Decision support is a system used to assemble and synthesize information for a decision making panel.

Decision support is implemented through a linked suite of models used to gain inference on a system one wishes to influence by imposing management.

The role of decision support is to supply the decision making panel with information necessary to carry out the initial phase of a plan related to the modeling effort.

Generally inventory data flows through decision support models to answer "what if" questions and also to find solutions which best meet the objectives of the problem at hand.