Course description
In an increasingly competitive business environment, organisations need to make disparate software systems work together in a dynamic way in order to support new and innovative enterprise-level business processes. To date, making systems work together like this has proved to be expensive and time-consuming, with system integration activities often costing significantly more than standard application development. Importantly, traditional integration activities do not naturally support the definition and rapid assembly of innovative business processes in the way that many organisations would like to see.
In response, many organisations and technology providers are promoting a ‘service-oriented’ approach to integrating systems – both within and across enterprises. The approach seeks to fuse business semantics (definitions that describe the business in a consistent way) and Web services in a way that allows much more flexibility in the development of innovative, enterprise-level business processes. From a global perspective, the purpose is to provide standard definitions and ways of doing things that allows enterprises and parts of an enterprise to act independently but work together.
Course Details
In brief, your studies on the course will cover:
Professional Development and Research, which aims to develop knowledge and skills to support the continuous learning and competence improvement necessary for ongoing success in commercial and academic environments. Example topics of study include learning to learn, approaches to teamwork, approaches to critical evaluation and research methods.
Business Modelling, which cultivates skills and knowledge related to business, conceptual and software modelling. Example topics of study include different paradigms for modelling (including business services, processes and objects), techniques for modelling the business domain and business behaviour, the relationship between business modelling and software modelling and the use of the Unified Modelling Language (UML).
ERP Systems Theory and Practice, which examines the rationale, theories and practices around Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) and develops the knowledge required to understand the forces driving ERP design and implementation. Example topics of study include enterprise systems strategy and rationale, issues of organisational implementation and business services, processes and functions from an ERP perspective. The module provides an introduction to the SAP R/3 environment and the practice of business process integration in that environment.
ERP Systems Deployment and Configuration, which examines the implications of implementing ERP systems in organisations and develops the key skills necessary to deploy and configure ERP systems. Example topics of study include business process improvement alongside enterprise systems configuration and configuration management (including Master Data Management, business services, processes and functions). The module examines practical aspects of configuration in the context of the SAP R/3 environment.
Service-oriented Architecture, which examines the organisational impact of service-oriented approaches and the technologies necessary for the successful implementation of enterprise and Web services. Example topics of study include issues in creating and managing a system landscape based on services, architectural approaches to service-orientation and Web service technologies (including semantic Web services). Practical aspects of Web service implementation are examined in the context of integration via the SAP Netweaver environment.
Data Management and Business Intelligence, which aims to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to support the development of business intelligence solutions in modern organisational environments. Example topics of study include issues in data/information/knowledge management, approaches to information integration and business analytics. Practical aspects of the subject are examined in the context of the SAP Netweaver and Business Warehouse environment.
Systems project management, which aims to develop a critical awareness of the central issues and challenges in information systems project management. Example topics of study include traditional project management techniques and approaches, the relations between projects and business strategy, the role and assumptions underpinning traditional approaches and the ways in which the state-of-the-art can be improved.
Business Integration, which aims to develop a critical understanding of the issues of integrating people, process and technology systems both within and across organisational contexts. Example topics of study include the dimensions of business integration, collaborative working and its issues, virtual organisations, electronic markets and commerce policy.
Dissertation
In addition, provided that you have reached an acceptable standard in the assessments and examinations, you may then undertake a dissertation. Work on a dissertation for this course will normally involve an in-depth study in the area of distributed information systems and computing (eg a state-of-the-art review together with appropriate software development) and provides you with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your expertise in this area to future employers or as a basis for future PhD study.
Awards
A Master's degree is awarded if you reach the necessary standard on the taught part of the course and submit a dissertation of the required standard. If you do not achieve the standard required, you may be awarded a Graduate/Postgraduate Diploma or Certificate if eligible.
Special Features
The passion to pursue doctoral-level research and development is always apparent in some students. Consequently, as well as preparing you for employment, our Master's programmes are also geared towards preparing you to undertake a PhD in an applicable area. You’ll pick up a range of research skills throughout the course which will culminate in a dissertation, where you will undertake in-depth study of an area of interest to you (which is relevant to your course). This may form the basis of a research proposal for a PhD, should you wish to embark in this direction.
Teaching Methods
A variety of teaching methods are used on the programme, which include lectures, seminars, structured discussions and self-directed study guided by us. You will gain practical experience in workshops/laboratory sessions and through the use of case-study material and scenarios centred on real world problems.
Careers
Our Master's programmes aim to equip you with the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment. Each course is developed with industry in mind and has one or more industrial advisers who are involved in course development and delivery. The jobs that require the knowledge and skills that you will learn on this will equip you to work in areas such as business analysis, business process management, ERP implementation and customisation, systems integration and support and technology-led change management.
"SAP and Brunel University have enjoyed a very rewarding relationship for a number of years. The incorporation of SAP within Brunel’s MSc Business Systems Integration means that students can gain access to the world’s most sophisticated business management software as part of their core studies at a leading UK University. This enables students to integrate theoretical and systems learning with practical hands-on experience of the leading business management system. Future employers, whether they be large enterprise SAP users or consulting firms with major SAP practices such as Accenture or IBM, will be impressed with the ability to draw on real SAP knowledge as part of the study of systems integration and implementation issues. We are certainly very happy to continue to work with one of the UK’s leading universities."
Martin Gollogly, Director of University Alliances, UK, Ireland and Nordics
