This module will cover:

Content and themes around network automation and programming
Security and Version Control
Industry standards, approaches and principles
Ansible
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Cloud Infrastructure Scripting
PowerShell / BASH
Python Libraries such as Netmiko
Network Automation for wired and wireless solutions
AI driven network management

BCS / TechSkills / Employability elements:

Legal, social, ethical and professional issues.
System modelling and evaluation of network management.
Evaluation and design trade-offs within a design and implementation process.
Artefact development for network systems.

PRESENTATION – You will investigate a simulated corporate networking environment and design an automation-based solution to address identified organisational and technical requirements. As part of the assessment, you will present and justify your proposed solution, including consideration of effectiveness, security, scalability, and professional practice implications. This assessment enables you to demonstrate practical problem-solving, automation implementation, and professional communication skills within a realistic industry context. In developing the presentation there will be elements of teamwork to explore and develop related concepts.

CLASS-TEST – You will complete a written class test designed to assess your understanding of the theoretical principles, approaches, and professional considerations underpinning AI-driven network management and automation. The assessment will evaluate your ability to analyse automation concepts, infrastructure management strategies, and associated legal, ethical, sustainability, and business factors relevant to contemporary corporate environments.

Formative assessment opportunities will be provided throughout the module. In generating the presentation staff will review slides and also schedule a practice for presentation delivery. Related to the class-test there will be pre-circulated sample questions and group feedback as to potentially good answers. There will also be a mock test so you can gauge your learning.

All teaching sessions will blend theory and practical learning. You will be introduced to curriculum concepts and ideas and will then be able to apply theory to practical examples within the same sessions. For part of your learning you will contribute to critical discussions and seminars, group activities for problem solving tasks, and be provided industry-based scenarios to engage with. In addition, you will be provided with a range of resources for independent study such as case studies, academic papers and industry stories. There will be a mixture of practical and theoretical formative (mock or practice) exercises which will help you build knowledge and confidence in preparation for summative (formal) assessment.

1. Analyse the requirements, opportunities, and organisational implications of automation and AI-driven network management within corporate environments, considering legal, ethical, sustainability, and business factors.

Knowledge & Understanding

2. Design and implement automation solutions for a range of complex networking and infrastructure problem domains within realistic organisational scenarios.

Application & Problem-Solving

3. Appraise automation and AI-driven solutions for corporate environments by examining their effectiveness, security, scalability, and commercial value within collaborative professional teamwork scenarios.

Critical Reasoning & Collaboration

4. Communicate and justify the use of versioning, monitoring, and AI-supported management techniques while reflecting on their application within professional practice and employability contexts.

Communication
Reflection

Blackboard

Cisco Network Academy

VMWare Environment

AWS Academy

Networking Lab

Moreno, J. and Stuart, A. (2025), Azure Networking: Understand key concepts and design secure Cloud networking architectures (English Edition), BPB Publications

Wilkins, A. (2021), AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, Pearson

Mastrapasqua, G. (2025), AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam Guide: Mastering AWS identity, compute, storage, networking, and database fundamentals for cloud practitioner success (English Edition), BPB Publications
Bagha, M. (2021), Cloud Computing Solutions Architect: A Hands-On Approach

Kairo, Z. (2025), Computer Networking Mastery: The Complete Networking Playbook: 2025 Professional Guide to TCP/IP, Cloud Infrastructure (AWS & Azure), Security & Troubleshooting with Real World Case Studies, Independently Published

In this module you will learn about corporate networks (infrastructure, and cloud environments) and how this technology is rapidly advancing. You will find out why it is not possible to manually maintain networks and why it is key to adopt AI and automation techniques. The module will specifically look at automation within the computing sector and in doing so identify tools and strategies which can be used in rolling out solutions. Using such automation techniques will reduce in both downtime and costs.