The global skills and competency framework for the digital world

SFIA View: A. Plan

A. Plan

Strategic planning ITSP

The creation, iteration and maintenance of a strategy in order to align organisational actions, plans and resources with business objectives and the development of plans to drive forward and execute that strategy. Working with stakeholders to communicate and embed strategic management via objectives, accountabilities and monitoring of progress.

Innovation INOV

The capability to identify, prioritise, incubate and exploit opportunities provided by information, communication and digital technologies. To develop and implement processes, tools and infrastructures to support innovation. To involve internal and external communities, employees, commercial partners, customers, users and other stakeholders in the innovation process. To provide governance, monitoring to, and reporting on, the innovation process.

Research RSCH

The systematic creation of new knowledge by data gathering, innovation, experimentation, evaluation and dissemination. The determination of research goals and the method by which the research will be conducted. The active participation in a community of researchers; communicating formally and informally through digital media, conferences, journals, books and seminars.

Business process improvement BPRE

The creation of new and potentially disruptive approaches to performing business activities in order to create business opportunities; deliver new or improved products/services; or to improve supply chains. The identification and implementation of improvements to business operations, services and models. The assessment of the costs and potential benefits of the new approaches. The analysis and design of business processes in order to adopt and exploit technologies to improve business performance. The development of enterprise process management capabilities to increase organisational agility and responsiveness to change.

Enterprise and business architecture STPL

The creation, iteration, and maintenance of structures such as enterprise and business architectures embodying the key principles, methods and models that describe the organisation's future state, and that enable its evolution. This typically involves the interpretation of business goals and drivers; the translation of business strategy and objectives into an “operating model”; the strategic assessment of current capabilities; the identification of required changes in capabilities; and the description of inter-relationships between people, organisation, service, process, data, information, technology and the external environment. The architecture development process supports the formation of the constraints, standards and guiding principles necessary to define, assure and govern the required evolution; this facilitates change in the organisation's structure, business processes, systems and infrastructure in order to achieve predictable transition to the intended state.

Emerging technology monitoring EMRG

The identification of new and emerging technologies, products, services, methods and techniques. The assessment of their relevance and the potential impacts (both threats and opportunities) upon business enablers, cost, performance or sustainability. The communication of emerging technologies and their impact.

Network planning NTPL

The creation and maintenance of overall network plans, encompassing the communication of data, voice, text and image, in the support of an organisation's business strategy. This includes participation in the creation of service level agreements and the planning of all aspects of infrastructure necessary to ensure provision of network services to meet such agreements. Physical implementation may include copper wire, fibre-optic, wireless, or any other technology.

Solution architecture ARCH

The design and communication of high-level structures to enable and guide the design and development of integrated solutions that meet current and future business needs. In addition to technology components, solution architecture encompasses changes to service, process, organisation, and operating models. The provision of comprehensive guidance on the development of, and modifications to, solution components to ensure that they take account of relevant architectures, strategies, policies, standards and practices (including security) and that existing and planned solution components remain compatible.

Portfolio management POMG

The development and application of a systematic management framework to define and deliver a portfolio of programmes, projects and/or ongoing services, in support of specific business strategies and objectives. Includes the implementation of a strategic investment appraisal and decision making process based on a clear understanding of cost, risk, inter-dependencies, and impact on existing business activities, enabling measurement and objective evaluation of potential changes and the benefits to be realised. The prioritisation of resource utilisation and changes to be implemented. The regular review of portfolios. The management of the service pipeline (proposed or in development), service catalogue (live or available for deployment) and retired services.

Business modelling BSMO

The production of abstract or distilled representations of real world, business or gaming situations in traditional or trans-media applications, to aid the communication and understanding of existing, conceptual or proposed scenarios. Predominantly focused around the representation of processes, roles, data, organisation and time. Models may be used to represent a subject at varying levels of detail and decomposition.

Organisational capability development OCDV

The provision of leadership, advice and implementation support to assess organisational capabilities and to identify, prioritise and implement improvements. The selection, adoption and integration of appropriate industry frameworks and models to guide improvements. The systematic use of capability maturity assessments, metrics, process definition, process management, repeatability and the introduction of appropriate techniques, tools and enhanced skills. The delivery of an integrated people, process and technology solution to deliver improved organisational performance in line with organisation's strategic plans and objectives. The scope of improvement is organisational but may also be highly focussed as necessary for example software development, systems development, project delivery or service improvement.

Organisation design and implementation ORDI

The planning, design and implementation of an integrated organisation structure and culture including the workplace environment, locations, role profiles, performance measurements, competencies and skills. The facilitation of changes needed to adapt to changes in technologies, society, new operating models and business processes. The identification of key attributes of the required culture and how these can be implemented and reinforced to bring about improved organisational performance.

Systems design DESN

The design of systems to meet specified requirements, compatible with agreed systems architectures, adhering to corporate standards and within constraints of performance and feasibility. The identification of concepts and their translation into a design which forms the basis for systems construction and verification. The design or selection of components. The development of a complete set of detailed models, properties, and/or characteristics described in a form suitable for implementation. The adoption and adaptation of systems design lifecycle models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.

Data modelling and design DTAN

The development of models to represent and communicate data requirements and to enable organisations to understand their data assets and the relationships between real-world entities. The investigation, analysis and scoping of data requirements to support the development of software systems, data integration and data retrieval activities. The iteration, review and maintenance of data requirements and data models.

Hardware design HWDE

The specification and design of computing and communications equipment (such as semiconductor processors, HPC architectures and DSP and graphics processor chips), typically for integration into, or connection to an IT infrastructure or network. The identification of concepts and their translation into implementable design. The selection and integration, or design and prototyping of components. The adherence to industry standards including compatibility, security and sustainability.

Service level management SLMO

The planning, implementation, control, review and audit of service provision, to meet customer business requirements. This includes negotiation, implementation and monitoring of service level agreements, and the ongoing management of operational facilities to provide the agreed levels of service, seeking continually and proactively to improve service delivery and sustainability targets.

Product management PROD

The active management of products or services throughout their lifecycle (inception through to retirement) in order to address market opportunities and customer/user needs and generate the greatest possible value for the business. The adoption and adaptation of product development models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.