Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

ICT project manager to ICT operations manager

An ICT project manager already meets 45% of what the ICT operations manager role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From ICT project manager
45 % overlap
Partial match
To ICT operations manager
19 You already bring
10 Still to learn
41 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

58.3/ 100

1 How much of what an ICT operations manager is expected to do is already part of an ICT project 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 8 of its required skills as things an ICT project manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • define technology strategy
  • digital systems
  • maintain relationship with suppliers
  • manage budgets
  • manage staff
  • perform project management

What stands in the way is 10 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 19 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 project manager background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held develop information standards management skills
  • already held crowdsourcing strategy business, administration and law
  • already held insourcing strategy business, administration and law
  • already held use ICT ticketing system working with computers
  • already held outsourcing strategy business, administration and law
  • already held implement ICT risk management information skills

All 19 carried skills, including the 8 the ICT operations manager role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 22 missing skills fall into 8 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 business, administration and law 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn innovation processes required
  • still to learn operations management required
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
02 working with computers 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn attend to ICT systems quality required
  • still to learn manage changes in ICT system required
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn design process required
  • still to learn use different communication channels required
  • optional, not held manage contracts optional
04 management skills 2 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn develop ICT workflow required
  • still to learn improve business processes required
  • optional, not held coordinate technological activities 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
  • still to learn track key performance indicators required

2 further areas 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 19 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held define technology strategy skill
  • already held digital systems knowledge
  • already held maintain relationship with suppliers skill
  • already held manage budgets skill
  • already held manage staff skill
  • already held perform project management skill
  • already held train employees skill
  • already held use ICT ticketing system skill
  • already held ICT process quality models knowledge
  • already held apply organisational techniques skill
  • already held crowdsourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held develop information standards skill
  • already held implement ICT risk management skill
  • already held insourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held outsourcing strategy knowledge
  • already held perform procurement processes skill
  • already held provide cost benefit analysis reports skill
  • already held recruit employees skill
  • already held systems development life-cycle knowledge
The 2 learning areas 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
08 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held engineering processes optional
12 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 engineering processes optional
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held implement ICT security policies optional
  • optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held software components suppliers optional
  • optional, not held comply with legal regulations optional
  • optional, not held contract law optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held manage contracts optional
52 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 Agile project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management methodologies 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 Process-based management 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 analyse business plans skill
  • not needed by the target role apply change management skill
  • not needed by the target role apply conflict management skill
  • not needed by the target role blockchain mining principles knowledge
  • not needed by the target role build business relationships skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out project activities skill
  • not needed by the target role coach employees skill
  • not needed by the target role create project specifications skill
  • not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
  • not needed by the target role define roadmap for blockchain in applications skill
  • not needed by the target role define technical requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role develop blockchain technology skill
  • not needed by the target role document management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role draft project documentation skill
  • not needed by the target role estimate duration of work skill
  • not needed by the target role execute ICT audits skill
  • not needed by the target role hybrid model knowledge
  • not needed by the target role identify legal requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role incremental development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role internal risk management policy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role iterative development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role lean project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role legal requirements of ICT products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain a central project repository skill
  • not needed by the target role manage ICT project skill
  • not needed by the target role manage localisation skill
  • not needed by the target role manage project changes skill

12 further entries not listed here

9 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 innovation processes required
  • still to learn operations management required
  • optional, not held core banking software optional
  • optional, not held engineering processes optional
  • optional, not held hardware components suppliers 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 project manager

Full index of moves from ICT project manager

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can an ICT project manager become an ICT operations manager?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. An ICT project manager already covers 45% of what an ICT operations manager is expected to do: 19 skills carry over, 8 of which the ICT operations manager role treats as required.

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

10 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by business, administration and law. The single most important is attend to ICT systems quality.

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

Its learning distance is 58.3 out of 100, which is the substantial 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.