This module will cover the following topics:

Compliance requirements
AWS Core Services
Adoption Models
Loosely coupled and stateless systems
Software Development Lifecycle
Servers and Services
Usage and development of APIs
Addressing customer and business needs
Methods and models of practical implementation
Key standards and professional approaches
Microservices
Monitoring and Logging
Commercial Security Considerations
Identification of risks and risk logging
Sustainability and accessibility themes within Cloud-Native applications
Communication and Collaboration
Configuration Management and Infrastructure as Code
Policies and Standards Automation
Incident and Event Response
Availability, Fault Tolerance and Disaster Recovery
Agile Software Development

BCS / TechSkills / Employability elements:

Commercial and business issues address within the context of cloud computing
Evaluation of cloud-based systems and architecture
Hands-on problem solving related to scenario-based case studies
Security address within the cloud computing domain

REPORT – An individual report which will demonstrate knowledge and the decisions made to solve a given simulated company scenario. There will be formative review points in this work and a single summative submission.

PRESENTATION - This will be a presentation to a simulated company to reflect and justify decisions made during the cloud native application work. In presenting the artefact it will be necessary to emphasize key design and practical implementation aspects of durability and flexibility addressed in relation to industry-based criteria. Personal development in carrying out the work must be identified, as must potential entrepreneurship opportunities.

Formative assessment opportunities will be provided throughout the module. For the presentation staff will review your draft ideas and guide you further in forming your final presentation. There will also be a practice session where you can have a practice run of your final presentation. For the individual report staff will regularly guide you as to progress milestone’s, and will also review a single draft when near to hand in.

All teaching sessions will blend theory and practical learning together through the extensive use of simulation. You will be introduced to curriculum concepts and ideas and will then be able to apply theory to practical examples within the same sessions. In addition, you will be provided with a range of resources for independent study such as further 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. Critically research and evaluate issues which affect cloud adoption within an organisation

Knowledge & Understanding
Research Skills

2. Formulate a systematic innovative understanding of the Agile and DevOps approach to building and deploying public cloud-based software systems, and identify within the process entrepreneurship opportunities

Application & Problem Solving
Personal Development & Entrepreneurship

3. Critically evaluate new approaches in cloud services and reflect on the benefits and the risks within a commercial environment

Reflection
Digital Literacy

4. Create a cloud native application which uses cloud services to increase durability and flexibility and concisely present your end solution

Communication
Application & Problem Solving

In this module, you will be given access to:

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Academy environment

AWS Learner Lab environment to develop upon

Blackboard, which will contain all of the material

A suitable IDE (Integrated Development Environment) which you can use to develop code in

Golding, T. (2024), Building Multi-Tenant Saas Architectures: Principles, Practices and Patterns Using AWS Paperback, O’Reilly

Rajput, R. (2026), Mastering Multi-Cloud Architectures: A guide to balancing AWS, Azure, GCP | enterprise cloud transformation | cloud governance and compliance | cloud performance optimization | cloud deployment method, AWS Press Publications

Kapoor, A., (2023). AWS DevOps Simplified: Build solid AWS foundations for delivering enterprise grade software solutions at scale, Packt Publishing

Kim, G., Humble, J., Debois, P., Willis, J. and Forsgren, N., (2022). The Devops Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations, IT Revolution

Negron, T.N., Jones, C. (2024). AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Study Guide: Associate SOA-C02 Exam (Sybex Study Guide)

Within this module we give you an understanding of an enterprise systems wide use of public cloud computing. Specifically, we will be using the AWS (Amazon Web Services) network environment to apply these principles. We will look at the different technologies and why an enterprise environment might use them to technical advantage. In addition, we will look at the development of cloud-native applications to take advantage of the technology specifically. Overall, in taking this approach we intend to give you a good understanding of the technology and techniques available and provide a sound pathway to taking the suitable AWS industry certifications, if you want to develop your skills further in this way.