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1. Palisade’s DecisionTools Suite has played a key role in increasing the quality of decision-making and helping project teams to think clearly, act decisively and feel confident.
2. Palisade Decision Tools Suite¶ This is the primary Excel add-in that we will use. Palisade adds a ton of great business analytics functionality to Excel including simulation (@Risk), optimization, and data mining. Detailed instructions for obtaining and installing the Palisade Decision Tools Suite will be made available.
3. Repair of Palisade Software; 3.2. Repair of Excel or Project; 3.3. Clean Uninstall and Reinstall of Palisade Software; 3.4. Shorter Uninstall and Reinstall of Palisade 6.x/7.x Software; 3.5. I try to edit a Palisade 7.0 report, but it looks like I'm editing a different worksheet.
4. I launch my Palisade software, and I get one of these messages: @RISK requires Excel 2007 or higher. BigPicture requires Excel 2007 or higher. Evolver requires Excel 2007 or higher. NeuralTools requires Excel 2007 or higher. PrecisionTree requires Excel 2007 or higher. StatTools requires Excel 2007 or higher. TopRank requires Excel 2007 or higher.

1. Palisade Decision Tools For Excel
2. Palisade Decision Tools Excel Template
3. Palisade Decisiontools Excel Software

Trial versions of @RISK and The DecisionTools Suite risk and decision analysis software, add-ins for Microsoft Excel. No risk or obligation to buy.

Access to Decision Tools during the pandemic

The physical labs and walk up help desk some students typically rely on to run Decision Tools or obtain help installing it will not be available until Spring 2021. If you require Decision Tools for your course work in Summer or Fall 2020 please follow the steps below.

1. First install Decision Tools as you would normally be expected to do:
   1. If you are a Windows user you should download Decision Tools from https://utexas.box.com/v/dtsinstallerand install it directly onto your own computer.
   2. If you are a Mac user you should first follow the instructions at Installing OVA files with VirtualBox on a Mac to set up a Windows Virtual Machine (VM) on your Mac. Then download Decision Tools from https://utexas.box.com/v/dtsinstallerand install it directly into the VM.
2. If you experience problems installing Decision Tools or a Windows VM you should submit a help request at https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/tech.
3. Someone from the McCombs Service Desk will reply and assist you via email if they can or else they will schedule a time to assist you via an individual Zoom remote support session if needed.
4. If an unexpectedly large number of students require remote assistance, then the Service Desk will schedule group Zoom remote support sessions for you to sign up for.
5. If the Service Desk is unable to resolve your issue, you will be asked to connect to certain remotely available lab computers at https://remotelab.mccombs.utexas.edu in order to run Decision Tools.
   

Decision Tools is a set of Microsoft excel add-ins for risk and decision analysis. It includes @Risk, StatTools, PrecisionTree, TopRank and other Excel add ins. It is a commercial product from Palisade Corporation. The McCombs School of Business has negotiated a number of licenses for student use. You will need to install Microsoft Office (free Office 365 subscription) first if you are installing Decision Tools on your computer - https://office365.austin.utexas.edu/

• Where Available: Mod Lab, Student Computer, NRG
  • Decision Tools is one of the applications available on the Stat Apps terminal server maintained by the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences. For more information about this server please visit http://stat.utexas.edu/consulting/stat-apps-server. For more information about connecting to this server, pleasesee our wiki page at https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/MSBTech/Configuring+a+Remote+Desktop+Connection+for+the+Stat+Apps+Server.
  • Decision Tools is available on the computers in the NRG. These computers are also remotely available at https://remotelab.mccombs.utexas.edu.
• Source: You can download Decision Tools for student computers at https://utexas.box.com/v/dtsinstaller(you will be prompted to login with your EID to download the installer). Download and run the file to install.
  
• Cost: Free

Attention Mac Users

This software is only available for Windows. To install this onto a Macintoshyou should first create a virtual machine on your computer and install Microsoft Windows and Office into it. If you do not currently have a Windows VM available on your computer (or a dual boot Mac/Windows computer), then you have a couple of options:

Palisade Decision Tools For Excel

1. Obtain a VirtualBox VM created by Computer Services that has DTools already installed. You can visit the SWAT Shop to request assistance in installing this VM or you can install it yourself by following the instructions at Installing OVA files using VirtualBox on a Mac.
   
2. Use one of the computers setup in the NRG Reading Room (CBA 4.112A).
   

Palisade's DecisionTools Suite—the complete risk and decision analysis package for Excel—has been adopted by top MBA schools around the country. Four leading management science textbooks from Duxbury Press—Practical Management Science, Making Hard Decisions with DecisionTools, and Data Analysis & Decision Making— incorporate extensive examples, case studies, and exercises using the tools in the DecisionTools Suite.

Palisade Decision Tools Excel Template

As a result, the DecisionTools Suite is currently being taught at such prominent institutions as the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Northwestern University, Yale University, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and dozens of others.

With greater business and industrial reliance on quantitative methods to assess risk and analyze decision processes, most students in business courses are expected to master these techniques. About 40,000 MBA students currently use the DecisionTools Suite in conjunction with the Duxbury Press textbooks. Widespread adoption of the Suite is expected to accelerate the growing trends toward using techniques like Monte Carlo simulation and decision trees throughout corporate America.

According to Curt Hinrichs, Publisher of management science and applied statistics texts at Duxbury Press, 'The DecisionTools Suite adds a level of functionality and learning that take the concepts presented in the books to a new level. Several of these books have been tried and true references in graduate business curricula for years. By giving today's students the opportunity to work through real-life examples using the analytical techniques DecisionTools offers, we have opened up a whole new level of risk and decision analysis that will make the next generation of business leaders more savvy than ever before.'

The DecisionTools Suite Includes

Risk Analysis using Monte Carlo simulation: @RISK. Monte Carlo simulation is the most widely used computational technique to simulate processes in which there is uncertainty—in other words in almost any everyday decision. When it comes to Monte Carlo simulation software, @RISK has become the gold standard for its flexibility of application and capacity to handle complex inputs and large data sets. Includes built-in distribution fitting tools.

Decision Analysis with Decision Trees and Influence Diagrams: PrecisionTree^®. PrecisionTree creates influence diagrams and decision trees in existing spreadsheets. Influence diagrams are used to see the relationships among components of a problem, and decision trees make use of this information to model a sequence of events. PrecisionTree generates a full statistical report and risk profile graphs and includes Sensitivity Analysis and other features.

Automated 'What If' Sensitivity Analysis: TopRank^®. For any spreadsheet TopRank automatically determines which cells affect simulation results the most and ranks them in order of importance. Results can be displayed as Tornado graphs and in a full statistical report. Advanced features include a What-if Wizard, Multi-Way What-if Analysis, and support for data tables.

Predictive Analysis using Intelligent Neural Networks: NeuralTools^®. NeuralTools performs predictions in Microsoft Excel using sophisticated neural networks. NeuralTools imitates brain functions to “learn” patterns in your known data, and uses those patterns to make predictions from new, incomplete data. In addition, NeuralTools can automatically update predictions live when input data changes, saving time and enabling more robust analyses.

Time-Series Forecasting and Advanced Statistical Analysis: StatTools^®. StatTools performs time-series forecasting and statistical analysis in Microsoft Excel. It actually replaces Excel’s built-in statistics functions with its own, more robust and accurate functions. StatTools covers the most common statistical analyses, and even allows you to build you own custom statistical procedures for inclusion on the StatTools menu.

Genetic Algorithm-based Optimization: Evolver™. Evolver performs genetic algorithm-based optimization in Microsoft Excel. It is especially well-suited to finding the best overall global solution to nonlinear, complex problems where other solvers fail. Evolver’s genetic algorithms constantly try new, different solutions to arrive at the best answer possible.

Palisade Decisiontools Excel Software

Optimization under Uncertainty: RISKOptimizer^®. RISKOptimizer combines optimization with Monte Carlo simulation to solve optimization problems under uncertainty. Take any optimization problem and replace uncertain values with @RISK functions that represent ranges of possible values. RISKOptimizer will try different combinations of adjustable cells to achieve the goal you define, while running Monte Carlo simulations on each trial solution to account for inherent uncertainty. The result is the most robust, accurate solution possible.

Other colleges and universities using the DecisionTools Suite include:

»The DecisionTools Suite