European e-Competence Framework e-CF 2010-09-01T00:00:00 2.0 Associate e-1 Able to apply knowledge and skills to solve straight forward problems; responsible for own actions; operating in a stable environment. 3 Professional e-2 Operates with capability and independence in specified boundaries and may supervise others in this environment; conceptual and abstract model building using creative thinking; uses theoretical knowledge and practical skills to solve complex problems within a predictable and sometimes unpredictable context. 4 Senior Professional / Manager e-3 Respected for innovative methods and use of initiative in specific technical or business areas; providing leadership and taking responsibility for team performances and development in unpredictable environments. 6 Lead Professional / Senior Manager e-4 Extensive scope of responsibilities deploying specialised integration capability in complex environments; full responsibility for strategic development of staff working in unfamiliar and unpredictable situations. 7 Principal e-5 Overall accountability and responsibility; recognised inside and outside the organisation for innovative solutions and for shaping the future using outstanding leading edge thinking and knowledge. 8 PLAN BUILD RUN ENABLE MANAGE IS and Business Strategy Alignment Anticipates long term business requirements and determines the IS model in line with organisation policy. Makes strategic IS policy decisions for the enterprise, including sourcing strategies. Service Level Management Defines, validates and makes applicable service level agreements (SLA) and underpinning contracts for services offered. Negotiates service performance levels taking into account the needs and capacity of customers and business. Business Plan Development Addresses the design and structure of a business or product plan including the identification of alternative approaches as well as return on investment propositions. Considers the possible and applicable sourcing models. Presents cost benefit analysis and reasoned arguments in support of the selected strategy. Ensures compliance with business and technology strategies. Communicates and sells business plan to relevant stakeholders and addresses political, financial, and organisational interests, including SWOT analysis. Product or Project Planning Analyses and defines current and target status. Estimates cost effectiveness, points of risk, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, with a critical approach. Creates structure plans; establishes time scales and milestones. Manages change requests. Defines delivery quantity and provides an overview of additional documentation requirements. Specifies correct handling of products. Architecture Design Specifies, refines, updates and makes available a formal approach to implement solutions, necessary to develop and operate the IS architecture. Manages the relationship with the business stakeholders to ensure that the architecture is in line with business requirements. Identifies the need for change and the components involved; hardware, software, applications, processes, information and technology platform. Ensures that all aspects take account of interoperability, scalability, usability and security. Application Design Defines the most suitable ICT solutions in accordance with ICT policy and user/ customer needs. Accurately estimates development, installation and maintenance of application costs. Selects appropriate technical options for solution design, optimising the balance between cost and quality. Identifies a common reference framework to validate the models with representative users. Technology Watching Explores latest ICT technological developments to establish understanding of evolving technologies. Devises innovative solutions for integration of new technology into existing products, applications or services or for the creation of new solutions. Sustainable Development Estimates the impact of ICT solutions in terms of eco responsibilities including energy consumption. Advises business and ICT stakeholders on sustainable alternatives that are consistent with the business strategy. Applies an ICT purchasing and sales policy which fulfils eco-responsibilities. Design and Development Designs and engineers software and/ or hardware components to meet required specifications, including energy efficiency issues. Follows a systematic methodology to analyse and build the required components and interfaces. Performs unit and system testing to ensure requirements are met. Systems Integration Installs additional hardware, software or sub system components into an existing or proposed system. Complies with established processes and procedures (e.g. configuration management), taking into account the specification, capacity and compatibility of existing and new modules to ensure integrity and interoperability. Verifies system performance and ensures formal sign off and documentation of successful integration. Testing Constructs and executes systematic test procedures for IT systems or customer usability requirements to establish compliance with design specifications. Ensures that new or revised components or systems perform to expectation. Ensures meeting of internal, external, national and international standards; including health and safety, usability, performance, reliability or compatibility. Produces documents and reports to evidence certification requirements. Solution Deployment Following predefined general standards of practice carries out planned necessary interventions to implement solution, including installing, upgrading or decommissioning. Configures hardware, software or network to ensure interoperability of system components and debugs any resultant faults or incompatibilities. Engages additional specialist resources if required, such as third party network providers. Formally hands over fully operational solution to user and completes documentation recording all relevant information, including equipment addressees, configuration and performance data. Documentation Production Produces documents describing products, services, components or applications to establish compliance with relevant documentation requirements. Selects appropriate style and media for presentation materials. Creates templates for document-management systems. Ensures that functions and features are documented in an appropriate way. Ensures that existing documents are valid and up to date. User Support Responds to user requests and issues; records relevant information. Resolves or escalates incidents and optimises system performance. Monitors solution outcome and resultant customer satisfaction. Change Support Implements and provides guidance for the evolution of an IT solution. Efficiently controls and schedules software or hardware modifications to prevent multiple upgrades creating unpredictable outcomes. Minimises service disruption as a consequence of changes and adheres to defined service level agreement (SLA). Service Delivery Takes proactive steps to ensure a stable and secure application and ICT infrastructure. Updates operational document library and logs all operational events. Maintains monitoring and management tools (i.e. Scripts, Procedures...). Problem Management Identifies and resolves the root cause of incidents. Takes a proactive approach to the root cause of ICT problems. Deploys a knowledge system based on recurrence of common errors. Information Security Strategy Development Defines and makes applicable a formal organisational strategy, scope and culture to maintain safety and security of information. Provides the foundation for Information Security Management, including role identification and accountability (ref D.2). Uses defined standards to create objectives for information integrity, availability, and data privacy. ICT Quality Strategy Development Defines, improves and refines a formal strategy to satisfy customer expectations and improve business performance (balance between cost and risks). Identifies critical processes influencing service delivery and product performance for definition in the ICT quality management system (ref D.4). Uses defined standards to formulate objectives for service management, product and process quality. Identifies ICT quality management accountability. Education and Training Provision Defines and implements ICT training policy to address organisational skill needs and gaps. Structures, organises and schedules training programmes and evaluates training quality through a feedback process and implements continuous improvement. Adapts training plans to address changing demand. Purchasing Applies a consistent procurement procedure, including deployment of the following sub processes: specification requirements, supplier identification, proposal analysis, evaluation of the energy efficiency and environmental compliance of products, suppliers and their processes, contract negotiation, supplier selection and contract placement. Ensures that the entire purchasing process is fit for purpose and adds business value to the organisation. Sales Proposal Development Develops technical proposals to meet customer solution requirements and provide sales personnel with a competitive bid. Underlines the energy efficiency and environmental impact related to a proposal. Collaborates with colleagues to align the service or product solution with the organisations capacity to deliver. Channel Management Develops the strategy for managing third party sales outlets. Ensures optimum commercial performance of the value-added resellers (VAR) channel through the provision of a coherent business and marketing strategy. Defines the targets for volume, geographic coverage and the industry sector for VAR engagements and structures incentive programmes to achieve complimentary sales results. Sales Management Drives the achievement of sales results through the establishment of a sales strategy. Demonstrates the added value of the organisations products and services to new or existing customers and prospects. Establishes a sales support procedure providing efficient response to sales enquiries, consistent with company strategy and policy. Establishes a systematic approach to the entire sales process, including understanding client needs, forecasting, prospect evaluation, negotiation tactics and sales closure. Contract Management Provides and negotiates contract in accordance with organisational processes. Ensures that supplier deliverables are provided on time, meet quality standards and comply with agreed service levels. Addresses non-compliance escalates significant issues, drives recovery plans and if necessary amends contracts. Maintains budget integrity. Assesses and addresses supplier compliance to legal, health and safety and security standards. Actively pursues regular supplier communication. Personnel Development Diagnoses individual and group competence, identifying skill needs and skill gaps. Reviews training and development options and selects appropriate methodology taking into account the needs of the individual and the business. Coaches and/ or mentors individuals and teams to address learning needs. Information and Knowledge Management Identifies and manages structured and unstructured information and considers information distribution policies. Creates information structure to enable exploitation and optimisation of information for business benefit. Understands appropriate tools to be deployed to create, extract, maintain, renew and propagate business knowledge in order to capitalise from the information asset. Forecast Development Interprets market needs and evaluates market acceptance of products or services. Assesses the organisations potential to meet future production and quality requirements. Applies relevant metrics to enable accurate decision making in support of production, marketing, sales and distribution functions. Project and Portfolio Management Implements plans for a programme of change. Plans and directs a single or portfolio of ICT projects to ensure co-ordination and management of interdependencies. Orchestrates projects to develop or implement new, internal or externally defined processes to meet identified business needs. Defines activities, responsibilities, critical milestones, resources, skills needs, interfaces and budget. Develops contingency plans to address potential implementation issues. Delivers project on time, on budget and in accordance with original requirements. Creates and maintains documents to facilitate monitoring of project progress. Risk Management Implements the management of risk across information systems through the application of the enterprise defined risk management policy and procedure. Assesses risk to the organisations business, and documents potential risk and containment plans. Relationship Management Establishes and maintains positive business relationships between the client and provider (internal or external) deploying and complying with organisational processes. Maintains regular communication with client/ partner/ supplier, and addresses needs through empathy with their environment and managing supply chain communications. Ensures that client/ partner/ supplier needs, concerns or complaints are understood and addressed in accordance with organisational policy. Process Improvement Measures effectiveness of existing ICT processes. Researches and benchmarks ICT process design from a variety of sources. Follows a systematic methodology to evaluate, design and implement process or technology changes for measurable business benefit. Assesses potential adverse consequences of process change. ICT Quality Management Implements ICT quality policy to maintain and enhance service and product provision. Plans and defines indicators to manage quality with respect to ICT strategy. Reviews quality performance indicators and recommends enhancements to influence continuous quality improvement. Business Change Management Assesses the implications of new IT solutions. Defines the requirements and quantifies the business benefits. Manages the deployment of change taking into account structural and cultural issues. Maintains business and process continuity throughout change, monitoring the impact, taking any required remedial action and refining approach. Information Security Management Implements information security policy. Monitors and takes action against intrusion, fraud and security breaches or leaks. Ensures that security risks are analysed and managed with respect to enterprise data and information. Reviews security incidents and makes recommendations for continuous security enhancement. IT Governance Defines, deploys and controls the management of information systems in line with business imperatives. Takes into account all internal and external parameters such as legislation and industry standard compliance to influence risk management and resource deployment to achieve balanced business benefit. 4 Provides leadership for the construction and implementation of long term innovative IS solutions. 5 Provides IS strategic leadership to reach consensus and commitment from the management team of the enterprise. 3 Influences and prepares the final Service Level Agreement (SLA) and accounts for the final content. 4 Provides leadership to amend the enterprise strategy with respect to Service Level Agreements (SLA) in order to achieve forecasted results. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to provide analysis of market environment etc. 4 Provides leadership for the creation of an information system strategy that meets the requirements of the business. 5 Applies strategic thinking and organisational leadership to exploit the capability of Information Technology to improve the business. 2 Acts systematically to document standard and simple elements of product or project. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to create and maintain complex documents of the project or product. 4 Acts with wide ranging accountability to take responsibility for complete project or product plan. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to define relevant ICT technology and specifications to be deployed in the construction of multiple ICT projects, applications or infrastructure improvements. 4 Acts with wide ranging accountability to define the strategy to implement ICT technology compliant with business need. Takes account of the current technology platform, obsolescent equipment and latest technological innovations. 1 Contributes to the design and general functional specification and interfaces. 2 Organises the overall planning of the design of the application. 3 Accounts for own and others actions in ensuring that the application is correctly integrated within a complex environment and complies with user/ customer needs. 4 Exploits wide ranging specialist knowledge of new and emerging technologies, coupled with a deep understanding of the business, to envision and articulate the solutions of the future. Provides expert guidance and advice, to the leadership teams in business and in technology, about potential innovations to support strategic decision-making. 5 Provides strategic leadership. Envisions and articulates future solutions and directs the organisation to build and exploit them. 3 Promotes awareness, training and commitment for the deployment of sustainable development and applies the necessary tools for piloting this approach. 4 Defines objective and strategy of sustainable IS development in accordance with the organisation’s sustainability policy. 2 Systematically develops small components. 3 Acts creatively to develop and integrate components into a larger product. 4 Handles complexity by developing standard procedures and architectures in support of cohesive product development. 5 Has ultimate responsibility for strategic direction of product, technical architecture or technology development. 2 Acts systematically to identify compatibility of software and hardware specifications. Documents all activities during installation and records deviations and remedial activities. 3 Accounts for own and others actions in the integration process. Complies with appropriate standards and change control procedures to maintain integrity of the overall system functionality and reliability. 4 Exploits wide ranging specialist knowledge to create a process for the entire integration cycle, including the establishment of internal standards of practice. Provides leadership to marshal and assign resources for programmes of integration. 1 Performs simple tests in strict compliance with detailed instructions. 2 Organises test programmes and builds scripts to stress test potential vulnerabilities. Records and reports outcomes providing analysis of results. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to supervise complex testing programmes. Ensures tests and results are documented to provide input to subsequent process owners such as designers, users or maintainers. Accountable for compliance with testing procedures including a documented audit trail. 1 Performs under guidance and in accordance with detailed instructions, the removal or installation of individual components. 2 Acts systematically to build or deconstruct system elements. Identifies non performing components and establishes root cause of failure within the overall solution. Provides support to less experienced colleagues. 3 Accounts for own and others actions within solution provision activities including comprehensive communications with client. Exploits specialist knowledge to influence solution construction. Gives advice on aligning work processes and procedures with software upgrades. 1 Uses and applies standards to define document structure. 2 Determines documentation requirements taking into account the purpose and environment to which it applies. 3 Adapts the level of detail according to the objective of the documentation and the targeted population. 1 Routinely interacts with users, applies ICT-product, basic knowledge and skill to respond to user requests. Solves simple incidents, following prescribed procedures. 2 Systematically interprets user problems identifying the solutions and possible side effects. Uses experience to identifying user problems and interrogates database for potential solutions. Escalates complex or unresolved incidents to senior experts. Records and tracks user support procedures from outset to conclusion. 3 Manages the support process and is accountable for ensuring that agreed service levels are met. Plans resource allocation to ensure that the support is available with respect to the defined service level. Acts creatively, and seeks opportunities for continuous service improvement by analysing root causes. Manages the budget of the support function. 2 During change, acts systematically to respond to day by day operational needs and react to them, avoiding service disruptions and maintaining coherence to service level agreement (SLA). 3 Ensures the integrity of the system by controlling the application of functional updates, software or hardware additions and maintenance activities. Complies with budget requirements. 1 Acts under guidance to record and track reliability data. 2 Systematically analyses performance data and communicates findings to senior experts. Escalates potential service level failures and recommends actions to improve service reliability. Tracks reliability data against service level agreement. 3 Programmes the schedule of operational tasks. Manages costs and budget according to the internal procedures and external constraints. Identifies people requirements to resource the operational management of the ICT infrastructure. 2 Identifies and classifies incident types and service interruptions. Records incidents cataloguing them by symptom and resolution. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge and in-depth understanding of the ICT infrastructure and problem management process to identify failures and resolve with minimum outage. Makes sound decisions in emotionally charged environments on appropriate action required to minimise business impact. Rapidly identifies failing component, selects alternatives such as repair, replace or reconfigure. 4 Provides leadership and is accountable for the entire problem management process. Schedules and ensures well trained human resources, tools, and diagnostic equipment are available to meet emergency incidents. Has depth of expertise to anticipate critical component failure and make provision for recovery with minimum downtime. Constructs escalation processes to ensure that appropriate resources can be applied to each incident. 4 Exploits depth of expertise and leverages external standards and best practices. 5 Provides strategic leadership to embed information security into the culture of the organisation. 4 Exploits wide ranging specialist knowledge to leverage and authorise the application of external standards and best practices. 5 Provides strategic leadership to embed ICT quality (i.e. metrics and continuous improvement) into the culture of the organisation. 2 Organises the identification of training needs; collates organisation requirements, identifies, selects and prepares schedule of training interventions. 3 Acts creatively to analyse skills gaps; elaborates specific requirements and identifies potential sources for training provision. Has specialist knowledge of the training market and establishes a feedback mechanism to assess the added value of alternative training programmes. 2 Understands and applies the principles of the procurement process; places orders based on existing supplier contracts. Ensures the correct execution of orders, including validation of deliverables and correlation with subsequent payments. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to deploy the purchasing process, ensuring positive commercial relationships with suppliers. Selects suppliers, products and services by evaluating performance, cost, timeliness and quality. Decides contract placement and complies with organisational policies. 4 Provides leadership for the application of the organisations procurement policies and makes recommendations for process enhancement. Applies experience and procurement practice expertise to make ultimate purchasing decisions. 2 Organises collaboration between relevant internal departments, for example, technical, sales and legal. Facilitates comparison between customer requirement and available ‘off the shelf’ solutions. 3 Acts creatively to develop proposal incorporating a complex solution. Customises solution in a complex technical environment and ensures feasibility and technical validity of customer offer. 4 Interprets and influences customer needs and the reference business contexts, proposes consultancy projects, in order to provide the ideal customer solutions, i.e. behaves as a “consultative seller”. 3 Acts creatively to influence the establishment of a VAR network. Manages the identification and assessment of potential VAR members and sets up support procedures. VARs managed to maximise business performance. 4 Exploits wide ranging skills in marketing and sales to create the organisations VAR strategy. Establishes the processes by which VARs will be managed to maximise business performance. 3 Contributes to the sales process by effectively presenting products or services to clients. 4 Assesses and estimates appropriate sales strategies to deliver company results. Decides and allocates annual sales targets and adjusts incentives to meet market conditions. 5 Assumes ultimate responsibility for the sales performance of the organisation. Authorises resource allocation, prioritises product and service promotions, advises board directors of sales performance. 2 Acts systematically to monitor contract compliance and promptly escalate defaults. 3 Evaluates supplier contract performance by monitoring performance indicators. Assures performance of the complete supply chain. Influences the terms of contract renewal. 4 Provides Leadership for supplier contract compliance and is the final escalation point for issue resolution. 2 Briefs/ trains individuals and groups, holds courses of instruction. 3 Monitors and addressees the development needs of individuals and teams. 4 Takes proactive action and develops organisational processes to address the development needs of individuals, teams and the entire workforce. 3 Analyses Business processes and associated information requirements and provides the most appropriate information structure. 4 Integrates the appropriate information structure into the corporate environment. 5 Correlates information and knowledge to create value for the business. Applies innovative solutions based on information retrieved. 3 Exploits skills to provide short-term forecast using market inputs and assessing the organisations production and selling capabilities 4 Acts with wide ranging accountability for the production of a long-term forecast. Understands the global marketplace, identifying and evaluating relevant inputs from the broader business, political and social context. 2 Understands and applies the principles of project management and applies methodologies, tools and processes to manage simple projects. 3 Accounts for own and others activities, working within the project boundary, making choices and giving instructions; manages and supervises relationships within the team; plans and establishes team objectives and outputs and documents results. 4 Exploits wide ranging skills in project management to work beyond project boundary. Manages complex projects or programmes, including interaction with others. Influences project strategy by proposing new or alternative solutions. Takes overall responsibility for project outcomes, including finance and resource management. Is empowered to revise rules and choose standards. 5 Provides strategic leadership for extensive interrelated programmes of work to ensure that Information Technology is a change enabling agent and delivers benefit in line with overall business strategic aims. Applies extensive business and technological mastery to conceive and bring innovative ideas to fruition. 2 Understands and applies the principles of risk management and investigates ICT solutions to mitigate identified risks 3 Decides on appropriate actions required to adapt security and address risk exposure. Evaluates, manages and ensures validation of exceptions; audits ICT processes and environment. 4 Provides leadership to define and make applicable a policy for risk management by considering all the possible constraints, including technical, economic and political issues. Delegates assignments. 2 Positively interacts with clients. 3 Accounts for own and others actions in managing a limited client base. 4 Provides leadership for large or many client relationships. Authorises investment in new and existing relationships. Leads the design of a workable procedure for maintaining positive business relationships. 3 Exploits specialist knowledge to research existing ICT processes and solutions in order to define possible innovations. Makes recommendations based on reasoned arguments. 4 Provides leadership and authorises implementation of innovations and improvements that will enhance competitiveness or efficiency. Demonstrates to senior management the business advantage of potential changes. 2 Communicates and monitors application of the organisations quality policy. 3 Evaluates quality management indicators and processes based on ICT quality policy and proposes remedial action. 4 Assesses and estimates the degree to which quality requirements have been met and provides leadership for quality policy implementation. Provides cross functional leadership for setting and exceeding quality standards. 3 Evaluates change requirements and exploits specialist skills to identify possible methods and standards that can be deployed. 4 Provides leadership to plan, manage and implement significant IT led business change. 5 Applies pervasive influence to imbed organisational change. 2 Systematically scans the environment to identify and define vulnerabilities and threats. Records and escalates non-compliance. 3 Evaluates security management measures and indicators and decides if compliant to information security policy. Investigates and instigates remedial measures to address any security breaches. 4 Provides leadership for the integrity, confidentiality and availability of data stored on information systems and complies with all legal requirements. 4 Provides leadership for IT governance strategy by communicating, propagating and controlling relevant processes across the entire IT infrastructure. 5 Defines and aligns the IT governance strategy incorporating it into the organisations corporate governance strategy. Adapts the IT governance strategy to take into account new significant events arising from legal, economic, political, business or environmental issues. business strategy concepts trends and implications of ICT internal or external developments for typical organisations the potential and opportunities of relevant business models the business aims and organisational objectives the issues and implications of sourcing models analyse future developments in business process and technology application determine requirements for processes related to ICT services identify and analyse long term user/ customer needs contribute to the development of ICT strategy and policy contribute to the development of the business strategy service level agreement documentation how to compare and interpret management data the elements forming the metrics of service level agreements how service delivery infrastructures work impact of service level non-compliance on business performance analyse service provision records evaluate service provision against service level agreement negotiate realistic service level targets use relevant quality management techniques anticipate and mitigate against potential service disruptions business plan elements and milestones the present and future market size and needs competition and SWOT analysis techniques (for product features and also the external environment) value creation channels profitability elements the issues and implications of sourcing models financial planning and dynamics address and identify essential elements of product or solution value propositions define the appropriate value creation channels build a detailed SWOT analysis generate short and long term performance reports (e.g. financial, profitability, usage and value creation) identify main milestones of the plan effective frameworks for project governance typical KPI (key performance indicators) basic decision-making methods identify all potential targets for the product or project define the communication plan; identify key users and create related documentation produce project and quality plans including milestones ensure and manage adequate information for decision makers manage the change request process architecture frameworks and systems design tools systems architecture requirements: performance, maintainability, extendibility, scalability, availability, security and accessibility costs, benefits and risks of a system architecture the company’s enterprise architecture and internal standards provide expertise to help solve complex technical problems and ensure best architecture solutions areimplemented use knowledge in various technology areas to build and deliver the enterprise architecture understand the business objectives/ drivers that impact the architecture component (data, application, security, development etc.) assist in communication of the enterprise architecture and standards, principles and objectives to the application teams develop design patterns and models to assist system analysts in designing consistent applications requirements modelling and need analysis techniques software developments methods and their rationale (e.g. prototyping, agile methods, reverseengineering, etc.) metrics related to application development user interface design principles languages for formalising functional specification existing applications and related architecture DBMS, Data Warehouse, DSS … etc. identify customers, users, stakeholders collect, formalise and validate functional and no-functional requirements apply estimation models and data to evaluate costs of different software lifecycle phases evaluate the use of prototypes to support requirements validation design, organise and monitor the overall plan for the design of application design functional specification starting from defined requirements evaluate the suitability of different application development methods for the current scenario emerging technologies and the relevant market applications market needs relevant sources of information (e.g. magazines, conferences and events, news letters, opinion leaders, etc.) the rules of discussions in web communities monitor sources of information and continuously follow the most promising identify vendors and providers of the most promising solutions; evaluate, justify and propose the most appropriate identify business advantages and improvements of adopting emerging technologies create a proof of concept metrics and indicators related to sustainable development corporate social responsibility (CSR) of stakeholders within the IT infrastructure monitor and measures the IT energy consumption apply recommendations in projects to support latest sustainable development strategies master regulatory constraints and international standards related to IT sustainability appropriate software programs/ modules, DBMS and programming languages hardware components, tools and hardware architectures functional and technical designing state of the art technologies programming languages power consumption models of software and/ or hardware explain and communicate the design/ development to the customer perform and evaluate test results against product specifications apply appropriate software and/ or hardware architectures design and develop hardware architecture, user interfaces, business software components and embedded software components manage and guarantee high levels of cohesion and quality in complex software developments use data models old, existing and new hardware components/ software programs/ modules the impact that system integration has on existing system/ organisation interfacing techniques between modules, systems and components integration testing techniques measure system performance before, during and after system integration document and record activities, problems and related repair activities match customers’ needs with existing products verify that integrated systems capabilities and efficiency match specifications secure/ back-up data to ensure integrity during system integration techniques, infrastructure and tools to be used in the testing process the lifecycle of a testing process the different sorts of tests (functional, integration, performance, usability, stress etc.) national and international standards defining quality criteria for testing create and manage a test plan manage and evaluate the test process design tests of ICT systems prepare and conduct tests of ICT systems report and document tests and results performance analysis techniques techniques related to problem management (operation, performance, compatibility) software packaging and distribution methods and techniques the impacts of deployment on the current architecture the technologies and standards to be used during the deployment organise deployment workflow and product roll-out activities organise and plan beta-test activities, testing solution in its final operational environment configure components at any level to guarantee correct overall interoperability identify and engage expertise needed to solve interoperability problems organise and control initial support service provision including user training during system start-up organise population of data bases and manage data migration tools for production, editing and distribution of professional documents tools for multimedia presentation creation different technical documents required for designing, developing and deploying products, applications and services observe and deploy effective use of corporate standards for publications prepare templates for shared publications organise and control content management workflow keep publications aligned to the solution during the entire lifecycle relevant ICT user applications database structures and content organisation corporate escalation procedures software distribution methods and procedures for fix application and file transmission methodologies applicable to software fixes sources of information for potential solutions effectively interrogate users to establish symptoms analyse symptoms to identify broad area of user error or technical failure deploy support tools to systematically trace source of error or technical failure clearly communicate with end users and provide instructions on how to progress issues record and code issues to support growth and integrity of online support tools functional specifications of the information system the existing ICT application technical architecture how business processes are integrated and their dependency upon ICT applications change management tools and techniques share functional and technical specifications with ICT teams in charge of the maintenance and evolution of ICT solutions manage communications with ICT teams in charge of the maintenance and the evolution of information systems solutions analyse the impact of functional/ technical changes on users anticipate all actions required to mitigate the impact of changes (training, documentation, new processes…) how to interpret IT service delivery requirements best practices and standards in IT service delivery. how to monitor service delivery how to record service delivery actions and to identify failures apply the processes which comprise the organisations IT service delivery strategy fill in and complete documentation used in IT service delivery analyse service delivery provision and report outcomes to senior colleagues the organisations overall ICT infrastructure and key components the organisations reporting procedures the organisations critical situation escalation procedures the application and availability of diagnostic tools the link between system infrastructure elements and impact of failure on related business processes. monitor progress of issues throughout lifecycle and communicate effectively identify potential critical component failures and take action to mitigate effects of failure conduct risk management audits and act to minimise exposures allocate appropriate resources to maintenance activities, balancing cost and risk communicate at all levels to ensure appropriate resources are deployed internally or externally to minimise outages the potential and opportunities of relevant standards and best practices the impact of legal requirements on information security the information strategy of the organisation possible security threats develop and critically analyse the company strategy for information security define, present and promote an information security policy for approval by the senior management of the organisation apply relevant standards, best practices and legal requirements for information security anticipate required changes to the organisations information security strategy and formulate new plans propose effective contingency measures the major information technology industry frameworks - COBIT, ITIL, CMMI, ISO - and their implications for corporate ICT governance the information strategy of the organisation define an ICT quality policy to meet the organisations standards of performance and customer satisfaction objectives identify quality metrics to be used apply relevant standards and best practices to maintain information quality appropriate pedagogical approaches and education delivery methods e.g. classroom, online, text, dvd.. the competitive market for educational offering training needs analysis methodologies organise training and education schedules to meet market needs identify and maximise use of resources required to deliver a cost effective schedule promote and market education and training provision analyse feedback data and use it to drive continuous improvement of education and training delivery design curricula and training programmes to meet client ICT education needs typical purchase contract terms and conditions own organisation purchasing policies financial models e.g. discount structures the current market for relevant products or services the issues and implications of outsourcing services interpret product/ service specifications negotiate terms, conditions and pricing analyse received proposals/ offers manage the purchasing budget lead purchase process improvement analyse the energy efficiency and environmental-related aspects of a proposal customer needs internally adopted sales and marketing techniques legal requirements internal business practices product or service unique selling points construct the framework for proposal documentation co-ordinate and facilitate multidiscipline teams contributing to the proposal interpret the terms and conditions of the tender documentation evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of potential competitors ensure that a proposal is of high quality and is submitted on time communicate the energy efficiency and environmental-related aspects of a proposal the competition (what and where) the market distribution across the field sales channel typologies (e.g. direct sales, VAR, web marketing) incentive policies user experience of each channel type choose the best sales channel according to the product or solution being delivered define discounts according to the competitive environment select value added retailers based on thorough analyses, plan and make contacts monitor and supervise channel performances in line with sales forecast and able to define corrective actions if necessary apply web marketing methods customer organisation (needs, budget allocation and decision makers) company specific processes (sales, ITIL, etc.) market trends and own service offering portfolio legal, financial and contractual rules project management procedures current market imperatives e.g. risks, changes, innovation develop strong co-operation between customers and own organisation keep abreast of market news e.g. risks, changes, innovations and communicate to internal business units, to improve service and product portfolio react proactively to customer business changes and communicate them internally generate sustainable customer relationships analyse sales performance to build forecasts and develop a tactical sales plan applicable service level agreements company policy for contract management legal regulations applicable to ICT contracts foster positive relationships with suppliers and customers negotiate contract terms and conditions apply judgement and flexibility in contract negotiations compliant with internal rules and policies competence development methods competence and skill needs analysis methodologies learning and development support methods (e.g. coaching, teaching) ICT technologies and processes with an overview perspective identify competence and skill gaps identify and recommend work based development opportunities incorporate within routine work processes, opportunities for skills development coach on learning processes methods to analyse unstructured information and business processes IT devices and tools applicable for the storage and retrieval of data gather internal and external knowledge and information needs formalise customer requirements translate/ reflect business behaviour into structured information make information available market size and relevant fluctuations accessibility of the market according to current conditions (e.g. government policies, emerging technologies, social and cultural trends, etc.) the extended supply chain operation large scale data analysis techniques (data mining) apply what-if techniques to produce realistic outlooks generate sales forecasts in relation to current market share generate production forecasts taking into account manufacturing capacity compare sales and production forecasts and analyse potential mismatches interpret external research data and analyse information a project methodology, including approaches to define project steps and tools to set up action plans technologies to be implemented within the project company business strategy and business processes development and compliance to financial plans and budgets identify project risks and define action plans to mitigate define a project plan by breaking it down into individual project tasks communicate project progress to all relevant parties reporting on topics such as cost control, schedule achievements, quality control, risk avoidance and changes to project specifications delegate tasks and manage team member contributions appropriately manage external, contracted resources to achieve project objectives optimise project portfolio timelines and delivery objectives by achieving consensus on stakeholder priorities corporate values and interests to apply risk analysis to the return on investment compared to risk avoidance good practices (methodologies) and standards in risk analysis develop risk management plan to identify required preventative actions communicate and promote the organisations risk analysis outcomes and risk management processes design and document the processes for risk analysis and management apply mitigation and contingency actions client or internal organisation processes including, decision making, budgets and management structure client business objectives own organisation business objectives how to measure and apply resources to meet customer requirements customer business challenges and risks deploy empathy to customer needs identify potential win win opportunities for client and own organisation establish realistic expectations to support development of mutual trust monitor ongoing commitments to ensure fulfilment communicate good and bad news to avoid surprises research methods, benchmarks and measurements methods evaluation, design and implementation methodologies existing internal processes relevant developments in ICT and the potential impact on processes compose, document and catalogue essential processes and procedures propose process changes to facilitate and rationalise improvements which methods, tools and procedure are applied within the organisation and where they should be applied the IS internal quality audit approach regulations and standards in energy efficiency and e-waste illustrate how methods, tools and procedures can be applied to implement the organisations quality policy evaluate and analyse process steps to identify strengths and weaknesses assist process owners in the choice and use of measures to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of the overall process monitor, understand and act upon quality indicators perform quality audits the implications on business of new ICT solutions the implications on organisation and human resources issues of new ICT solutions the impact of new ICT solutions on legal issues analyse costs and benefits of implementing new ICT solutions select appropriate ICT solutions based upon benefit, risks and overall impact construct and document a plan for implementation of process enhancements apply project management standards and tools the organisations security management policy and its implications for engagement with customers, suppliers and subcontractors the best practices and standards in information security management the critical risks for information security management the IS internal audit approach document the information security management policy, linking it to business strategy analyse the company critical assets and identify weaknesses and vulnerability to intrusion or attack establish a risk management plan to feed and produce preventative action plans perform security audits the IT infrastructure and the business organisation the business strategy of the company the business values the legal requirements manage applicable governance models analyse the business context of the company and its evolution define and implement appropriate key performance indicators (KPI’s) communicate the value, risks and opportunities derived from the IS strategy