Introduction To Gap Analysis | BusinessAnalystMentor.com

Gap analysis is a strategic approach used by businesses to identify and assess disparities between the current performance (current state) and desired benchmarks or goals (future state). 

The main value of this approach is that it provides insight into the areas where an organisation falls short in meeting set objectives, allowing them to design effective strategies for performance improvement.

By using this method business analysis and companies can measure the actual against the expected results and use the findings to discover missing or suboptimal strategies, skills, technologies, or any other element of a business process.

The results of the gap analysis are commonly used to recommend the actions that a company should take to meet its set goals. Comparing the current vs the target state, the organisation can determine the areas it needs to work on to get on the right path quicker and improve its performance and results. 

Plus, gap analysis can be used to evaluate individual or team performances and grade them based on competency or productivity level.

When conducted properly, the gap analysis method should provide the business analyst with quantifiable data that helps them gain a realistic perspective of what the organisation actually needs to achieve the desired state. 

Gap analysis results can be used to convince the relevant stakeholders and explain to them the scope of work, prioritise features for implementation, make informed decisions about resources, effort, and costs needed to reach the set goals, and make sure that the future state is aligned with the overall organisational vision and objectives. 

Unlike some other approaches that provide more generalised ways to improve performance, gap analysis helps discover specific areas that need improvement and can be used to design the actual, actionable steps for improving any part of a business process.