BSc Information Technology Management for Business / Course details

- Introduction to IT Architecture
- IT Architecture Processes, Activities and Roles
- Qualities & Constraints in IT Architecture
- IT Architecture Development: Methods, Models and Techniques
- IT Architecture in Practice (Case Study Workshop)
- Advanced Topics in IT Architecture

BMAN32141 is only available to ITMB.

Programme restrictions: core for ITMB/ITMB Specialism.

Students should learn the concepts, models and techniques underpinning the IT architecture discipline and the importance of IT architecture and the role of IT Architects in organisations. Students should also be able to gain practical experience in designing an IT architecture solution for a business scenario case study. The foundations and approaches to IT architecture design will be studied together with the analysis of the limitations of ad-hoc IT design methods which led to the development of the IT architecture discipline. An understanding of state-of-the-art trends in IT architecture should also be gained. The course has been developed in partnership with IBM-UK and utilises problem-based learning techniques and case studies.

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

Academic knowledge
- Describe and evaluate key IT Architecture modelling techniques
- Understand the foundational concepts of IT architecture
- Describe and evaluate the implications of IT architecture design decisions in information systems
- Critically apply IT architecture concepts to develop practical solutions to IT requirements
- Describe and evaluate the correlations between IT architectures and Business Processes
- Understand and assess state-of-the-art trends in IT architecture

Intellectual skills
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role and importance of IT Architectures, understand the principles and objectives of IT Architecture Development
- Demonstrate an understanding of the trade-offs between practical operational deployment vs. functional requirements
- Develop IT architectures based on a set of requirements
- Critically understand and assess state-of-the-art trends in IT architecture
- Be able to propose and justify the use of IT Architectures to address business issues
- Demonstrate competence in IT Architecture design

Subject practical skills
- Use IT Architecture Frameworks to support the practical case assignments in the module
- Design IT architecture models and diagrams
- Apply IT Architecture methods in projects.

Transferable skills
- Demonstrate systems design and modelling skills
- Demonstrate communication skills
- Demonstrate problem analysis and solving skills
- Demonstrate the application of IT Architecture theory to solve practical problems
- Demonstrate team work skills
- Group presentation skills

Lectures, Tutorials and Practical work.
Total study hours: 100 hours split between lectures, classes, self-study and preparation for classes and coursework.

Informal Contact Methods
1. Office Hours
2. Peer Assisted Study Sessions
3. Other: Discussions during lecture breaks and after lectures.

Group Coursework (40%) 
Individual Coursework (60%) 

- Informal advice and discussion during a lecture, seminar or workshop.

- Responses to student emails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum.

- Specific course related feedback sessions.

- Written and/or verbal comments on assessed or non-assessed coursework.

- Written and/or verbal comments after students have given a group or individual presentation.

Martina Seidl · Marion Scholz Christian Huemer · Gerti Kappel: UML @ Classroom - An Introduction to Object-Oriented Modeling (Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science) Springer; 2015.

Mitra, Tilak: Practical software architecture: moving from system context to deployment, IBM Press, 2016.

Further Reading:

Len Bass, Paul Clements, Rick Kazman: Software Architecture in Practice, 4th Edition - SEI series in software engineering, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2021

Neal Ford: Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach, O’Reilly, 2020

Ian Gorton: Essential Software Architecture, 2nd Edition Springer-Verlag, 2011.

Marc Lankhorst: Enterprise Architecture at Work: Modelling, Communication and Analysis (The Enterprise Engineering Series), 4th edition Springer, 2017.
 

Programme restrictions: core for ITMB/ITMB Specialism.
Peer Assessment: To ensure that all group members will make a significant contribution to the assignment, marks within student groups can differ based on the results of a peer assessment between group members (individual contribution sheet is attached).

For Academic Year 2023/24

Updated: March 2023

Approved by: March UG Committee