Systems Acquisition & Implementation Management
HIT8410
Overview
To enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into a course from the provider.
Read before you start
Level of study: What does Postgraduate mean?
Postgraduate
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
Domestic student fee:
$2,200.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$2,425.00 (AUD)
Description
This unit aims to explore and develop a strong understanding of the issues involved in selecting, purchasing and implementing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software packages. Students will gain an understanding of the differing ways in which an organisation can go about acquiring software, and learn to match particular approaches to suit particular organisational contexts. Issues associated with requirements specification and package selection, vendor selection and management, contract negotiation and management, project management of the organisational implementation of the package software, and change management are also covered in detail.
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Prerequisites
You should complete a university unit covering requirements analysis and modelling before commencing this unit.
Assessment
- Assignment 1 (20%)
- Assignment 2 (20%)
- Assignment 3 (20%)
- Invigilated Exam (40%)
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- demonstrate knowledge of the issues and options available to providing organisational IT services
- evaluate the pros and cons of differing approaches to acquiring systems, and demonstrate an ability to match particular approaches to particular organisational contexts
- discuss the issues associated with package selection, including requirements specification, selection criteria, vendor due diligence, and apply tools and techniques to business cases
- demonstrate an understanding of the principles and processes involved in IS vendor selection and management, and IS contract negotiation and management
- explain the major issues and human concerns in IS-related organisational transformation, identify causes of human resistance to change, and to show an ability to identify and implement steps to effectively manage IS-related change in an organisation
- understand approaches and frameworks for implementing systems in organisations, and appreciate the purpose and approaches to post implementation reviews
- compare various approaches to user education, training and documentation
- understand the challenges involved in managing large implementation projects involving customisation and configuration of large software packages.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Understanding business needs and drivers for replacement of systems |
| 2 | Build versus buy decisions, selecting commercial off the shelf software (COTS) and vendors |
| 3 | Functionality gaps and modification issues |
| 4 | Legal issues, contracts, licences, professional service agreements and negotiating |
| 5 | Integration and implementation approaches and considerations |
| 6 | Risk management during the acquisition and implementation of COTS |
| 7 | Building and selling a business case, benefits management and prioritising projects |
| 8 | Implementation options, leadership and processes |
| 9 | Planning implementation projects |
| 10 | Leadership and management of IS driven change and innovation |
| 11 | Software installation, configuration, interfaces |
| 12 | Management of common software issues, versions and patches, instances, bugs, gaps |
| 13 | Acquisition and implementation project reporting, and reporting management within COTS |
| 14 | Documentation and training in COTS implementations |
| 15 | Responses to and recovering COTS implementation projects in difficulties |
| 16 | Preparing to go live with new COTS, the cut over process |
| 17 | Post implementation support and project evaluation |
| 18 | Setting up for ongoing COTS maintenance and user support |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Blogs
- Chat rooms
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Online Quizzes/Tests
- Online assignment submission
- Podcasting/Lecture capture
- Standard Media
- Streaming Multimedia
- Web links
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
By:Tayntor Christine B.
ISBN: -
Format:Print
Supplier:Go to Unibooks
Recommended textbooks
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
