masters in informations systems london

Why choose this course?

This course examines the design, development and management of information systems. You will study how information is used in organisations, who uses it, how it relates to decision making and contributes to organisational objectives.

You will be able recognise and accommodate change and instability in the business and information environment created by social, economic, political and technical developments.

Your studies may include lectures, practical lab work, group working, case studies and presentations. Through the project/dissertation you will gain valuable research skills.Information systems, when used effectively, can give a business or organisation the competitive edge. They can also transform businesses, restructure organisations and streamline business processes. This course seeks to address the shortage of people who can operate at the interface of business and IT, and offers the chance to study a spectrum of relevant business and technical subjects.

Mode	Duration	Attendance	Start date
Full time	1 year	Delivered in 2 separate specific week blocks (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)	September 2021, January and March 2022
Full time	2 years including professional placement	Delivered in 2 separate specific week blocks (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)	September 2021, January and March 2022
Part time	2–3 years	Delivered in 2 separate specific week blocks (Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm)	September 2021, January and March 2022

Location

Penrhyn Road

Continuing students

Students who are continuing their studies with Kingston University in 2021/22 should refer to their Course Handbook for information about specific changes that have been, or may be, made to their course or modules being delivered in 2021/22. Course Handbooks are located within the Canvas Course page.

Reasons to choose Kingston University

• This career-enhancing course is designed to build on your previous experience and education, enabling you to tailor your learning to suit your individual career development, industry background and requirements of your organisation.
• The project/dissertation, where you will study an area of interest in depth, can be an excellent selling point when you seek a job or promotion.
• Course content is informed by an industrial advisory board, ensuring what you learn will meet the demands of business and industry.

Accreditation

The British Computer Society (BCS) accredits this course. This means that you can gain some exemption against BCS professional examinations, leading to Chartered membership and CEng, IEng or CSci status. For full details of exemption and accreditation levels, please check the BCS course search.

The Faculty is a long-time member of BCS. For many years we have hosted meetings of the local BCS Kingston and Croydon Branch, contributing to members’ continuing professional development programmes.

Please note: The programme delivered at our partner institution overseas is not currently accredited by the BCS.

What you will study

You will study the design, development and management of information systems to enable you to recognise and accommodate the increased rate of change and instability in the business and information environment created by social, economic, political and technical changes. You will gain an understanding of how information is used within an organisation, who uses it, the nature of the information, how it relates to decision making and how it contributes to organisational goals and objectives.

The full MSc course consists of an induction programme, four taught modules, and project dissertation. Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list.

For a student to go on placement they are required to pass every module first time with no reassessments. It is the responsibility of individual students to find a suitable paid placement. Students will be supported by our dedicated placement team in securing this opportunity.

Modules

Core modules

Modelling Enterprise Architectures

30 credits

The module focuses on various components of modelling an Enterprise Architecture. It deals with modelling the business and the underlying information and software system to support the business. It follows the object-oriented paradigm for the development lifecycle, and utilises UML as the modelling language. Indicative contents include aspects of enterprise architectures, business analysis, business modelling, business process reengineering, requirements engineering, object oriented concepts and principles and UML.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

• Critically evaluate and utilise a specific enterprise architecture framework.
• Apply the principles of requirements engineering to capture, priorities, model and document functional and non-functional requirements, whilst appropriately collaborating with relevant stakeholders.
• Perform business analysis and business process reengineering to develop business models.
• Critically evaluate and utilise a software development lifecycle.
• Apply object oriented development concepts, tools and techniques utilising the UML modelling language.
• Critically evaluate and utilise research methods, tools and techniques, taking into account legal, professional and ethical issues in the development of information and software systems.

Data Management and Governance

30 credits

This core module looks at ways organisations manage, store and secure data. Different approaches and methods will be explored to model data requirements into entity-relationship diagrams, logical diagrams and normalisation.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

• Explain the fundamental concepts of data modelling and database design and implementation.
• Translate process models and systems requirement models into a database design using class diagrams and entity relationship diagrams and write SQL statements for the definition, access and control of data.
• Evaluate different approaches to the storage and management of unstructured data such as images and multimedia data.
• Critically assess information governance within the context of different organisations.
• Describe and deploy data encryption techniques suitable for encrypting, signing and protecting data and highlight their correct usages and understand the principles and techniques of steganography, and how these can be used.
• Evaluate the security risks presented by computer networks and understand the role of vulnerability assessment tools and other security-related software and be able to put them to use and design and deploy a firewall to secure a network.

Project Dissertation

60 credits

This module constitutes the major individual piece of work of the Masters Programme where the student carries out a project involving independent critical research, design and implementation (where applicable).

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

• Select, justify and use effectively the research methods and techniques appropriate for particular cases in order to carry out a literature search and an independent work of research
• Critically identify the need to position their research in the wider academic or business context and structure the dissertation format to agreed conventions
• Plan, manage and critically evaluate the project using the techniques and tools needed in order to bring it in successfully on time and within resourcing limits
• Identify and critically analyse real-world problems or knowledge gaps to which academic concepts and methods can be realistically applied to improve or resolve the problem situation
• Apply skills to show an ability to engage in academic and professional communication with others in their field through report and presentation
• Present critical awareness in applying appropriate legal, social or ethical obligations and when required, respond to the financial and other constraints of a corresponding business environment.

eBusiness Strategy and Implementation

30 credits

This core module introduces IS strategies and their importance to business organisations in the current competitive global economic environment. As IS affect the structure and operations of markets and organisations an introduction to integrated enterprise systems and their role in shaping the structure of current competitive organisations focusing on standards, technical delivery architectures, implementation and related issues.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

• Analyse the current competitive environment using appropriate techniques and identify opportunities to provide competitive advantage by implementing information systems.
• Propose and evaluate IS solutions that could add value to organisations.
• Identify change management issues and plan appropriate steps in order to implement strategic IS solutions.
• Evaluate the opportunities that technology provides for the creation and delivery of integrated IS.
• Critically analyse the technical features of integrated IS along with their associated professionalism issues.

Agile Project Development

30 credits

This core module focuses on various approaches to agile development and deals with agile project and risk management, techniques, documentation and testing.

On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:

• Critically analyse and explain the concepts, strengths, limitations and suitability of agile development techniques.
• Develop appropriate use of project management qualitative techniques within an agile framework, such as feasibility study, planning, control and estimating, risk management and configuration management and quantitative techniques such as PERT and CPN.
• Apply management and team-building techniques to appropriately managing an information systems development project.
• Select and apply object oriented development techniques within an agile development environment.
• Critically discuss social and professional issues associated with information systems project and risk management.
• Manage the development of a system by applying an agile framework.

Entry requirements

Typical offer

• Good honours degree or equivalent in an IS/IT subject or substantial work experience.

Please note: each application is assessed on an individual basis and may be subject to additional requirements, such as undertaking short course(s), work experience and/or English language qualification(s). Meeting particular minimum entry requirements does not automatically guarantee a place.

International

In order to complete your programme successfully, it is important to have a good command of English and be able to apply this in an academic environment. Therefore, if you are a non-UK applicant* you will usually be required to provide certificated proof of English language competence before commencing your studies.

For this course you must pass IELTS academic test in English with an overall score of 6.5, with no element below 6.0, or meet the scores listed on the alternative online tests. Please note that we do not accept Standard XII as proof of Academic English.

Applicants who do not meet the English language requirements may be eligible to join our pre-sessional English language course.

Please make sure you read our full guidance about English language requirements, which includes details of other qualifications we’ll consider.

* Applicants from one of the recognised majority English speaking countries (MESCs) do not need to meet these requirements.