The main aim of this module is to provide an introduction to skills and knowledge needed for the strategic management of information technology. It begins by exploring how innovative technologies/technology trends can be identified, assessed, and incorporated into organisational strategies. In addition to benefits, legislative, security management and governance implications of emerging technologies are addressed.

The module begins with horizon scanning, where emerging technologies/technology trends are identified and their potential impacts on businesses and organisations identified. Innovation and hype cycles, innovation systems, business/IT alignment and IT strategic planning methods are introduced as mechanisms through which emerging technologies can be identified and their value to businesses analysed. The construction of business cases, and the role of the business analyst in this process are also introduced. The management implications of social, ethical and environmental impacts of new technologies are then considered. Topics here include ethics, legislation and compliance requirements, security management and an introduction to IT governance frameworks.

1. Utilise methods enabling the alignment of IT innovations with strategic business objectives.
2. Construct a business case, providing justification for the adoption of a new technology as well as identifying potential risks.
3. Identify governance implications (e.g. legislative compliance, security) of adopting innovative information technologies.
4. Describe IT governance approaches and mechanisms in areas such as compliance and security.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is emerging as a key technology to deal with the ever-increasing network management burden created by our interconnected world. It does this by separating the data and control functions of network devices through well-defined Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The purpose of this module is to provide students will the knowledge to understand the evolution of SDN, its concepts, and skills to create and configure a SDN network.

1. Examine the challenges and opportunities associated with adopting SDN compared to traditional approaches to networking.
2. Analyse the functions and components of the SDN architecture.
3. Design and create an SDN network consisting of SDN switches and a centralised controller.
4. Analyse the performance of the SDN network by using verification and troubleshooting techniques.

This module is aimed at providing the knowledge and skills required to proactively detect and mitigate network security threats by leveraging features that exist in Cisco and other industry network security products today. Designed for professional security analysts, the course covers essential areas of competency, including event monitoring, security event/alarm/traffic analysis, and incident response.

1. Analyse Network and security concepts
2. Compare and contrast symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms
3. Interpret the functionality of theendpoint technologies in regards to security monitoring
4. Evaluate, mitigate and contrast an attack surface and vulnerability

The aim of this module is to provide learners with the skills to simulate malicious attacks against network infrastructure from a black-hat hacker perspective using industry standard ethical-hacking tools.

1. Ascertain the structure and configuration of a local area network (LAN) using network mapping tools.
2. Simulate attacks on network infrastructure from a black-hat hacker perspective using industry standard ethical hacking tools.
3. Evaluate automated testing tool results with respect to business impact and false positives.
4. Compose Exploits and Countermeasures in response to Vulnerabilities identified.

This examines how virtualisation is utilised within medium-to-large-scale data-centres. The topic of backing-up and recovering virtualised I.T. Systems is also covered, as is public-cloud computing and hybrid-cloud computing.

1. Plan, implement, manage and monitor private cloud infrastructure for medium-to-large-scale data-centres.

2. Compare and contrast public-cloud infrastructure, private-cloud infrastructure and hybrid-cloud infrastructure.

3. Design, plan and implement an I.T. system using hybrid cloud technology that satisfies specified performance, reliability and security needs.

4. Design, plan and implement a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution.

Academy Cloud Architecting covers the core requirements of building IT infrastructure on Amazon Web Services, or AWS. The course is designed to teach solutions architects how to optimise the use of the AWS Cloud by understanding AWS services and how these services fit into cloud-based solutions.

1. Evaluate the differentnetworking concepts in cloud computing architectures

2. Implement appropriate AWS services to ensure high availability on a web scale

3. Describe the need for elasticity, appropriate use of management tools and automation on AWS

4. Describe the need for a well-architected Framework in pertinent areas of cloud computing

5. Apply best practice for deployment, implementation and troubleshooting of sample architectures