Enterprise Systems

This subject is not offered in 2011.

10 hours per week during the 12 teaching weeks of semester, plus study for examination.

The students are expected to devote about 10 hours per week to this subject. In addition to attending the weekly 3-hour classes, students are expected to spend approximately 7 hours each week on reading, preparing for classes, and completing assignments.

Students who are enrolled in the two year 200 point Master of Information Systems must have completed 50 points of study to enrol in this subject.

Organizations around the world are increasingly turning to packaged enterprise application software vendors to provide computer-based applications to support their core business processes. Twenty years ago most such computer-based information systems were custom built. Today, most core systems are built around packaged software. The generic name for the suite of packaged-software-based systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems is Enterprise Systems.

In this subject we explore the enterprise systems phenomenon in considerable detail. Our goal is to understand the advantages and limitations of enterprise systems, how best to implement packaged enterprise application software (PEAS), and future directions that PEAS are likely to head as vendors respond to market pressures for integration between heterogenous information systems. Students will normally undertake approximately 30 hours of hands-on exercises with software from a leading vendor, SAP.

This subject provides students with an understanding of the nature of enterprise systems and their implementation within organizations. Topics include:

• Introduction to Enterprise Systems
• Implementing Enterprise Systems
• Benefits from Enterprise Systems
• Organizational Issues with Enterprise Systems
• Future Issues for Enterprise Systems

At the conclusion of this subject students should have:

• a good understanding of the capabilities of enterprise-wide ICT-based application software, e.g., enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM);
• an appreciation of the factors that need to be managed if enterprise-wide software is to be implemented on time, within budget, and produce on-going benefits for its host organization;
• a sense of the likely direction of technological innovations such as services-oriented architecture (SOA) on future enterprise system architectures;
• a good working knowledge of the core functionality provided by one of the most popular enterprise application software packages, SAP ERP.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

The key generic skill that students will develop in this subject is argument analysis. The ability to evaluate evidence that authors provide to support their arguments—-use of the so-called "scientific method"—-is one of the most important skills a person can develop. It is what has enabled human beings to progress from living in caves to living in the increasingly complex and prosperous world in which we live today. Additionally, students will also improve skills in oral and written communication, and in the application of theory to practice.