ITS 632 Module Four Practical Connection Assignment Guidelines and Rubric Topic: Practical Connection of Course Concepts Overview: At UC, it is a priority that students are provided with strong educational programs and courses that allow them to be servant-leaders in their disciplines and communities, linking research with practice and knowledge with ethical decision-making. This assignment is a written assignment where students will demonstrate how this course research has connected and put into practice within their own career. Assignment: Provide a reflection of at least 500 words (or 2 pages double spaced) of how the knowledge, skills, or theories of this course have been applied or could be applied, in a practical manner to your current work environment. If you are not currently working, share times when you have or could observe how these theories and knowledge could be applied to an employment opportunity in your field of study. Requirements: Provide a 500-word minimum (or 2 pages double spaced) reflection essay. Use of proper APA formatting and citations. If supporting evidence from outside resources is used those must be properly cited. Share a personal connection that identifies specific knowledge and theories from this course. Demonstrate a connection to your current work environment. If you are not employed, demonstrate a connection to your desired work environment. You should NOT provide an overview of the assignments assigned in the course. The assignment asks that you reflect on how the knowledge and skills obtained through meeting course objectives were applied in your workplace or career or could be applied in the workplace, if you are not currently employed. Guidelines for Submission: Using APA 6th edition style standards, submit a Word document that is 2 pages (or at least 500 words) in length and include credible scholarly references to support your opinions, if necessary. The UC Library is a good place to find these sources. Be sure to cite and reference your sources using the APA guides and essay template that have been provided – you can find these documents in the Information section of the courseroom. Required elements:  Please ensure your paper complies with APA 6th edition style guidelines.  APA basics: o Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") o Use 1" margins on all sides, first line of all paragraphs is indented ½” from the margin o Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (50%) Not Evident (0%) Value (%) Assignment Requirements Student completed all required portions of the assignment. Completed portions of the assignment. Did not complete the required assignment. 20 Maintains purpose/focus Submission is well organized and has a tight and cohesive focus that is integrated throughout the document. Submissions has an organizational s ...

1. ITS 632 Module Four Practical Connection Assignment
Guidelines and Rubric
Topic: Practical Connection of Course Concepts
Overview: At UC, it is a priority that students are provided
with strong educational programs and courses that allow them to
be servant-leaders
in their disciplines and communities, linking research with
practice and knowledge with ethical decision-making. This
assignment is a written
assignment where students will demonstrate how this course
research has connected and put into practice within their own
career.
Assignment: Provide a reflection of at least 500 words (or 2
pages double spaced) of how the knowledge, skills, or theories
of this course have
been applied or could be applied, in a practical manner to your
current work environment. If you are not currently working,
share times when
you have or could observe how these theories and knowledge
could be applied to an employment opportunity in your field of
study.
Requirements: Provide a 500-word minimum (or 2 pages double
spaced) reflection essay.
Use of proper APA formatting and citations. If supporting
evidence from outside resources is used those must be properly
cited.

2. Share a personal connection that identifies specific knowledge
and theories from this course.
Demonstrate a connection to your current work environment. If
you are not employed, demonstrate a connection to your desired
work
environment.
You should NOT provide an overview of the assignments
assigned in the course. The assignment asks that you reflect on
how the knowledge and
skills obtained through meeting course objectives were applied
in your workplace or career or could be applied in the
workplace, if you are not
currently employed.
Guidelines for Submission: Using APA 6th edition style
standards, submit a Word document that is 2 pages (or at least
500 words) in length and
include credible scholarly references to support your opinions,
if necessary. The UC Library is a good place to find these
sources. Be sure to cite
and reference your sources using the APA guides and essay
template that have been provided – you can find these
documents in the
Information section of the courseroom.
Required elements:
guidelines.

3. o Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized
paper (8.5" x 11")
o Use 1" margins on all sides, first line of all paragraphs is
indented ½” from the margin
o Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (50%)
Not Evident (0%) Value
(%)
Assignment Requirements
Student completed all
required portions of the
assignment.
Completed portions of the
assignment.
Did not complete the
required assignment.
20
Maintains purpose/focus

4. Submission is well organized
and has a tight and cohesive
focus that is integrated
throughout the document.
Submissions has an
organizational structure and
the focus is clear
throughout.
Submission lacks focus or
contains major drifts in
focus.
20
Understanding of Course Content
Student demonstrates
understand of course
content and knowledge.
Student demonstrates some

5. understanding of course
content and knowledge.
Student does not
demonstrate understanding
of course content and
knowledge.
20
Work Environment Application
Student strongly
demonstrates the practical
application, or ability to
Student demonstrates some
practical application, or
ability to apply, of course
Student does not
demonstrate the practical
application, or ability to 20

6. apply, of course objectives
within a work environment.
objectives within a work
environment.
apply, of course objectives
within a work environment.
Writing Skills, Grammar, and APA
Formatting
Assignment strongly
demonstrates graduate-
level proficiency in
organization, grammar, and
style.
Assignment is well written,
and ideas are well
developed and explained.
Demonstrates strong
writing skills. Student paid
close attention to spelling
and punctuation. Sentences
and paragraphs are

7. grammatically correct.
Proper use of APA
formatting. Properly and
explicitly cited outside
resources. Reference list
matches citations.
Assignment demonstrates
graduate-level proficiency in
organization, grammar, and
style.
Assignment is effectively
communicated, but some
sections lacking clarity.
Student paid some attention
to spelling and punctuation,
but there are errors within
the writing. Needs attention
to proper writing skills.
Use of APA formatting and

8. citations of outside
resources, but has a few
instances in which proper
citations are missing.
Assignment does not
demonstrate graduate-level
proficiency in organization,
grammar, and style.
Assignment is poorly written
and confusing. Ideas are not
communicated effectively.
Student paid no attention to
spelling and punctuation.
Demonstrates poor writing
skills.
The assignment lacks the
use of APA formatting and
does not provide proper
citations or includes no
citations.
20
EARNED TOTAL 100%

9. C6-1
CASE STUDY 6
CHEVRON’S INFRASTRUCTURE
EVOLUTION
Chevron Corporation (www.chevron.com) is one of the world’s
leading
energy companies. Chevron’s headquarters are in San Ramon,
California.
The company has more than 62,000 employees and produces
more than
700,000 barrels of oil per day. It has 19,500 retail sites in 84
countries. In
2012, Chevron was number three on the Fortune 500 list and
had more than
$244 billion in revenue in 2011 [STAT12].
IT infrastructure is very important to Chevron and to better
support all
facets of its global operations, the company is always focused
on improving

10. its infrastructure [GALL12]. Chevron faces new challenges
from increased
global demand for its traditional hydrocarbon products and the
need to
develop IT support for new value chains for liquid natural gas
(LNG) and the
extraction of gas and oil from shale. Huge investments are being
made
around the world, particularly in Australia and Angola on
massive projects of
unprecedented scale. Modeling and analytics are more important
than ever
to help Chevron exploit deep water drilling and hydrocarbon
extraction in
areas with challenging geographies. For example, advanced
seismic imaging
tools are used by Chevron to reveal possible oil or natural gas
reservoirs
beneath the earth’s surface. Chevron’s proprietary seismic
imaging
http://www.chevron.com/
C6-2

11. technology contributed to it achieving a 69% discovery rate in
2011[CHEV12].
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
Systems
Chevron refineries are continually collecting data from sensors
spread
throughout the facilities to maintain safe operations and to alert
operators to
potential safety issues before they ever become safety issues.
Data from the
sensors is also used to optimize the way the refineries work and
to identify
opportunities of greater efficiency. IT controls 60,000 valves at
Chevron’s
Pascagoula, Mississippi refinery; the efficiency and safety of its
end-to-end
operations are dependent on advanced sensors, supervisory
control and data
acquisition (SCADA) systems, and other digital industrial
control systems
[GALL12].
SCADA systems are typically centralized systems that monitor

12. and
control entire sites and/or complexes of systems that are spread
out over
large areas such as an entire manufacturing, fabrication, power
generation,
or refining facility. The key components of SCADA systems
include:
units (RTUs)
connected to sensors that convert sensor signals to digital data
and
send it to the supervisory system
process
and sends control commands to the process
-machine interface (HMI) that presents process to
the human
operators that monitor and control the process.
system and
RTUs and PLCs.

13. These are illustrated in Figure C6.1.
C6-3
Data acquisition occurs at the PLC or RTU level. This includes
meter
readings and equipment status reports that are sent to the
supervisory
system. The collected data is compiled and formatted by the
HMI to enable
the operator to make determine whether adjustments to normal
PLC or RTU
settings are needed. Current data may also be compared to
historical data in
a SCADA database to assess trends or perform analytical
auditing.
C6-4
In addition to Chevron refineries, SCADA are extremely
important in
national infrastructures such as water supplies, pipelines, and
electric grids.

14. Because attacks or damage to SCADA systems can affect large
numbers of
people, ensuring adequate security is important.
Business Infrastructure Transformation
Because of the complexity of its operational processes and the
IT that is
needed to support them, Chevron has traditionally been more
infrastructure
than business focused. SCADA systems and digital industrial
control systems
are critical IT infrastructure at Chevron’s refineries and will
always play an
important role in monitoring and managing facility-based
processes. These
also are among the first IT systems needed to support Chevron’s
new value
chains for LNG and shale oil extraction. However, like any
large corporation,
Chevron relies on a wide variety of business applications to run
its
businesses.
As it is for most global businesses, SAP ERP is a key
transaction

15. processing system at Chevron. Chevron has been using SAP for
more than
two decades and it has played an important role in the
development of SAP’s
vertical solutions for the hydrocarbon industry. There are more
than 50
instances of SAP used by Chevron [SCRI11]. Most of these run
on Oracle
databases. Some other key enterprise applications at Chevron
include Ariba
Buyer, EMC Documentum, Informatica, MicroStrategy,
multiple Oracle
applications [SCRI11].
Going forward, IT executives at Chevron would like to flip the
company’s
traditional IT priorities so that the majority of the IT staff’s
time and
attention is focused on improving business capabilities
[GALL12]. To do this,
Chevron’s IT leaders have increasingly turned their attention to
Web
services, software as a service (SaaS), and cloud computing to
help it run its

16. business. Chevron considers mobility to be a game changer in
how it
C6-5
delivers information and provides solutions and it is convinced
that it can do
both without sacrificing security or reliability.
IT infrastructure at Chevron pervades every facet of its
operations.
However, Chevron’s executives have not lost sight of the fact
that IT is not
the company’s core competency. By moving business solutions
to the cloud,
Chevron executives hope to help the company maintain its focus
on its core
competencies.
C6-6
Chevron has used business-oriented Web services for several
years.

17. Ariba Buyer, Salesforce.com, and Ketera’s price negotiation
system are just
a few of the SaaS solutions that Chevron has woven into its IT
architecture.
Chevron is interested in developing an integrated information
network
that includes all of its major supply chain partners, both
upstream and
downstream. Identify management has emerged as a priority at
Chevron to
ensure secure data transfer among its business partners. A
generic example
of an identify management system is illustrated in Figure C6.2.
When users
at Chevron partners need to access Chevron’s intranet and/or
SaaS data or
solutions, they are first cleared by an identity broker. The
identity broker
authenticates the user and transparently provides a single sign
on (SSO)
token that enables the partner to access Chevron’s intranet (2)
or the
company’s SaaS solution providers (3).
Chevron hopes to better align its operations with those of its

18. business
partners via its migration of business applications to the cloud.
It hopes that
the business infrastructure transformation that is currently
underway will
also lead to better IT and business alignment. As a global
company, the
cloud may be an ideal platform for running the business.
In the years ahead, Chevron’s IT leaders expect mobility,
analytics and
visualization, and social media to become critical aspects of its
business
infrastructure. At the facilities level, advanced sensors and
deeper
embedding of RTUs and PLCs within operations are foreseen
[GALL12].
Technical appreciation of convergence network infrastructure
will continue to
be important, but business literacy/savvy will be most important
to the long-
term success of Chevron’s IT leaders.
Discussion Points

19. 1. Do some Internet research on Chevron’s use of seismic
imaging
technology. Briefly explain how it works and how it has helped
Chevron discover new oil and gas reservoirs.
C6-7
2. Do some Internet research on security vulnerabilities
associated with
SCADA and digital industrial control systems. Summarize the
major
security concerns associated with these systems and steps than
can be
taken to enhance their security.
3. Discuss the pros and cons of moving enterprise-wide
applications that
have traditionally been supported on premises to the cloud.
4. Do some Internet research on identify management and single
sign on
systems. Briefly explain how these work and why they are
important in
business intranets and extranets.

20. 5. Why is it increasing most important for a CIO or IT executive
who
oversees geographically distributed enterprise networks to be
business
literate?
Sources
[CHEV12] Chevron.com “Seismic Imaging.” Retrieved online:
at
http://www.chevron.com/deliveringenegy/oil/seismicimaging.
[GALL12] Gallant, J. ”Chevron’s CIO Talks Transformation
and Why IT
Leaders Should Smile.” April 12, 2012. Retrieved online at:
http://www.cio.com/article/print/704095.
[SCRI11] Scribd.com. “Chevron Corporation CRUSH Report.”
August 17,
2011. Retrieved online at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62481977/Chevron-
CRUSH-Report-09A1.
[STAT12] Statistic Brain. “Chevron Company Statistics.”
February 12, 2102.
Retrieved online at: http://www.statisticbrain.com/chevron-
company-
statistics/.

21. http://www.chevron.com/deliveringenegy/oil/seismicimaging
http://www.cio.com/article/print/704095
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62481977/Chevron-CRUSH-Report-
09A1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/62481977/Chevron-CRUSH-Report-
09A1
http://www.statisticbrain.com/chevron-company-statistics/
http://www.statisticbrain.com/chevron-company-statistics/