IT Department Skills Gap Matrix Example
Network Infrastructure Server Infrastructure Storage InfrastructureNetwork FW Proxy Content Total DS Email File Print Cluster Total Storage Virtual Backup Total Employee 1 5533160000110202
533160000110202 Employee 2 00123 4354117 120 3
0123 4354117 120 3 Employee 3 00000 2111163036
0000 2111163036 Employee 4 03238 2133110 000 0
3238 2133110 000 0 Total 5868278598434 44311
5868278598434 44311 Key0 - No knowledge or experience1 - Working knowledge but no experience2 - Working knowledge with limited experience3 - Intermediate knowledge with limited experience4 - Advanced knowledge with average experience5 - Advanced knowledge with significant experience8 - Expert SpecialistRelated Pages
Grouping technology effectively to suit business needs
Groupings can be based on organizational structure or around related technologies. In the example above we have grouped network enabling equipment, identity and file and print equipment and storage related equipment. The thought process behind these groupings was around common and related skills in IT fields. In larger departments, the employees column (Employee 1, Employee 2 etc.) could be replaced by business units or teams. The ratings would then be measured against the collective skill sets within the team.
Analyzing Scores
When grouped in a significant manner this style of matrix can highlight department and employee strengths and gaps. This information can be used to target training and to identify risk. The following characteristics can be derived from this style of matrix.
1. Help to determine senior team members. Team members with significant skills and experience should produce higher totals with the exception of highly specialized employees. For this reason, we have added an additional category with a weighting of 8 points to help reflect the significance of this expertise.
2. Help to determine technology skills gaps. Any columns with low totals can be identified as technology skills gaps. Note. Many employees with junior level skills (0 - 2 points) can sometimes artificially boost column totals. We suggest that any columns that do not contain a 3 or higher should be automatically considered as a gap. In the example above, the Clustering technologies skills fall in this category.
3. Identify strong teams. The combined column and row totals give an indication of the overall strength of the team.
Considerations when creating a Skills Gap Matrix
1. Grouping is significant. We have grouped this example into Network, Server and Storage infrastructure giving indicative team totals. In the example above, there are limited Storage skills and this is reflected in the low total of 11. The most important aspect of these groupings is the department's ability to cross skill employees.
This shows that the information that is extracted from the matrix is only as good as the significance of the groupings. For example, we could have grouped the example above by design skills. This information may be important if design work or infrastructure architecture is required, but it is less meaningful if the matrix is attempting to identify technology support risks.
2. Rating Employees. This portion of the matrix is extremely important because unrealistic scores can skew results and give a false impression of advanced skill when it doesn't really exist. A well defined key and consistency in scoring will help to accurately rate employee skills.
IT Skills Gap Matrix
An IT skills gap matrix can be used to identify fields of strength and fields that may require outsourcing to technology partners. The level of maturity required at each technology layer is an individual choice that varies between company to company. Generally speaking, the required level of maturity is measured against the level of dependency that the business has on any particular technology. The higher the dependency the more maturity that is needed to support the technology.
Definitions
In the ratings key, we have used the words knowledge and experience to differentiate skill levels in the employees core competencies. We have defined these key words according to the following definitions.
Knowledge - Theoretical knowledge of the workings of the technology and an understanding of the management, deployment and configuration tools related to the technology.
Experience - Understanding and involvement with the commercial application of the technology over a long period of time.
