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Unit of study_
INFO4491: Services Science Management and Engineering
2025 unit information
The service economy plays a dominant and growing role in economic growth and employment in most parts of the world. Increasingly, the improved productivity and competitive performance of firms and nations in services relies on innovative and effective design, engineering, and management of IT-centric services. This unit offers IT graduates and professionals an understanding of the role of IT-centric services in a social, economic and business context, as well as knowledge of the principles of their design, engineering and management in a service-oriented IT framework. Delivery of the unit is driven by a critical approach to the literature, live case studies presented by industry professionals and writing a Consultants' Report. Its learning outcomes are based on industry needs. Three modules address the range of topics in Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). 1. Service fundamentals context and strategy: the service economy and the nature of service systems; the role IT-centric services in a social, economic and business context; IT-centric services optimisation and innovation. 2. Designing and Engineering IT-centric services: service design; service oriented enterprise and IT architecture. 3. Sourcing, governing, and managing IT-centric services: outsourcing IT-centric services (including services in the cloud); IT-centric services governance and management (COBIT and ITIL; service level agreements. Critical analysis of articles and the persuasive use of evidence in writing are cornerstones of the unit. Students learn how to apply these skills in business consulting processes to a business case drawn from a recent consulting project at a large multinational organisation. The processes include:clarifying the client's situation and problems, researching evidence related to it, analysing the evidence, developing options for solving the problems, presenting recommendations persuasively to the client both orally and in a written Consultants' Report. These steps are scaffolded for the student, with formative assessment, and increasing levels of difficulty. Students need to be able to read, critically analyse, and report on an article or case study every three weeks. If you are not confident of your skills in these areas, you can enroll in the free courses provided by the University's Learning Centre in Academic Reading and Writing and Oral Communication Skills. Some of these courses are specifically designed for students with a non-English speaking background. Familiarity with using Library reference tools and the ability to locate scholarly resources in the Library's electronic databases is also necessary. See the Library's Research and information skills page for help with this http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/skills/
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Engineering
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Computer Science |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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(DATA3888 or COMP3888 or COMP3988 or CSEC3888 or SOFT3888 or ENGG3112 or SCPU3001) and ISYS2160 |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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INFO5991 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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A major in a computer science area |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Explain the role of IT services in creating organisational value
- LO2. Understand key components of ITSM within an organisation - from planning, to realization, to operations
- LO3. Apply a service-oriented view of the use of IT by organisations
- LO4. Apply principles of IT governance and management to realising organisational goals and strategy efficiently and effectively
- LO5. Evaluate an organisation's ITSM strategy and architecture in terms of congruence, strategic fit, efficiency and other defined KPIs
- LO6. Find, critically analyse, and synthesise evidence-based material relevant to IT services
- LO7. Clearly address a complex ITSM case study
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2023
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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