Course Overview

This course is also available as an e-learning course.

Foundation in Systems Development

The Foundation Certificate in Systems Development encompasses a broad range of approaches, tools and techniques used in the development of IT solutions. This course covers the topics contained within the BCS (ISEB) syllabus and provides participants with the knowledge that underpins the higher level Solution Development qualifications.

BCS Professional Certifications

This course prepares participants to sit the one-hour, multiple-choice examination leading to the Foundation Certificate in Systems Development which is part of the BCS Professional Certification portfolio (ISEB). This certificate is a specialist module for the Diploma in Solution Development.

Course Content

1. Introduction to systems development
   • What is systems development
   • The scope of systems development
   • Systems development and other disciplines
   • Offshoring and outsourcing of systems development work
2. Lifecycle types and their rationales
   • Systems development lifecycles in concept
   • Lifecycles – waterfall, ‘V’ model, incremental development model, evolutionary development model
   • The Unified Process
   • Systems development lifecycles compared
   • Adaptation and customisation of the lifecycles
   • Roles and responsibilities in systems development
   • Project lifecycles
   • The project manager in systems development
   • Terms of reference
3. Business analysis
   • Business analysis defined
   • Business analysis in the systems development lifecycle
   • Outcomes from business analysis
4. Requirements engineering
   • Introduction to requirements engineering and its key areas
   • Requirements elicitation techniques
   • Types of requirements
   • Prioritising requirements
   • Managing requirements
   • Analysing and validating requirements
5. Making a business case
   • Introduction – the role of a business case
   • Assessing feasibility
   • Elements of a business case
   • Identifying, evaluating and selecting options
   • Cost/benefit analysis
   • Impact and risk analysis
6. Programming and development approaches
   • Drivers affecting the choice of approach
   • Approaches described: agile software development; object-oriented development; service-oriented development; open source development; Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions
7. Systems modelling and specification techniques
   • Reasons for modelling; modelling from different perspectives
   • Modelling process and business rules
   • Modelling static data
   • Modelling dynamic behaviour
   • Modelling the user interface
   • Cross-referencing different modelling techniques
   • Documentation and specification
8. Systems design
   • Systems design in context
   • Objectives and constraints of design
   • Input design
   • Input technology
   • Output technology
   • Process design
   • Data design
   • Code design
   • Security design
9. Systems architecture
   • What is systems architecture? Types of architecture
   • Stakeholders and roles in architecture
   • Management of the architecture
   • The tiered approach to an IT systems development
   • Service-oriented architecture and service-oriented development applications
10. Implementation and changeover
    • File and data creation
    • Supporting documentation
    • Training
    • System implementation
11. Systems development and delivery: evaluation and maintenance
    • Maintenance in the systems development lifecycle
    • Metrics for evaluating a software project
    • Post-project review
    • Testing in the maintenance stage
12. Software support tools
    • Configuration management tools
    • Computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools
    • Computer aided software testing (CAST) tools
    • Advantages and disadvantages of computerised support tools