The purpose of this assignment is to select and discuss relevant online resources that exemplify the application of the topic(s) nominated each week (1 - 10). This assignment can (and should!) be completed progressively (i.e. each week).  There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: these are detailed below and in the template. The assignment is marked out of 30 and forms 30% of your total course marks. Note that late penalties apply (5% of the total available marks per calendar day late or part thereof). Assignments received 14 days or more after the due date will not be marked and will receive zero. Students may apply for extensions but must provide documentary evidence to support their request (for example, a medical certificate). Short extensions of one to two days will be considered as long as students include their nearly completed assignment (i.e. one or two tasks to yet be completed) in their extension request. It will be necessary for students to use literature/online resources to complete this assignment, so please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using the Harvard format.  Marks will be deducted for incorrect referencing, so please ensure you follow the referencing guide. Plagiarism detection will be used in this assessment.   It is VERY important that you 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!  Actual plagiarism will result in the instigation of the student misconduct process. What do I need to do? Download the template. There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below (and also in the template file).  Each task requires you to collect and summarise online resources. Note - these must be online - you must be able to provide a URL to them.  Each resource summary should be around a maximum of 300 words.  You should collect interesting and relevant resources that address the task.   The resources must be specific to the topic (i.e. just focus on a technology or topic). These can include online blog posts, trade and academic articles.  The resources should be substantial and contain information directly pertinent to the task. The course textbook (and textbooks in general), sites such as Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks are not suitable resources. For each task, there is a table to complete in the template. Please fill in the information required and submit the document via this page by the due date. Week Task 1 There have been huge advances in the development of storage technologies since the early days of computing. Explain the benefits of two mass storage technologies namely: storage area network and network-attached storage. 2 Real-time operating systems are used to serve real-time applications which process data as it comes in, without buffering delays. Provide specific examples on the use of specific real-time operating systems that are not mentioned in the textbook. 3 Cloud computing has gained a wide acceptance for organisations as well as individuals by introducing computation, storage and software based services. Explain the security and privacy issues in relation to the use of the cloud computing in the health sector. 4 In TCP/IP, the application layer contains the set of protocols used in the process-to- process communications across a computer network. Discuss the common standards at the application layer. 5 Adware is one of the top malicious threats today and has become from being merely an annoyance to a major security threat for organisations. This malware program is designed to render advertisements on end user systems. Provide specific examples of adware attacks and their implications.  6 Internet of Things (IoT) is a paradigm that is rapidly gaining ground in the scenario of modern wireless telecommunications. IoT is used to connect networked information systems and business processes. "Availability" and "Reliability requirements" are some of the key quality of service (QoS) metrics. Explain the impacts of Availability and Reliability requirements on IoT performance.  7 A mobile crowdsourcing system is a new form of commercial crowdsourcing system. Provide specific examples of organisations which use mobile crowdsourcing system to successfully improve their business operation.  8 The adoption of big data technology by organisations has led to better value creation at the customer and enterprise ends. Provide specific examples on the use of big data for value creation in sustainable organisations. 9 Software development activities such as requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance are carried out within a software development life cycle in an organisation. Discuss the main benefits of using agile process over incremental process. 10 Information technology is perceived as a potential solution for healthcare organisations to improve their services in the face of increased demand. Discuss organisational issues, with examples, in the adoption and implementation of information technology. Hints Hint 1:  Do a bit every week This assignment is not onerous, especially if you complete each weekly section as you complete each week of the course - that means writing less than 300 words per week. However, it will be much harder if you try to complete all ten sections in week eleven! Hint 2:  Choose interesting and relevant resources You will be assessed on the relevance of resources. Choose specialised, specific resources that helped you gain a deeper understanding of the topic area. Do not use generic web pages from sites like Wikipedia and "How-Stuff- Works". Make sure each resource provides different information. Markers will be checking your resources - i.e. they will go to the resources you link to. If the resources are generic (i.e. are not focused on a particular technology) or are not substantial, you will lose marks. Hint 3:  Look at this example An example of a completed task is below. Note the first response (highlighted in green) is good - so aim for something like this. The second response (highlighted in pink) 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 (highlighted) from the site (no citation, no original content). Example Task Find two resources that explain aspects of IT Service Management. (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. (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. Hint 4:  Ask! If something in this assignment description is unclear, or you are just not 100% sure about something, please ask for help. Your teaching team really do not mind if you ask us to clarify something. We do mind when we have to fail you because you haven't submitted what was asked or met the assignment requirements What do I need to submit? You are required to submit a single document in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). Use the template as the basis for your submission. Apart from providing your response to the weekly tasks, do not modify the document - especially do not delete the marking sheet. Marking Criteria A detailed tabular marking criteria is provided as part of your submission template - please ensure you read it before attempting the assignment. You will be assessed on the relevance of the resources you select as well as the clarity and detail of your discussions. Plagiarism Checking Information On uploading your assignment for the first time, you will be able to immediately see your similarity score. However, a 24 hour delay exists for the release of similarity scores for the submission of successive items (drafts). To be clear, the delay will not apply to your first draft which will receive a Turnitin similarity score as soon as possible. This mandatory delay was implemented by Turnitin to minimise misuse of the similarity-checking service by students who were simply modifying their submissions to avoid match detection and without citing sources appropriately.