Link: Fairfield University HomeSchool of Engineering
School of Engineering > Faculty > Professor Rino Nori > GK 415 Information Systems
Link: About FairfieldLink: AdmissionLink: AcademicsLink: AthleticsLink: Student LifeLink: Arts & EnrichmentLink: Administration


engineering

GK 415 Information Systems


Course Name & Number: Information Systems GK415   
Instructor: Rino Nori
 
Business Phone & Address: 24 Camp Avenue, #4349
Stamford, CT 06907-0349
Telephone: (203) 329-7013
E-mail: rnori@noriassociates.com  (Prefix subject with "Rino_Fairfield:")
 
Instructor Assistance: 30 minutes before and after class 
Lecture Hours & Dates: 15 classes: Mondays, 6:30-9:30 p.m. 
Lecture Location: Bannow 341 
Lab Hours & Location: Included within the lecture, same room as the lecture room.
 
Required Texts:
T1) Managing Information Technology (4th Edition), Martin/Brown/DeHayes/Hoffer and Perkins, Prentice Hall 2002, ISBN: 0-13-064636-9.
T2) Modern Systems Analysis & Design, 3e by Hoffer, George, Valacich, Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN: 0-13-033990-3.
R1) Designing Software For Distributed Systems, by John Porter, Chapter 5 Reprint, obtained from BEI School of Engineering 
 
Optional Texts: If desired, the student may refer to the following textbooks for added insight and information regarding the domain of this course. There will be no assignments from these textbooks, they are provided purely as a list of added readings should the student desire advanced knowledge.
 
O1) Executives Guide to E-Business, From Tactics to Strategy
O2) Object Oriented Methods Principles & Practice, 3rd Edition
O3) Accounting Information Systems, 5th Edition
 
Course Description: This course presents current Information Technology (IT) topics designed to enable one with knowledge vital to a successful career as a manager. The student is provided with a knowledge of: hardware and software fundamentals, system categories, overviews of programming languages, networks and communications concepts, e-commerce concepts, distributed computing, middleware, database technology, ERP with an overview of the SAP product, system planning, systems development methodologies, traditional and object oriented analysis and design techniques, software package evaluation & selection techniques, IT management issues and practices. In class case studies are discussed; in class lab sessions are used to provide hands on experience in design tasks. This course provides the student with both conceptual and managerial knowledge as well as practical hands on knowledge, useful in joint project team settings.
 
Prerequisites: General knowledge of IT concepts.
Course Objectives And Learning Outcomes (LO):
 
1: To provide the non-IT practitioner a knowledge of current IT practices and capabilities as well as a sense of common business issues affecting IT.
 
At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to better: lead or participate in company projects, define his system requirements, interface with system designers and architects, plan and budget for IT related expenditures, plan for and manage the IT activities within his organization.

Course Requirements: Timely and satisfactory completion of the student project, homework and exams. Active and successful class participation. Students are required to attend classes. Students are required to obtain notes and other information from classmates in case of absence. Students are required to take notes, copies of the instructor material will not be provided. Students may have to perform some research on the web or at their place of business.
 
Course Details:
 
Lessons: Fifteen three hour lessons, each lesson including lecture material, instructor demonstrations, and student hands on development of design work products.
 
Homework: Fourteen reading and/or written assignments covering items described in lessons 1-14.
 
Each written assignment will include ten free form questions or exercises related to topics covered in the lesson. The reading assignment will similarly address topics covered in the lesson. The reading assignment will be based upon select textbook material and/or information available on the web. It is advised that one read the reading assignment in advance of the class, as that will aid in class discussions and participation. The reading assignment should also be read after the class to reinforce learning and to assist with the homework.
 
Grading of the written homework assignments will be based upon the number of correct answers, with each correct answer being worth 10 points. Prior week homework assignments will be reviewed at the beginning of each class. The assignments will be exchanged amongst students, reviewed and graded, thus providing a review of the prior week's lesson.
   
Written homework assignments will be provided to the students at the end of each class. It is the student's responsibility to obtain a "buddy" who can be relied upon to bring the homework assignment to the student and/or to bring the completed homework assignment to class. A late homework is assigned a zero grade.
 
Project: One independent student research paper on a contemporary Information Technology topic. 
 
On the first day of class each student will select (or be assigned) a topic for which to research, prepare a brief report and oral presentation. The topic will be a contemporary issue facing Information Technology management and is designed to allow students to learn how to research contemporary matters and then share it with their colleagues. Each student will be asked to prepare a clear written report for the instructor, and will also be asked to be ready to present it to the class within a 15-25 minute timeframe plus 5-10 minutes for student questions.
 
Exams: Three 75 minute exams: At the beginning of lessons 5, 10, and 15.
 
The objective of each exam will be to measure and review knowledge learned during lessons 1-4, 5-9, and 10-14 respectively. The exam policy will be to allow students the use of online references and/or text material as required (but no notes or homework assignments) thus further reinforcing the student's ability of using references. 
 
 
Grading: The course grade will be based upon a composite average of the following:
-  Each of the three exams, normalized to 100, is worth 25% of the final grade
-  The homework assignments, less the lowest two, normalized to 100, are worth 20% of the final grade.
-  The student project, normalized to 100, is worth 5% of the final grade.
The final grade, based upon the above composite and subject to class participation and other considerations, will be:

A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79 
C 73-76 
C- 70-72
F Below 70
I Incomplete
W Withdrawal

Student Research Project Requirement:
 
Each student is required to undertake one of the topics and submit a research report by the beginning of the 7th class. All written reports must be submitted at that time (or earlier if desired). At that time all students will also be prepared to render a presentation. Presentations will be given during the balance of the semester at the professor's discretion based upon available time. If students wish, they can volunteer to render their report and presentation prior to the 7th lecture.
 
Student Research Project Report:
The report shall be a formal report, seven to fifteen pages of text plus as required charts, schedules and attachments. The report should include the following sections:
I) Topic Addressed by the Report
II) Executive Overview of Findings & Conclusions
III) Work Performed and Approximate Number of Hours Invested.
IV) Detailed Findings
V) Appendix of Charts, Illustrations, References, etc.
 
A hard copy and a soft copy of the report shall be provided to the professor. The soft copy will be emailed to the professor.
 
Student Research Project Presentation:
The presentation shall span 15-25 minutes plus a 5-10 minute question and answer period. The purpose of the presentation, to the class, will be to share the findings of the research with the class. Visual aids are recommended, and the class transparency projector can be used. 
 
Student Research Project Grading:
The class shall evaluate the presentation on the basis of: Clarity, Completeness; Correctness; Organization; Effectiveness of Presentation. The written report shall be evaluated similarly by the professor. The project grade will be a blend of the professor's evaluation of the report and the class's evaluation of the presentation.
 
Available Topics:
Students may select ONE topic from either of the two lists of available topics: "Software Package Review" focus or "Other Areas" of focus. No two students may choose the same topic. Topic selection must be approved by the professor.
 
Available Topics, Other Areas of Focus:
1) "Grid (Utility) Computing"; description, examples, when & how to use, hardware software, economics.
2) "Budgetary IT Spending Outlook for 2003-04"; an analysis by industry, size of company, project type.
3) IT Yardsticks & Measurement Metrics by Industry, size of company, type of organization, etc.
4) Equity trading "straight-through-processing" cycle and "t+1" concept; description, examples, economics, providers, hardware and software, other.
5) B2B alternatives: software vendors, service providers, other.
6) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use BEA products.
7) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Ariba products.
8) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Click Commerce products.
9) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Documentum products.
10) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use E.Piphanyproducts.
11) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use I2Technologies products.
12) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Kana Software products.
13) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Peregrine products.
14) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Silver Stream products.
15) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Teletech products.
16) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Vignette products.
17) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use Webmethods products.
18) Overview, description, assessment and when or why to use IBM Websphere products.
19) Overview, description, capacity, performance, scalability, costs of the IBM server line
20) Overview, description, capacity, performance, scalability, costs of the SUN server line
21) Overview, description, capacity, performance, scalability, costs of the COMPAQ server line
22) Overview, description, capacity, performance, scalability, costs of the HP server line
23) Overview, description, capacity, performance, scalability, costs of the DELL server line
 
Reports on the above should follow the general format outlined earlier and will vary based upon the topic selected.
 
Available Topics, Software Package Review focus:
1) PC based small business accounting software package reviews.
2) PC based small business manufacturing software package reviews.
3) PC based small business payroll and HR software package reviews.
4) PC based small business CRM software package reviews.
5) PC based small business Data Warehouse product reviews.
6) AS/400 or Unix or NT mid sized business accounting software package reviews.
7) AS/400 or Unix or NT mid sized business manufacturing software package reviews.
8) AS/400 or Unix or NT mid sized business payroll and HR software package reviews.
9) AS/400 or Unix or NT mid sized business CRM software package reviews.
10) AS/400 or Unix or NT mid sized business Data Warehouse software package reviews
11) Mainframe accounting software package reviews.
12) Mainframe manufacturing software package reviews.
13) Mainframe payroll and HR software package reviews.
14) Mainframe CRM software package reviews.
15) Materials Management (Inventory, Warehousing, Purchasing) Systems.
16) Financial Services Operational Systems (Trading, Bonds, Portfolio Management, etc.)
17) Hospital Financial Systems.
18) Hospital Operational Management Systems.
19) Insurance Management Systems (Health Care focus, Life Insurance focus, etc.)
20) Physicians and HMO practice management systems.
 
The software reviews should address the following matters:

  • Current version name and release date; Expected next versions number and release date, Date first released and release number
  • Key functions comparisons of the major modules, web availability of each module
  • Description of the major inputs & outputs & security aspects of each module
  • Lowest entry level price; Price range or scheme
  • Number of users worldwide, number of install worldwide, user group contact
  • Hardware requirements (minimum/maximum); Software requirements (OS, network, etc.)
  • Implementation effort requirement (range of personnel effort, range of costs, elapsed time)
  • Maintenance agreement costs & coverage
  • ASP availability (if applicable)
  • Free demo availability
  • Product name, Company name, address, phone number, contact name for added info
  • Web site URL
  • Target customer profile (size of business, type of industry, etc.)
  • Customizable or not; Parameter driven (configurable) or not
  • Third Party evaluation or feedback comments or other information on it or the vendor
  • Overall assessment: who should buy it, what makes it unique