Strategic Information Systems with Placement – (M.Sc.)

The programme is designed for professionals who have gained either a computing or related degree or relevant industrial experience. You may be seeking to update your technical skills, develop project management expertise, improve management capabilities or gain a prestigious qualification that will help achieve your career aspirations. Students on this course come from a range of first degrees, backgrounds, countries and age groups, which makes for a diverse and stimulating learning environment.

In order to understand the business, managerial and ever-changing technical systems of large-scale, complex IT challenges and how they influence each other as part of an organisation, this degree provides an introduction to Systems Thinking.

Systems Thinking is a powerful and flexible concept which allows a deeper understanding of complexity in any system. Its holistic viewpoint seeks to represent any system as a whole, rather than reducing it to its constituent parts. After all, dependent systems such as IT infrastructure and mission critical processes together often exhibit properties that none of their individual parts may have. For example, understanding how a database works does not describe its contribution to business goals.

You will develop methods of framing problems to better understand the business IT factors which affect an organisation's aspirations and environment (for example when building a business case, applying security settings, choosing software platform or supplier). Using tools such as Soft Systems Methodology and System Dynamics you will learn to identify the risks and opportunities for organisations and to avoid systemic failures. The Systems Thinking approach is a well-regarded, transferable skill that can bring clarity and precision to business decision making and management debates.

As well as developing core themes such as the alignment of IT strategy with business needs and the opportunities offered by electronic business, you may choose from a list of optional modules that include managing data using industry standard products such as Oracle™, the fundamentals of cloud computing and further Systems Thinking.

Full time students may choose to apply for a paid 12-month work placement to be undertaken on completion of Spring semester and before completing the MSc programme with a 60 credit dissertation. Subject to satisfactory progress, we will support you with our professional and experienced work placement consultants who aim to satisfy your individual preferences. You will gain professional recognition of your placement through our accredited internship programme.

Special Features:
* Teaching by the School's own experienced practitioners in Systems Thinking and its associated methodologies is supported by workshops run by internationally recognised experts.
* Practitioner-led modules integrate the latest research ideas with current best practice.
* This degree is recognised by the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.
* Small teaching groups ensure that tutors are able to devote individual attention to each student.