Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

ICT product manager to ICT operations manager

An ICT product manager already meets 22% of what the ICT operations manager role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From ICT product manager
22 % overlap
Distant match
To ICT operations manager
9 You already bring
14 Still to learn
41 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance A rebuild

76.9/ 100

1 How much of what an ICT operations manager is expected to do is already part of an ICT product manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the ICT operations manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An ICT operations manager role treats 4 of its required skills as things an ICT product manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • define technology strategy
  • digital systems
  • innovation processes
  • manage budgets

What stands in the way is 14 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 9 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An ICT operations manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT product manager background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held ICT process quality models information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held define technology strategy management skills
  • already held innovation processes business, administration and law
  • already held digital systems information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held systems development life-cycle information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held provide cost benefit analysis reports information skills

All 9 carried skills, including the 4 the ICT operations manager role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 32 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 management skills 4 required, 4 supplementary
  • still to learn develop ICT workflow required
  • still to learn improve business processes required
  • still to learn manage staff required
  • still to learn perform project management required
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held apply organisational techniques optional
  • optional, not held develop information standards optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
02 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn maintain relationship with suppliers required
  • still to learn design process required
  • still to learn train employees required
  • still to learn use different communication channels required
  • optional, not held perform procurement processes optional
03 working with computers 3 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn attend to ICT systems quality required
  • still to learn manage changes in ICT system required
  • still to learn use ICT ticketing system required
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
04 business, administration and law 1 required, 5 supplementary
  • still to learn operations management required
  • optional, not held crowdsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held insourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held outsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
05 assisting and caring 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn oversee quality control required
  • optional, not held comply with legal regulations optional
06 information skills 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn track key performance indicators required
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an ICT operations manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 9 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held define technology strategy skill
  • already held digital systems knowledge
  • already held innovation processes knowledge
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held ICT process quality models knowledge
  • already held engineering processes knowledge
  • already held manage contracts skill
  • already held provide cost benefit analysis reports skill
  • already held systems development life-cycle knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 information and communication technologies (icts) 4 supplementary
  • optional, not held core banking software optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held software components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
18 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities optional
  • optional, not held core banking software optional
  • optional, not held crowdsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
  • optional, not held insourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held outsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held software components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held apply organisational techniques optional
  • optional, not held comply with legal regulations optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held develop information standards optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held perform procurement processes optional
  • optional, not held recruit employees optional
41 held skills the ICT operations manager role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT hardware specifications knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT market knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT quality policy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT sales methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT software specifications knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT system user requirements knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Open source model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Outsourcing model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Prototyping development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Rapid application development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Spiral development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Waterfall development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role advertising techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role assess ICT knowledge skill
  • not needed by the target role business process modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role conduct impact evaluation of ICT processes on business skill
  • not needed by the target role cost management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create project specifications skill
  • not needed by the target role define technical requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role hybrid model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role incremental development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role interact with users to gather requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role iterative development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage localisation skill
  • not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor technology trends skill
  • not needed by the target role perform market research skill
  • not needed by the target role perform online data analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role perform product planning skill
  • not needed by the target role perform risk analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role plan product management skill
  • not needed by the target role product comprehension knowledge
  • not needed by the target role quality standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role service-oriented modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software design methodologies knowledge

1 further entry not listed here

10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn operations management required
  • optional, not held core banking software optional
  • optional, not held crowdsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held insourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held outsourcing strategy optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held software components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
Index

Other moves recorded from ICT product manager

Full index of moves from ICT product manager

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ICT product manager become an ICT operations manager?

Yes, and it is a career change move. An ICT product manager already covers 22% of what an ICT operations manager is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 4 of which the ICT operations manager role treats as required.

What skills does an ICT product manager need to become an ICT operations manager?

14 required skills are missing, plus 18 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is attend to ICT systems quality.

How hard is the move from ICT product manager to ICT operations manager?

Its learning distance is 76.9 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.