COIT 20246: IT Research Assignment

This document outlines a practical assignment for the course COIT 20246, focusing on IT-related research. Students are tasked with finding and summarizing two online resources per week for ten weeks, covering various topics such as mass storage technologies, embedded operating systems, the Internet of Things, application layer protocols, ransomware attacks, network outages, social networking in business, database management systems (DBMS), IT outsourcing success stories, and the cost overruns in IS implementation projects. The assignment emphasizes original writing, proper Harvard referencing, and a critical analysis of the selected resources. A detailed marking rubric is included, specifying criteria for resource selection, summarization, and referencing. The assignment is worth 30% of the total course grade and is to be submitted electronically by the due date.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this
assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using
the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not
use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file,
inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the
formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There
is a table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required. An
example of a completed task is below. Note the first response (resource 1) is
good – so aim for something like this. The second response (resource 2) is not
acceptable, so if you submit anything like it, you won’t pass the assignment! The
reasons? Poor resource selection (Wikipedia), no Harvard reference and a block
cut and paste from the site (no citation, no original content).
Example
Task Find two resources that explain aspects of IT Service
Management.
Resource 1
(Good
Response)
Title and Reference:
COBIT versus ITIL
Ibaraki, S 2014, online, COBIT versus ITIL, viewed 29/01/2015,
<http://blogs.technet.com/b/cdnitmanagers/archive/2014/04/06/cobit-
versus-itil.aspx>.
Summary:
This resource is a blog entry discussing the differences between
CoBIT and ITIL. I chose this resource as there is a lot of confusion
about the way in which ITSM is applied and the distinction between
the CoBIT and ITIL implementations is frequently unclear. Ibaraki
explains that CoBIT provides the governance and metric structures
while ITIL delivers on the actual mechanics and “how-to” processes.
The author makes an interesting observation that it is wrong to
simplify COBIT as providing the ‘why’ and ITIL providing the ‘how’
because both ITSM mechanisms have considerable overlap and both
need to be used at the same time. I found this article very useful in
explaining the differences and similarities between these two aspects
of ITSM.
Resource 2
(Bad
Response)
Title and Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IT_service_management
Summary:
This pages talks about ITSM. It says that IT service
management (ITSM) refers to the entirety of activities – directed
by policies, organized and structured in processes and
supporting procedures – that are performed by an organization or
part of an organization to plan, deliver, operate and control IT
services offered to customers. It is thus concerned with the
implementation of quality IT services that meet the needs of
customers, and is performed by the IT service provider through an
appropriate mix of people, process and information technology.

Note: Each resource summary should be around a maximum of 150 words.
Week 1
Task The text discusses a number of modern mass-storage
technologies however there have been huge advances since
the early days of computing. Collect and summarise two
online resources that explain and describe two mass
storage technologies that are not mentioned in the text that
were prevalent before 1980. The resources must not be
about the same technology.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Week 2
Task The text briefly makes mention of embedded (operating)
systems. Collect and summarise two online resources that
describe specific embedded operating systems that are not
mentioned in the text. The resources must not be about the
same embedded operating system.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>

Week 3
Task The “the Internet of things” is an emerging trend towards
smart interconnected embedded technologies that allow us
to monitor and control our environment. Collect and
summarise two online resources that describe examples or
applications of the Internet of things. The resources must not
be about the same application or example.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Week 4
Task HTTP is an example of a text-based (human readable)
application layer protocol. Collect and summarise two
online resources that describe other text-based application
layer protocols. The resources must not be about the same
protocol.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>

Week 5
Task An increasing computer security threat is the rise of
“ransomware” attacks. Collect and summarise two online
resources that discuss specific examples of ransomware
attacks. The resources must not be about the same
incident/attack.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Week 6
Task SLAs and network design with redundancy are two ways to
reduce the risk of a loss of network connectivity. However,
reports of major network outages and their impacts on
organisations regularly make news headlines. Collect and
summarise two online resources that provide examples of
these outages and their impacts on the business and/or its
customers. The resources must not be about the same
outage/business.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>

Week 7
Task Organisations are increasingly using social networking to
engage with their customer base. Collect and summarise two
online resources that provide examples of organisations
using social networking successfully to expand or improve
their business. The resources must not be about the same
organisation.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Week 8
Task There are a multitude of paid and open source DBMS
solutions available on the market. Collect and summarise
two online resources that discuss examples of the more
commercially popular DBMS vendors and that describe who
use their products. The resources must not be about the
same vendor.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>

Week 9
Task Outsourcing all or part of an organisation’s IT function has
had mixed outcomes but for some organisations it has been
a wise decision. Collect and summarise two online
resources that relate to two specific outsourcing success
stories (i.e. two organisations where outsourcing has worked
out well). The resources and your summary should explain
why the outsourcing was a success. The resources must not
be about the same organisation.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Week 10
Task The text discusses the need to manage scope, time, cost,
quality and risk in IS implementations. Of these, cost is
arguably the most difficult to manage and the cause of many
IS implementation project failures. Collect and summarise
two online resources that describe examples of where IS
implementation project costs have vastly exceeded the
original budget. The resources must not be about the same
organisation/project.
Resource 1 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>
Resource 2 Title and Reference:
<Provide the Title of the resource and full Harvard reference here.
This should include the URL of the resource>
Summary:
<Provide a summary of no more than 150 words discussing what
the resource is about and why it is relevant to the task here>

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
(Up to 1.5 marks per response; up to 3 marks per weekly task)
Criteria
0 No Response
<=0.5 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the
task; summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the
relevance of the resource has not been explained.
<=1.0 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
of the resource as been explained to some extent, but needs additional
information.
<=1.5 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet
concise; the relevance of the resource selection has been clearly
explained.
Key
Deductions
-0.5
-0.75
-1.5
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Second resource is about the same technology / protocol / company /
product (i.e. information in Resource 1 is very similar/doesn’t add to
Resources 2)
Resource not referenced/Resource cannot be traced with details
provided.
Week Marks Awarded
(Resource 1)
Marks Awarded
(Resource 2)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
Comments: