Module Identifier | COM8320 | ||||||||||||||
Module Title | E-COMMERCE AND THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY | ||||||||||||||
Academic Year | 2007/2008 | ||||||||||||||
Co-ordinator | Mr Frank Bott | ||||||||||||||
Semester | Available all semesters | ||||||||||||||
Other staff | Mr David J Smith, Professor Christopher J Price, Mr Frank Bott | ||||||||||||||
Pre-Requisite | Available only to students taking the Diploma/MSc in Computer Science scheme or the Diploma/MSc in Internet and Distributed Systems (Advanced) scheme. | ||||||||||||||
Course delivery | Workload Breakdown | 55 hours of contact time; lectures, practicals, workshops. | |||||||||||||
Workload Breakdown | 145 hours of private study, practical work and assessment. | ||||||||||||||
Assessment |
| ||||||||||||||
Further details | http://www.aber.ac.uk/compsci/ModuleInfo/COM8320 |
The nature and characteristics of the software industry: broad and narrow definitions. Classification of the products of the industry. Treatment of software assets under different accounting regimes. Structure of the software industry: distribution by size, ownership, specialisation. The growth of outsourcing and its effect on the structure of the industry in different countries. Treatment of software in the calculation of GDP.
2. Procurement
Bespoke software v. packaged software. Identifying potential suppliers. Procurement strategies: study of a range of strategies used for procuring large systems by governments in different countries. Case studies of some major procurement failures. Problems occasioned by the need for long-term maintenance of large software systems.Contracts for the provision of bespoke software: fixed price, time and materials. Contracts for packaged software. Use of standard terms and conditions. The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.
3. Sales and Marketing
The distinction between sales and marketing.
Definitions of marketing. Marketing in the B2B context. SWOT analysis and the five factors theory. The marketing mix for bespoke system provision and for professional packages.
Sales management. Identification of prospects. Sales visits. Building long-term relationships. Sales proposals.
4. Regulation
Regulation of the engineering profession in the UK, the USA and continental Europe. The Washington Accord and the Bologna Declaration. Codes of conduct: the BCS code, the IEEE-CS/ACM joint code. Regulation of the industry. OFTEL and OFCOM and their roles. Safety-critical systems and their regulation. The Communications Act 2003, the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.
5. E-Commerce Business Models
Business to consumer (B2C) models: portals, content providers, e-tailers, transaction brokers, market creators, service provoders, community services. Business to business (B2B) models: market place / exchange, e-distributor, application service provider, matchmaker, infomediary
6. B2B E-Commerce in Action
The basic business processes involved in B2B e-commerce. Early developments including electronic data interchange. Net market places and private industrial networks. Examples of recent successes and failures.
7. B2C E-Commerce
Retail e-commerce: the difficulties and the successes. Retail services on the web: financial services, travel, jobs. On-line auctions.
8. Relevant legal issues
Defamation and pornography on the Internet: legislation and the problems associated with it. Spam and the legal attempts to defeat it. The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.
9. E-Commerce infrastructure
Intranets, extranets and internets; virtual private networks. The worldwide web; web servers. Content management software. Workflow management software. XML and SOAP.
10. Security
The threats to electronic transactions. Modern cryptography: public key and private key systems; the RSA algorithm and the DNS algorithm. Key management and secure exchange of keys; the Diffie-Hellman algorithm. Digital signatures and digital certificates. SSL and SET.
Reference Material
Much of the material covered by this module is not available in textbooks. Such textbooks as there are will usually be found to be out of date. Furthermore, they tend to concentrate on e-commerce directed towards consumers, whereas by far the majority of e-commerce systems are aimed at business-to-business transactions. Students will be expected to find information on the Web, where much more up to date material is available, although it must always be treated with caution. Given the caveats above, the books found in the bibliography section may prove useful:
Problem solving | The assignment addresses challenging issues concerned with the operation of the software industry and its use of communication technology | ||
Research skills | On-line web exploration and synthesis and application of relevant materials is required both by the assignment and the examination | ||
Communication | Not significant | ||
Improving own Learning and Performance | The assessed coursework requires students to develop their understanding of issues associated with the module | ||
Team work | No | ||
Information Technology | Entire content of module | ||
Application of Number | No | ||
Personal Development and Career planning | The module deals extensively with the structure of the software industry and hence gives students the opportunity to understand the range of employment possibilities | ||
Subject Specific Skills | See learning outcomes |
This module is at CQFW Level 7