilities for assisting in the O&M budget preparation: a scenario analyst, a financial analyst, a rank generator, a criteria analyst, and a statistical analyst. The testing and evaluation of the COMB DSS at HQUSACE during the budget formation process is described along with recommendations for future improvements. Analysis, Decision support, Budget, Operations and maintenance, Computer. See also Volume 1, AD-A280 051.