Computer Science with Business Enterprise Systems, MEng University of York

Overview

The programme is available with an industrial placement, which lengthens the programme by one year. This allows you to put the knowledge learned on the programme into practice in a real world situation, and gives you a head start in the competitive job market.

The Computer Science with Business Enterprise Systems degree is more than just Computer Science, and more than an Information Technology degree. This is a four-year programme (or five, with an industrial placement), leading to a Masters degree that focuses on the design, deployment and management of enterprise systems.

What is an Enterprise System?

An Enterprise System is a very large software system, but there's more to it than that. Let's consider some examples:

• SABRE is an ultra-large scale international software system used by airlines, rail companies and hotels for making passenger and customer reservations. Airlines in all countries of the world use it for making passenger bookings. Each individual airline may have its own internal system for managing bookings, but this internal system needs to be able to talk to the systems operated by other companies, to support things like code-sharing.

• Another good example is a system for electronic health records, for example, like the one designed and operated by the NHS. This system provides a uniform way for health information (e.g. patient prescriptions, x-rays) to be recorded and shared amongst health providers - like hospitals, surgeries and administrators.

• A third example is cloud computing, and systems provided by international companies like Google and Amazon. Cloud computing is a fundamental technology - it allows organisations to share computing resources (e.g. to store data, or to use shared services), rather than having to purchase and deliver the resources themselves. Cloud computing also enables enterprise-level computing, and allows cross-border and international organisations to share computing resources efficiently and effectively.

There are lots of other examples - and you will find out more about them in this course! - but what is interesting about these systems is:

• They can be difficult to build (e.g. so as to handle demands from massive numbers of users, and to provide always-on capability).

• Once they are built, you're not finished! These systems can be challenging to maintain (e.g. when new capabilities are required).

• There are more than just technical challenges; there are organisational, social and business challenges too! Enterprise systems are challenging to deploy into companies (e.g. how does a new airline adopt SABRE, and how does adoption change the airline's organisational structure?).

• Finally, these systems are challenging to manage once they have been deployed and are being used by real people solving real problems for their organisation.

Accreditation

You will receive a BSc or BEng on graduation, which are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the BSC (British Computing Society), the Charterd Institute for IT .

If you chose to take a year in industry, this is an accredited part of your degree. This is part of the training you would need to become a Chartered Engineer (CEng).