Using Enterprise Level Software for a Large Scale Compulsory Course in an Information Systems Undergraduate Program -- An Example from Singapore

This conference contribution describes the design and delivery of a course on enterprise portal implementation at the senior undergraduate level at the School of Information Systems (SIS), Singapore Management University (SMU). In this course (entitled Enterprise Web Solutions), the focus is put on the design, development, deployment and governance of an enterprise portal as a way to understand the full life cycle of a complex enterprise-level solution. The Bachelor of Science (Information Systems Management) degree program offered at SIS has been designed to contextualise the study of information systems and business management and to acquire practical competencies and skills though learning by doing in real world business settings. Thus, exposing students to complex enterprise level software systems has become a very essential component of the SIS education. However, the preparation of courses based on such software requires a non-trivial amount of background work. Using the Enterprise Web Solutions course and Microsoft Share Point 2010 as an example, this contribution analyses the challenges which arise due to the complexity of the infrastructure requirements, it also describes the difficulties involved in preparing the laboratory exercises and elaborating the project requirements. Finally, several suggestions are offered for those who are designing undergraduate level information systems courses involving enterprise level software packages.