Requirements and analysis
Interviewing business units, writing requirements, modelling processes, signing off solutions. A lot of communication, little code. The most common entry straight after the bachelor.
Business information systems while you keep working
You work in IT or in a commercial role and you want to sit where it is decided what gets built. Business information systems is the subject for that, and if you come from a related apprenticeship you rarely start from zero.
Where it sits
What the subject is, and what it is not
Not half a computer science degree and not business studies with a few IT modules, but a subject with its own role.
Business information systems sits between the business side and the technical side. The typical task reads: understand what a company actually needs, translate that into requirements and processes, then make sure a system reflects them. Course content covers business process management, data modelling and databases, enterprise applications including ERP, project management, plus programming foundations and the commercial groundwork.
Three mix-ups come up again and again, and they cost time when they surface late:
- Computer science is markedly more technical: algorithms, software architecture, systems work. If you want software development as a profession, that is the better place, see computer science by distance learning.
- Business administration is commercial and broad: accounting, controlling, marketing, people. IT appears there as a tool, not as the subject itself, more under business administration by distance learning.
- Data science and business analytics focus on analysis and models, with far more statistics. Business information systems supplies the data foundation and the processes such analyses depend on.
- Industrial engineering targets production and technology in the narrow sense, not information systems.
If the sentence “I explain to the developers what the business unit actually means” attracts you rather than repels you, the subject fits. If you would rather build things yourself, that is equally valid, just elsewhere.
Access
Also without Abitur, through the apprenticeship
The classic German IT occupations are the strongest ticket here, commercial training works too.
A completed apprenticeship plus a few years of professional practice opens university access for a subject-related degree, and the subject relation is easy to argue here. The usual feeder occupations are IT specialists of all specialisations, commercial roles in digitalisation management and IT system management, plus industrial and office administrators with IT-related practice.
The three routes in detail are set out under studying without Abitur. In practice, for this subject:
- Apprenticeship plus years of practice: the standard route, usually two to three years after qualifying.
- Advanced vocational qualification: a Fachwirt or a comparable qualification at DQR level 6 brings general university access in many federal states, and with it free choice of subject.
- Trial study: if the evidence is thin. Completed modules are retained, so the risk stays manageable.
One detail many people miss: admission rules are set by the individual states and differ noticeably across the German-speaking countries. If you live in Austria or Switzerland and plan to study in Germany, check both sides before you commit.
Credit transfer
What your IT practice is worth
The lever that turns a long degree into a workable one.
An IT apprenticeship is a formal qualification with documented learning outcomes, and that is exactly what credit transfer rests on. In this subject it touches several modules at once: programming foundations, databases, networks and operating systems, often project management as well. Those with commercial training tend to collect their points in the business part instead.
The arithmetic shows what that means. A bachelor comprises 180 ECTS. If 50 of them are credited, 130 remain. At 15 ECTS per semester that is nine semesters instead of twelve, so four and a half years instead of six. Your daily routine stays the same and the finish line moves eighteen months closer.
The order matters: clarify the credit first, choose the university second. With identical prior learning, the gap between providers is easily two semesters. How the procedure runs and how blanket and individual credit differ is explained under credit transfer and credit for work experience.
Workload
Time and cost, realistically
The semester load decides it, not the good intention in month one.
| ECTS per semester | Hours per week | In daily life | Bachelor takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | around 7 to 8 | one evening plus half a Saturday | 18 years, only sensible for single modules |
| 10 | around 15 | two evenings plus one weekend day | 9 years, around 6.5 with credit |
| 15 | around 22 | tight as soon as project peaks or on-call duty land | 6 years, 4.5 with credit |
| 20 | around 30 | effectively a second part-time job | 4.5 years |
Calculated with 30 hours per ECTS and around 20 active weeks per semester. How to work out your own figure is explained under ECTS per semester.
On cost, part-time bachelor programmes usually sit in the range of a few hundred euros per month. What counts is not the monthly rate but the total at a realistic pace, and that total falls mainly through credit transfer. The detail is under what distance learning costs.
In IT, employers contribute to fees more often than average because staff are scarce. Watch the repayment clauses, they usually tie you for several years. How to prepare that conversation is set out under getting your employer to pay. If you pay yourself, tax is often the second best lever, see tax deduction for distance learning. Which providers exist at all is documented with sources at Hochschulnavigator.
Afterwards
Where the degree leads
Three directions that differ clearly in daily work and in what they demand.
ERP and enterprise systems
Rolling out, supporting and developing business systems, often in-house or at a systems integrator. Depth in one module counts more here than breadth.
IT projects and steering
Project and workstream leadership, budget, deadlines, suppliers. A more predictable calendar, in exchange for owning results that other people deliver.
An honest note on salary: the degree alone rarely changes it, the changed role does. If you do the same work after graduating, you typically earn the same. The step up comes with the move into steering, consulting or leadership, and for that the degree is the formal ticket in many companies. More under salary after your degree.
And the honest limit: a bachelor opens no door on its own. In areas that run on references, demonstrated practice counts at least as much as the certificate. If you are after the process side of a different field, you often reach it more directly there, for instance in logistics or HR management.
Common questions
Business information systems by distance learning
The questions that come up in almost every first conversation.
Is business information systems computer science or business studies?
It is both, and that is the point. The subject combines process and data literacy with business steering. You code less than in computer science and calculate less than in business studies, but you translate between the two sides. If you only want one of those worlds, you are better served by the respective subject.
Can I study this without a school leaving certificate for university?
In most cases yes. A completed IT apprenticeship or a commercial qualification plus several years of work experience opens access to a subject-related degree in Germany. An advanced vocational qualification at DQR level 6, such as a Fachwirt, adds general university access in many federal states.
Do I need to be able to code before I start?
Not to begin with. Programming is part of the curriculum, but at foundation level, and many programmes start from zero. Structured thinking in data models, processes and interfaces matters more. If software development is your career goal, a computer science degree is the better fit.
How much of my IT apprenticeship counts towards the degree?
That depends on the university and the spread is wide. For a related IT apprenticeship many institutions credit a block in the foundation modules, and certificates or years of practice can add to it. For learning acquired outside higher education a cap of 50 percent of a programme's ECTS usually applies.
Do I need the degree if I already work in IT?
Often not for the technical work, frequently yes for the move into steering and leadership. Many employers require a degree for project management, requirements work and staff responsibility, even when you already do the job. Reading the job adverts in your target area usually answers the question.
Next step
What is actually possible in your case
Admission, credit and a matching programme, clarified in one conversation.
Levels in this subject
Which level fits your goal?
The same subject, three different answers. Each level has its own admission routes and leads somewhere else.
Bachelor part-time
Access through IT training, credit transfer
Master part-time
Admission with an unrelated bachelor, conditions
MBA
Why it targets IT leadership rather than technology
Information Notice
The information on this page is general in nature and based on my advisory practice (last updated 31.07.2026). It does not replace an official credit transfer or recognition decision by the respective university and is not legal advice. Specific decisions are made by universities, the ZAB (Germany), the BMBWF (Austria), or the SBFI (Switzerland). I clarify binding next steps with you in the initial consultation.