Peppard, J (1993), IT Strategy for Business, Pitman Publishing

Information Technology for Management: improving quality and productivity, Turban E., McLean E. & Wetherbe J., 1996

Managing IT as a Strategic Resource, Willcocks, Feeny & Islei, 1997

Computer Networks (Andrew Tannenbaum), CCNA First-Year Companion Guide (Amato et. al)

CCNA Exam: Certification Guide (Odom)

Cisco Routing (Lewis)

1. A learning assignment based on a case study (25%) (Learning outcomes 1-4, a-f)
The assignment will be carried out in pairs or in small groups. The deliverable from the assignment will be a management information report, produced in sections, each section relating to a different topic. There will be a way of apportioning the marks awarded according to the performance and input of members of the group or pair. The strategy of the learning assignment is to test your practical abilities in information resource management.

2. A time-constrained test (25%) (Learning outcomes 1-3, c, f)
The test is intended to test your theoretical and conceptual understanding of information resource management topics.

3. Engineering Journal - lab data and details (10%) (Learning outcomes 5, g, h)

4. Multichoice test (25%) (Learning outcomes 5-7, 10, j, f)

5. Skill-Based test (15%) (Learning outcomes 8, 9, a,d, i)

Lecture notes and papers given out in lectures
Tutorial materials, case studies and worksheets
A PC word processing package (e.g. MS Word)
The World Wide Web, electronic journals and bibliographic databases (e.g. BIDS)
Journals kept in the library (e.g Journal of IT).CISCO Local Academies Only
On-line learning material provided by CISCO Inc
CISCO Networking Academy programme assessment server
Networking equipment in lab
Laboratory exercise sheets provided by course instructorNon CISCO AcademiesThree stand alone PC's with NIC's (Admin access)4 port 10Mbps hubPC's with Command interface (DOS/ UNIX/ LINUX)Router and switch ( if possible)

Your contact time will be broken down into lectures (48 hours) and tutorials (24 hours). The core material and guided reference to other sources of information (e.g. journals and text books) will be delivered in lectures. The tutorials will give you the opportunity to put into practice some of the things you will have covered in lectures and in the guided reading. You will gain experience of the use of case studies in analysing business networking practice.Second hal fSelf directed study using web resources to investigate and complete tutorial work. Practical work will be used to enhance and provide demonstrations of the material. If the module is taught by a CISCO local academy then the module is supplemented with the CCNA on line material and all practical work will take place in a CISCO lab, or using equipment from it.

1. Devise a set of practical points of evaluation for a basic commercial network around which realistic network plans can be made
2. Apply some techniques for acquiring and developing an IS/IT infrastructure to support the corporate information resource of a typical organisation
3. Demonstrate the effective use of some techniques of facilities and operations management
4. Use such measures as may be appropriate to protect the information resource and maintain a secure system in a typical organisation
5. Perform Switch and VLAN troubleshooting
6. Describe various switch configuration concepts
7. Knowledge of VLAN concepts and configurations
8. Design LAN's based on switch / VLAN configurations
9. Knowledge of and ability to apply access list within a network to facilitate security
10. Basic knowledge of Novell IPX protocol

AND BE ASSESSED IN THE FOLLOWING COMMON SKILLS COMPETENCES

a. 2. Manage own time in achieving objectives
b. 7. Work effectively as a member of a team
c. 8. Receive & respond to a variety of information
d. 14. Identify & solve routine & non-routine problems
e. 16. Use a range of technological equipment & systems
f. 18. Use a range of thought processes
g. 10 Communicate in writing
h. 12 Use information sources
i. 13 Deal with a combination of routine and non-routine tasks
j. 15 Apply numerical skills and techniques.

Business communications networks; setting business criteria, profiling business user requirements
Managing IT infrastructures: configurations and architectures, client/server models and intranets
Hardware/software migration and re-engineering
Vendor and operations management; hardware and software acquisition and contracts
Outsourcing, facilities management, service level monitoring
Legal and contractual obligations
Open systems strategy; vendor independence and applications transparency, portability strategies and options.
Security and risk management: risk analysis, prevention, detection and recovery
Implementation of security measures
Contingency planning, standby and backup
The OSI reference model and routine
LAN switching
Introduction to VLANs
VLAN design
Routing protocols: IGRP
Router access control lists
Novell IPX protocol
Network management and associated toolsIf the module is delivered by a CISCO Local Academy, then the second half of the module is the third quarter of the progression towards being prepared for the CISCO Certified network Associate Exam. (CCNA). This satisfies the Common Skills 3 requirement of undertaking professional and career development.

A ASSIGNMENT weighted at 25%.
A CLASS-TEST length 1 HOUR(S) weighted at 25%.
A ASSIGNMENT - SECOND ASSIGNMENT weighted at 10%.
A MULTI-CHOICE TEST length .75 HOUR(S) weighted at 25%.
A TEST length 1 HOUR(S) weighted at 15%.
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