The global skills and competency framework for the digital world

Skills

These are all the skills

Sustainability

The provision of advice, assistance and leadership to enable the organisation to minimise negative environmental impact.

Emerging technology monitoring

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.

Continuity management

The provision of service continuity planning and support, as part of, or in close cooperation with, the function which plans business continuity for the whole organisation. The identification of information systems which support critical business processes. The assessment of risks to critical systems' availability, integrity and confidentiality. The co-ordination of planning, designing, testing and maintenance procedures and contingency plans to address exposures and maintain agreed levels of continuity.

Network planning

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

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.

Data management

The management of practices and processes to ensure the security, quality, integrity, safety and availability of all forms of data and data structures that make up the organisation’s information. The management of data and information in all its forms and the analysis of information structure (including logical analysis of taxonomies, data and metadata). The development of innovative ways of managing the information assets of the organisation.

Methods and tools

The definition, tailoring, implementation, assessment, measurement, automation and improvement of methods and tools to support planning, development, testing, operation, management and maintenance of systems. Ensuring methods and tools are adopted and used effectively throughout the organisation.

Portfolio management

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.

Programme management

The identification, planning and coordination of a set of related projects within a programme of business change, to manage their interdependencies in support of specific business strategies and objectives. The maintenance of a strategic view over the set of projects, providing the framework for implementing business initiatives, or large-scale change, by conceiving, maintaining and communicating a vision of the outcome of the programme and associated benefits. (The vision, and the means of achieving it, may change as the programme progresses). Agreement of business requirements, and translation of requirements into operational plans. Determination, monitoring, and review of programme scope, costs, and schedule, programme resources, inter-dependencies and programme risk.

Project management

The management of projects, typically (but not exclusively) involving the development and implementation of business processes to meet identified business needs, acquiring and utilising the necessary resources and skills, within agreed parameters of cost, timescales, and quality. The adoption and adaptation of project management methodologies based on the context of the project and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.

Portfolio, programme and project support

The provision of support and guidance on portfolio, programme and project management processes, procedures, tools and techniques. Support includes definition of portfolios, programmes, and projects; advice on the development, production and maintenance of business cases; time, resource, cost and exception plans, and the use of related software tools. Tracking and reporting of programme/project progress and performance are also covered, as is the capability to facilitate all aspects of portfolio/ programme/ project meetings, workshops and documentation.

Business analysis

The methodical investigation, analysis, review and documentation of all or part of a business in terms of business goals, objectives, functions and processes, the information used and the data on which the information is based. The definition of requirements for improving processes and systems, reducing their costs, enhancing their sustainability, and the quantification of potential business benefits. The collaborative creation and iteration of viable specifications and acceptance criteria in preparation for the deployment of information and communication systems. The adoption and adaptation of business analysis approaches based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.

Business modelling

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.

Requirements definition and management

The elicitation, analysis, specification and validation of requirements and constraints to a level that enables effective development and operations of new or changed software, systems, processes, products and services. The management of requirements throughout the whole of the delivery and operational life cycle of the software, system, processes, products or services. The negotiation of trade-offs that are both acceptable to key stakeholders and within budgetary, technical, regulatory, and other constraints. The adoption and adaptation of requirements management lifecycle models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from plan-driven/predictive approaches or more adaptive (iterative and agile) approaches.

Organisational capability development

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

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.

Business process testing

The planning, design, management, execution and reporting of business process tests and usability evaluations. The application of evaluation skills to the assessment of the ergonomics, usability and fitness for purpose of defined processes. This includes the synthesis of test tasks to be performed (from statement of user needs and user interface specification), the design of an evaluation programme, the selection of user samples, the analysis of performance, and inputting results to the development team.

Benefits management

Establishing an approach for forecasting, planning and monitoring the emergence and effective realisation of anticipated benefits. Identifying and implementing the actions needed to optimise the business impact of individual and combined benefits. The confirmation of the achievement of expected benefits.

Systems development management

The planning, estimating and execution of programmes of systems development work to time, budget and quality targets. The identification of the resources needed for systems development and how this will be met with an effective supply capacity. The alignment of systems development activity and deliverables with agreed architectures and standards. The development of roadmaps to communicate future systems development plans. The adoption and adaptation of systems development lifecycle models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.