Anyone seeking a broad understanding of the terminology, concepts, techniques, standards, frameworks and processes involved in the development of modern digital software applications.

It is anticipated that this certification will appeal to individuals undertaking a range of job roles including, but not limited to: software developer / software engineer, software tester / test engineer, business analyst, systems analyst, solution architect, product owner, Scrum master, systems development manager, IT service delivery manager.

The Foundation in Digital Solution Development course provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles, practices, and technologies involved in modern digital solution development, covering the complete development lifecycle from concept to deployment.

The course sessions are interactive with group discussions and sample exam questions to reinforce key concepts and prepare candidates for the BCS examination.

Participants receive a detailed course manual covering all syllabus topics, supported by a glossary of essential terminology and acronyms. 
 

Upon completion of this workshop participants shall be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The lifecycle, context, and scope of digital solution development within modern enterprises, including the various options for acquiring, implementing and maintaining them.
• Requirements engineering as a discipline for defining digital solutions, encompassing frameworks, guiding principles, and industry best practices.
• User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design fundamentals including practices for transforming user needs and business goals into intuitive and accessible digital experiences.
• The role of architecture in digital solution design, including software architecture patterns, modelling, technologies and governance.
• Core software engineering concepts, principles and practices for building high quality digital solutions.
• The importance of quality assurance and control in digital solution development, and the role of software testing in ensuring the reliability, security, performance and functional correctness of digital services.
• The significance of cybersecurity in the development of digital solutions, the consequences of security breaches and how security regimes, controls and secure coding practices can be used for ensuring application security.
   

Here's a quick guide to the topics covered on each day of the course.
 

Yes. During this course you’ll receive all the training you need to prepare for the BCS Foundation Certificate in Digital Solution Development multiple choice examination. 

The exam will be taken remotely using an online proctoring service. This 1 hour 'closed book' exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with a pass mark of 26/40.

For virtual courses a printed copy of the latest edition of the comprehensive course manual will be sent to your home address in good time for the start of your course. Our delegates tell us that having access to a physical document is beneficial as both a reference document and for taking notes during the course. In addition, a link will be emailed to you to enable you to access an electronic copy of the same comprehensive manual for convenient future reference.

If this course is part of your BCS Diploma in Solution Development programme you have a choice of further modules which include the core SD Diploma modules, Systems Development Essentials and Systems Modelling Techniques. Candidates who have already completed Foundation in Digital Solution Development also need to pass one of the Specialist Practitioner modules, from Business Analysis Practice and Systems Design Techniques. The structure of the certification is shown here.

Foundation in Digital Solution Development (a three-day course)

Introduction to digital solutions

• Definitions of ‘digital service’ and ‘digital solution’
• Types of software – application software, system software, other
• Characteristics of a digital solution
• The digital service lifecycle

Strategic context for digital solution development

• Internal and external drivers for organisational strategy
• The link between strategy and business change
• The relationship between business change and digital solutions

Factors influencing approaches to digital solution development

• A contingency approach
• The Cone of Uncertainty
• The time-cost-features compromise
• Predictability and ceremony
• Constraints affecting digital solution development
• Enterprise frameworks shaping digital solution development
• SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) frameworks

Acquiring digital solutions

• Options for acquiring a digital solution – bespoke, commercial/modified off-the-shelf (COTS/MOTS), component-based (hybrid), enterprise/’best of breed’ solutions (ERP and CRM), cloud-based solutions
• Factors influencing the choice of option

Requirements engineering as a discipline for defining digital solutions

• Rationale for requirements engineering (RE)
• RE framework and activities
• Sources of requirements
• Requirement quality criteria - INVEST
• Types of requirements - functional and non-functional
• Requirements modelling and documentation, including epics, user stories, use cases, data models and process models
• Requirements management techniques, including the role of backlogs, story splitting, MoSCoW prioritisation, traceability Sprint planning and burndown charts

Digital solution architecture and design

• What is architecture?
• Key concepts - service, interface, coupling and cohesion
• Benefits of using software architecture patterns, issues and design trade-offs between monolithic and distributed architectures
• Popular software architecture patterns - service-oriented architecture, model-view-controller (MVC), hexagonal architecture
• Components of a digital solution - web services, microservices and APIs (application programming interfaces)
• Service composition styles – orchestration and choreography

Data architecture and design

• Rationale for data architecture and design
• Data - structured/unstructured, master, transaction and reference
• Information and information systems
• Operations performed on data - Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD)
• Online transaction processing (OLTP) versus online analytical processing (OLAP)
• Modelling data and information, incorporating relational modelling (using Entity-relationship diagrams (ERDs) and Class diagrams), dimensional modelling for OLAP applications, modelling data at rest and data in motion
• Conceptual, logical and physical data models
• Data storage technologies
• Data transmission standards
• Data concurrency and ACID transactions

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design

• Key UX/UI terms
• Usability heuristics and UI principles
• UI paradigms and controls
• Techniques and models for UX analysis and design

Software engineering

• Software engineering cycle
• Programming paradigms – procedural, functional, object-oriented (OO)
• Coding standards, SOLID principles, code quality metrics and code smells (anti-patterns)
• Design patterns
• Managing technical debt
• Code management techniques - version control, code branching, feature flags and configuration files
• Development environments
• Agile manifesto values and core Agile practices

Quality assurance and quality control

• Quality assurance, quality control and quality-oriented activities
• Objectives, principles and limitations of software testing
• Components of a test - test basis, test conditions, test cases
• Testing processes and practices
• Test levels – component/unit, integration, system, acceptance
• Test types – functional, non-functional, black-box, white-box, regression
• Testing quadrants and the Agile Test Pyramid
• Test-Driven Development (TDD)
• Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD)

Deploying digital solutions

• Changeover strategies (direct/’big bang’, parallel, pilot, phased)
• Deployment strategies (on premises deployment, cloud deployment, blue/green deployment, canary release, dark launch)
• Deployment automation and DevOps (continuous integration (CI), continuous delivery/deployment (CD), DevOps cycle)

Managing a digital solution as an IT service

• IT Service Management and ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library)
• Service management activities
• Application monitoring techniques
• Software maintenance – corrective, adaptive, perfective, preventative

Cybersecurity

• The importance of secure systems
• Consequences of security breaches
• Security weaknesses inherent in digital solutions
• Hierarchy of security regimes - enterprise risk management (ERM), business security, cyber security, application security
• Four-step approach to managing security risks
• Security related techniques and best practices relevant to digital solution development, including Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), penetration testing, data encryption, Identity Access Management (IAM) and secure coding practices – OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project)
• Key threat modelling concepts and the role of threat modelling during software design

Is the exam taken during the actual course?

No. The exam can be taken on a date and time of your choice. You will be provided with exam registration details one week before the start of your course. We recommend that you take the exam within two weeks of the end of your course, while the knowledge is fresh.

When will I receive my exam results and certificate?

Exams will be taken online you will find out your result immediately on completion. Then, approximately two weeks after the exam this will be confirmed via the BCS portal and you can print out your certificate.