Application of the AHP in data warehouse system selection decisions for SMEs in Taiwan

The study investigates the practice of data warehouse system selection decisions for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan. As data warehouse system evaluation and selection are often costly and time consuming, the need for a decision-aid approach to software selection is obvious, especially for SMEs. The aim of this study is to determine significant factors that influence data warehouse system selection of SMEs. Both technical and managerial factors are considered in structuring an evaluation hierarchy based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results indicate that SMEs select data warehouse systems that focus mainly on cost and vendor criteria.