Logo

BCS Certificate in Systems Development Essentials

What you'll learn

On this accelerated BCS Systems Development Essentials course you’ll learn the fundamental skills of systems development. This includes the vital systems investigation and quality assurance skills. These are necessary to get started in the systems development industry.

You’ll learn about the generic lifecycle types and the different methods and approaches to systems development in modules like:

  • Development Practices
  • Systems Investigation
  • System Design, Deployment and Maintenance

These skills will provide you with a solid foundation of knowledge in systems development, which is necessary for you to start gaining real-world practical experience.

Note: This course is provided in conjunction with Metadata Ltd, a BCS accredited training organisation.

Curriculum

63 modules

The Systems Development Essentials Certification covers the following topics:

  • 1. System Development roles and responsibilities
    • 1.1 Identify the Actors/Roles and Responsibilities within system development and implementation (for example, analysts, designers, developers, testers and technical architects)
    • 1.2 Characteristics of these roles
    • 1.3 Team structure
  • 2. Architecture
    • 2.1 Different levels of architecture ‚Äì Enterprise, Business, Solution, Infrastructure (networks, databases)
    • 2.2 Inputs at Enterprise level
    • 2.3 Inputs at Solution and Infrastructure level
    • 2.4 Impacts of design decisions
  • 3. Systems Development Lifecycles
    • 3.1 Waterfall
    • 3.2 V Model
    • 3.3 Incremental or phased delivery
    • 3.4 Spiral or iterative
    • 3.5 Advantages and disadvantages of each approach
    • 3.6 Selection of an appropriate approach on defined characteristics
  • 4. Development Practices
    • 4.1 Bespoke development
    • 4.2 Evolutionary / Agile
    • 4.3 Prototyping
    • 4.4 Component based development
    • 4.5 Software Package solutions (COTS Commercial off-the-shelf)
  • 5. Methods
    • 5.1 Structure and content of a chosen representative method
    • 5.2 Describe and interpret three representation models from the method, showing at least:
      • Process perspective
      • Data perspective
      • Event perspective
    • 5.3 Explain how these models can be used to depict the logical and physical aspects of a system
    • 5.4 Roles and team structures within the chosen method
    • 5.5 Products within a chosen method
  • 6 Systems Investigation
    • 6.1 Fact finding approaches:
      • Workshops
      • Prototyping
      • Interviewing
      • Questionnaires (for usability or package selection for example)
      • Scenario analysis
    • 6.2 Functional requirements definition
    • 6.3 Non-functional requirements definition
    • 6.4 Documenting system requirements
    • 6.5 Human aspects of systems investigation and introducing change
  • 7 System Design, Deployment and Maintenance
    • 7.1 Controls and security
    • 7.2 Verification and validation
    • 7.3 Interface design
    • 7.4 Design principles and constraints (legal, ethical, financial)
    • 7.5 Different types of implementation
    • 7.6 Sign off and deployment
    • 7.7 Post implementation reviews
    • 7.8 Different types of maintenance and support
  • 8 Quality Assurance
    • 8.1 Definitions of quality
    • 8.2 Requirements driven testing
    • 8.3 Types of walkthrough and inspection
    • 8.4 Post Project Reviews
    • 8.5 Service Level Agreements
  • 9 CASE, CAST, Application Lifecycle Management tools
    • 9.1 Software support for systems development
    • 9.2 Features of CASE and CAST tools
    • 9.3 Features of Application Lifecycle Management
    • 9.4 Lifecycle coverage
    • 9.5 Configuration and version control

Prerequisites

You do not need to possess any prerequisites for this certification.

Exam info

You'll sit the following exam at the Firebrand Training Centre, covered by your Certification Guarantee:

  • BCS Systems Development Essentials exam

Exam details:

  • 1 hour in duration
  • In a written, ‚Äòopen book‚Äô format with 15 minutes reading time, based on a business scenario.
  • Pass mark is 50%

Course Dates

Sorry, there are currently no dates available for this course. Please submit an enquiry and one of our team will contact you about potential future dates or alternative options.

FAQs

4 question

Yes, we do provide courses suitable for beginners. However, Firebrand's accelerated courses aren't easy and it's essential that you are interested and actively pursuing a career in IT.

Traditional training providers usually run their courses from 9am to 5pm. At Firebrand Training we maximise the number of learning hours to minimise the number of training days, so you’ll be back to your job as quickly as possible. You don’t waste time travelling to several courses and finding an exam centre after that.

Firebrand's accelerated courses are constantly reviewed. We ask our delegates for feedback after every course. We are official partners with leading vendors and therefore, we're provided with certification changes and updates, which we can then implement in our course delivery at a very early stage. This feedback is then analysed in view of changes or discrepancies. We will then address the topics mentioned and have a panel of subject matter experts provide us with valuable suggestions for improvement and solutions.

If you need to learn new skills and you want to be able to put them into practice quickly, then Firebrand is the right training company for you.

Our unique accelerated training method means that we are your fastest way to learn. By delivering training for up to 12 hours per day, seven days per week, with exam centres on-site, we ensure that you are trained and certified quicker than anywhere else, having spent less time out of the office away from the day job.

Can't find the answer you're looking for?

Our expert learning advisors are ready to help. Whether you need course recommendations, have technical queries, or want to discuss your learning goals, we're just a message away.

Related courses

All BCS Courses

Train your team

Since 2001 we've trained 134,561 employees from thousands of large and small organisations, saving them more than one million hours in training time.

Learn More