Fit-gap analysis: Definition, Uses and Steps Fit-gap analysis

Harnessing the Potential of Fit-Gap Analysis for Organizational Growth

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What is Fit-Gap analysis?

A fit-gap methodology is used to identify the areas in which the newly planned system or a business process for your organization fit or doesn’t fit according to the needs. It basically determines the components that FITS into the business goal and GAPS that need to be fixed. 

The main motive of a fit-gap analysis is that it works to find out the best practices in an organization that is well aligned with its needs and goals. This includes the day-to-day working systems and operations within the organization, which is being evaluated for their efficiency to be fruitful towards the organizational intentions. 

When a system or a scenario does not fit a given purpose or requirement, it is known as a gap. Gap is nothing but a derived term from early fit assessment words Good, Average and Poor.

Fit-gap analysis: Definition, Uses and Steps Fit-gap analysis

Although, when it is identified that a particular system or process is a fit for the organization, the real issue arises when the analysis detects a problem i.e. a gap. Along with that, a perfectly performed fit-gap analysis will also help you to prioritise the problems according to their intensity of damage done.

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When to use Fit-Gap analysis?

You might need a fit-gap analysis for your organization for any issue that arises. We will discuss some of the commonly visited problems that businesses run into, where fit-gap analysis can be a suitable option to solve the issue. 

  • To identify the fits and gaps in your ongoing business processes. 
  • To figure out the true root cause of the gaps.
  • To analyse each gap concerning its degree of severity of effects.
  • To rank each gap depending on its degree of importance. 
  • To record information of all the fit-gap attributes in all systems such as SAP.
  • To make desirable changes and updates in the decisions. 
  • To decide which systems to keep as a working standard in the organization.

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How to perform a fit-gap analysis?

The fit-gap analysis is a simple process including identification of process and outcomes and comparing them to the ideal outcomes and then making the appropriate changes in the systems. Irrespective of being an easy process, fit-gap analysis can be really challenging when you get into it. 

It is important to pay attention to the details of the processes and detect even the slightest of the problems in them. Ignoring them can give the problems room to grow and make even more damage to the working of the organization. 

In this section we will be seeing in short the steps to conduct fit-gap analysis in your organization:

Step 1: Identify the existing process

Look through the work of your organization and point out the main processes that operate on a day-to-day basis. It may be the case that one big process consists of smaller processes handled by different personnel. Sometimes the reason the main function is not working out might be because its sub-process is not being handled in a better way. 

In fit-gap analysis, you need to figure all those processes, big or small, that you need to be evaluated. 

Step 2: Identify the existing outcomes

The next step is to look for the outcomes. Measure what results from the processes are giving and in what manner. Of course, for any organization to be a smoothly working one, it is important that its systems are in place and giving the performance that was provided to them. 

Step 3: Identify the desired outcome

When you started the systems or process in an organization, you have intended an ideal result for it to give. The whole point of fit-gap analysis is to compare the “real” and “ideal” outcomes of the processes in the organization. It measures the performance of a process based on this comparison. 

Step 4: Identify the gap and document the gap

Once you have figured out which of the processes don’t yield the desired outcomes, it goes for a gap analysis. Identify why the process isn’t working and what are the issues with the working. It may be management, administration or even risk neglection going on in the system. 

You need to identify such gaps and document them. These documentations will help you in future if similar problems arise given in any of your processes. 

Step 5: Bridge the gap

Now that you know what the problem is and what is causing it, you can take the required measure to overcome it. You can introduce new software that will help the managing and administration or appoint a new team to handle certain tasks or risk management that was going unnoticed before. 

This process of providing solutions to the gaps is called a bridge to the existing gaps. 

Step 6: Maintenance

After you have built all the bridges to the occurred gaps, your job doesn’t end there. It is important to keep an eye on the causes of the gaps and work towards providing more FIT processes for your organization.  

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The benefits of Fit-Gap analysis

  • Comparing the requirements to the capabilities of your systems – you get to take a look at what your system is capable of and if you can provide the required solutions to the gaps or not. 
  • Determine the additional support – fit-gap analysis helps you see the areas in your organization that needs extra attention and support for the system to work efficiently.
  • Reason for the gaps – it tells you where the gaps are occurring frequently and where you need to pay extra care and attention to fix the process once and for all.
  • Prioritise the solutions – once you have identified the gaps you will not go on fixing everything. You need to sort the problems out based on their severity and importance and evaluate the resources you can arrange to attend to them one by one.
  • Documentation – fit-gap analysis also requires you to document the gaps and the solutions so when you encounter similar gaps in your organization, you have a potential solutiongiven ready and have a frame of reference to build the bridge.

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