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Module details
CO645 IT Consultancy Practice (15 credits)
Syllabus
Students taking this module learn IT consultancy skills through practical work experience in the Kent IT Clinic (KITC) which provides a range of services for businesses and other organisations in the region. Each student is allocated one or (typically) more assignments, which can be of various types:
- Work on one of KITC's contracts with an external client. To the extent
that client-funded work allows, every student will be given at least one
assignment of this type. Wherever practical, a student will be encouraged to
participate in the negotiation and pricing of two contracts, under the
ultimate supervision of KITC management. For each assignment, the student
may work on the assignment individually or as part of a group, as directed
by KITC.
- A contribution to the infrastructure of KITC itself. These assignments
work in a similar way to external assignments, but with KITC as the client.
- Formulating a costed proposal for the future development of KITC, and presenting reasoned argument in support of the proposal to KITC management, as a candidate for inclusion in KITC's strategic plan for the following academic year.
Each assignment will be carried out under the ultimate supervision of KITC management and in accordance with client requirements, with deliverables defined by negotiation with the client. Alongside the client deliverables, each student will also be required to produce a report on each assignment undertaken. KITC management will also produce a brief evaluation report on the student's contribution following each assignment: these evaluation reports will be made available to the student concerned and his/her academic supervisor.
The assignments to be undertaken by a student will be chosen by KITC. This choice will be driven primarily by commercial considerations, taking into account the individual student's aptitudes and experience. Students will be expected to complete every assignment with a high degree of professionalism and craftsmanship.
So far as commercial considerations allow, each student will be given a portfolio of assignments that exposes the student to a variety of stages in the software lifecycle. Also, KITC will aim to provide each student with a mix of short-timescale and longer-timescale assignments to allow students to smooth their workload over time.
Module selection and availability
This module runs in the second term and is only available to students who took CO534 IT Consultancy Methods in the first term.
Admission to this module is also subject to interview, the purpose of which is to determine whether the student's skills (including communication, practical and interpersonal as well as technical skills) meet the requirements for work in KITC. There may also be a limit on the number of students able to take the module, to be determined each year by KITC management.
Note
This web page provides advance information about a module due to run in the coming academic year. We believe the details are accurate at the time of writing but they may be subject to change.