CSP: I, II, III, VII

CATALOG DESCRIPTION:

This course focuses on the integration of information systems in organizations, the process by which different computing systems and software applications are linked together physically or functionally. It examines the strategies and methods for blending a set of interdependent systems into a functioning or unified whole, thereby enabling two or more applications to interact and exchange data seamlessly. The course will explore tools and techniques for systems integration as well as proven management practices for integration projects.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of this course, students should be able:

• Define the objectives of and issues associated integration of information systems applications.
• Explain alternative strategies for systems integration.
• Identify commonly used tools for integrating information systems, describing the benefits of using each.
• Explain how Web services can aid in systems integration, identifying the underlying tools and technologies that facilitate the creation of such services.
• Discuss the characteristics of systems integration projects, emphasizing the management issues and practices associated with them.
• Identify information systems application and organization characteristics that are most likely to cause an organization to employ a systems integration company to carry out the project work.

 

Courseware

 

Textbook(s)

 

Required: 

 

Main:

§        Beth Gold-Bernstein and William Ruh. Enterprise Integration: The Essential Guide to Integration Solutions. Addison-Wesley, 2005.

Supplementary:

§         Chris Britton and Peter Bye. IT Architectures and Middleware: Strategies for Building Large, Integrated Systems, 2^nd Edition. Addison-Wesley, 2004.

 

Software

      Magic Software iBOLT Integration Suite (the software and temporary licenses will be provided). The software will need MS-SQL Server that is available from the GSU/CIS MSDNAA site (http://msdn.e-academy.com/gsu_cis/).

READINGS:

Suggestions for (optional) reading material will be posted on the course website as the course progresses. Suggestions from students are also appreciated (please email them to the instructor).

Class Schedule

The following class schedule is subject to change.

SN	Date	Topic	Readings	Deliverables
1		- Class participant introductions - Course Overview   Project/Lab: - Assigned Team Case Study Overview - iBOLT Tool Overview	Sample Case Study - Executive Summary   iBOLT Integration Software - iBOLT Brochure -iBOLT System Integrator’s Guide - ebiz iBOLT Product Quicktake - Magic Quadrant for the ISE Market -Integration Technology Vendor Comparison	iBOLT (Individual) Assignment #1 assigned   Student Profile Survey
Part I: Enterprise Integration Drivers, Requirements, and Strategies
2		- The Business Imperative for Enterprise Integration - Business Drivers and Requirements   Project/Lab: - Assigned Team Case Study #1 Overview/Discussion (1) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #1 (1)	- GBR* 1-2 (34 pages)   - BB** Chapter 1 (16 pages)   Sample Case Study #1(1):  - Business Drivers and Requirements Specification	Team Case Study #1 assigned   Teams formed
		Labor Day Holiday
3		Enterprise Integration Strategy   Project/Lab: - Assigned Team Case Study #1 Overview/Discussion (2) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #1 (2)	- GBR Chapter 3 (24 pages)   Sample Case Study #1(2): - Enterprise Integration Strategy Specification
Part II: Enterprise Integration Architecture Specification
4		- Enterprise Integration Architecture Overview - Current Integration Architecture Assessment   - The Emergence of Standard Middleware - Web Services   Project/Lab: Assigned Case Study #1 Presentations/Discussion - Assigned Case Study #2 Overview/Discussion (1) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #2 (1)	- GBR Chapters 4-5 (28 pages)     BB Chapters 2, 4 (42 pages) BB Chapter 3 (optkonal)   Sample Case Study #2(1): - Current Environment Assessment	- Team Case Study #1 due - iBOLT team (Individual) Assignment #1 due   - Team Case Study #2 assigned - iBOLT team (Team) Assignment #2 assigned
5		- A Technical Summary of Middleware - Using Middleware to Build Distributed Applications   Midterm Exam Review	BB Chapters 5-6 (48 pages)
6		Midterm Exam
7		- Technical Integration Architecture   Project/Lab: - Assigned Team Case Study #2 Overview/Discussion (2) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #2 (2)	GBR  Chapter 6 (28 pages)   Sample Case Study #2(2): - Technical Integration Architecture
8		- Service Integration Architecture - Information Integration Architecture -Process Integration Architecture   Project/Lab: Assigned Team Case Study #2 Overview/Discussion (3) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #2 (3)	GBR Chapters 7-9 (64 pages)   Sample Case Study #2(3): - Information Integration  Architecture Specification
		Last day to withdraw
Part III: Enterprise Integration Solution Specification
9		- Application Integration   Project/Lab: - Assigned Case Study #2 Presentations/Discussion - Assigned Team Case Study #3 Overview/Discussion (1) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #3 (1)	GBR Chapter 10 (32 pages)	- Case Study #2 due - iBOLT team Assignment #2 due   - Case Study #3 assigned - iBOLT team Assignment #3 assigned
10		- Information Integration - Composite Application Integration   Project/Lab: - Assigned Team Case Study #3 Overview/Discussion (2) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #3 (2)	GBR Chapters 11 & 12 (30 pages)   Sample Case Study #3: - Information Integration Implementation Specification	Take Home Exam assigned
11		- Process-Driven Integration - Best Practice   - Application Design and IT Architecture - Implementing Business Processes   Project/Lab: Assigned Team Case Study #3 Overview/Discussion (3) - Using iBOLT for Sample Case Study #3 (3)	GBR Chapter 13 & 14 (24 pages)   BB Chapters 11-12 (23 pages)
12		- Integration Design - Information Access and Information Accuracy - Changing and Integrating Applications   Project/Lab: - Assigned Case Study #3 Presentations/Discussion	BB Chapters 13-15 (55 pages)	- Case Study #3 due   - iBOLT team Assignment #3 due   Take Home Exam Due
13		Building an IT Architecture   Conclusions and Wrap-up	BB Chapter 16 (19 pages)
14		Guest Lecture/Panel	Topic TBD
15		Project Presentations		Final Report due

^{* Gold-Bernstein/Ruh text}

^{** Britton/Bye text}

Official CIS Department Class Policies

1. Prerequisites are strictly enforced.  Students failing to complete any of the prerequisites with a grade of “C” or higher will be administratively withdrawn from this course with loss of tuition fees.  There are no exceptions.
2. Students are expected to attend all classes and group meetings, except when precluded by emergencies, religious holidays, or bona fide extenuating circumstances. 
3. Students who, for non-academic reasons beyond their control, are unable to meet the full requirements of the course should notify the instructor, by email, as soon as this is known and prior to the class meeting.
4. A “W” grade will be assigned if a student withdraws before mid-semester if (and only if) he/she has maintained a passing grade up to the point of withdrawal.  Withdrawals after the mid-semester date will result in a grade of “WF”.  See the GSU catalog or registrar’s office for details.
5. Spirited class participation is encouraged and informed discussion in class is expected.  This requires completing readings and assignments before class.
6. All exams and assignments are to be completed by the student alone with no help from any other person. 
7. Collaboration within groups is encouraged for project work.  However, collaboration between project groups will be considered cheating.
8. Copying work from the Internet without a proper reference is considered plagiarism and subject to disciplinary action as delineated in the GSU Student Handbook.
9. Any non-authorized collaboration will be considered cheating and the student(s) involved will have an Academic Dishonesty charge completed by the instructor and placed on file in the Dean’s office and the CIS Department.  All instructors regardless of the type of assignment will apply this Academic Dishonesty policy equally to all students.  See excerpt from the Student Handbook below on Academic Honesty:

(Abstracted from GSU’s Student Handbook Student Code of Conduct “Policy on Academic Honesty and Procedures for Resolving Matters of Academic Honesty” - http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwreg/ugcat2000/academic/honesty.htm)

As members of the academic community, students are expected to recognize and uphold standards of intellectual and academic integrity.  The University assumes as a basic and minimum standard of conduct in academic matters that students be honest and that they submit for credit only the products of their own efforts.  Both the ideals of scholarship and the need for fairness require that all dishonest work be rejected as a basis for academic credit.  They also require that students refrain from any and all forms of dishonorable or unethical conduct related to their academic work.

Students are expected to discuss with faculty the expectations regarding course assignments and standards of conduct.  Here are some examples and definitions that clarify the standards by which academic honesty and academically honorable conduct are judged at GSU.

Plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own.  Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own.  Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else.  The submission of research or completed papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the faculty member.  Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism.  Any work, in whole or part, taken from the Internet or other computer based resource without properly referencing the source (for example, the URL) is considered plagiarism.  A complete reference is required in order that all parties may locate and view the original source.  Finally, there may be forms of plagiarism that are unique to an individual discipline or course, examples of which should be provided in advance by the faculty member.  The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility.

Cheating on Examinations.  Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination.  Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or “crib sheets” during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member), or sharing information with another student during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member).  Other examples include intentionally allowing another student to view one’s own examination and collaboration before or after an examination if such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the faculty member.

Unauthorized Collaboration.  Submission for academic credit of a work product, or a part thereof, represented as its being one’s own effort, which has been developed in substantial collaboration with another person or source or with a computer-based resource is a violation of academic honesty. It is also a violation of academic honesty knowingly to provide such assistance. Collaborative work specifically authorized by a faculty member is allowed.

Falsification. It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or fabricate information in an academic exercise, assignment or proceeding (e.g., false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data, false or misleading information in an academic context in order to gain an unfair advantage).

Multiple Submissions. It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty member(s) to whom the material is submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, even required; however the student is responsible for indicating in writing, as a part of such use, that the current work submitted for credit is cumulative in nature.

CIS 8020 Class Policies

Classroom Attendance

To buttress the departmental policy that attendance is expected at all classes, class contribution grades will be significantly reduced for unexcused absences.  Furthermore, students are responsible for receiving all administrative and course announcements given in class—in person or by proxy.  It is strongly suggested that you designate an individual at the beginning of the course who can act as your proxy should the need arise to be absent from a class session. This comprises one-third of the “participation” grading component.

Class Sessions

This course will combine discussions of current practices. Each session is designed to explore issues, technologies, and practices that contribute to success and failures in systems integration.

Class sessions will rely on lecture and extensive discussion. In order to gain maximum benefit from the course, course participants are expected to complete all assigned reading prior to the designated class

Class Participation

Individual contributions to class sessions are very important and will be evaluated for the course grade. 

Exam

There will be a mid-term exam (see the schedule).  The two-hour midterm will be a closed-book exam, based on sessions 1-5.  The exam cannot be taken after the date scheduled, except in the case of emergencies.  There will also be a take-home exam.

Team project

Students will participate in one multi-part case study team project during the entire course (see the Team Project document).  Teams will consist of nominally four to five students each. The project will involve the creation of an information technology systems integration plan for a research university with appendices for (1) enterprise integration drivers, requirements, and strategies; (2) current integration architecture assessment; enterprise integration architecture specification; and (3) enterprise integration implementation specification. Please see the separately distributed Case Study Guidelines for details on the group project.

Grading

The final grade will be based on the following components and their weights:

 

Component	Weight
iBOLT Individual Assignment	5%
iBOLT Team Assignments	10% (two at 5% each)
Mid-term	20%
Take Home Exam	10%
Case Study #1, #2, #3   Case Study Final Report and Presentation	30% (three at 10% each)   10%
Class Participation (includes attendance, class discussions, and  presentations)	15%
Total	100%

The final grade will be determined by computing your total weighted score out of 100, rounding off to the nearest integer value.  An “A” will be 93 or above, a “A-“ will be 90 to 92“B+” 87 to 89, a “B” 83 to 86, a “B-“ 80 to 82, a “C+” 77 to 79, etc.