ICT system analyst to software analyst
An ICT system analyst already meets 61% of what the software analyst role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.
54.2/ 100
1 How much of what a software analyst is expected to do is already part of an ICT system analyst’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 software analyst role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A software analyst role treats 8 of its required skills as things an ICT system analyst already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- analyse business processes
- create data models
- define technical requirements
- design information system
- execute feasibility study
- interact with users to gather requirements
What stands in the way is 11 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 68 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A software analyst role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT system analyst background worth leading with.
- already held manage ICT legacy implication working with computers
- already held unified modelling language information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held design information system communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held software architecture models information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held manage system testing constructing
- already held analyse ICT system working with computers
All 68 carried skills, including the 8 the software analyst role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 33 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.
- still to learn create software design required
- still to learn define software architecture required
- still to learn develop documentation in accordance with legal requirements required
- still to learn translate requirements into visual design required
- still to learn ICT system user requirements required
- still to learn data models required
- still to learn software design methodologies required
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT problem management techniques optional
- optional, not held Prototyping development optional
- optional, not held Rapid application development optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held Spiral development optional
- optional, not held Waterfall development optional
- optional, not held incremental development optional
- optional, not held inter-organisational middleware system optional
- optional, not held iterative development optional
- optional, not held trading software optional
- still to learn business requirements techniques required
- still to learn legal requirements of ICT products required
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held ICT project management optional
- optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
- optional, not held Process-based management optional
- optional, not held lean project management optional
- still to learn identify ICT user needs required
- optional, not held create prototype of user experience solutions optional
- still to learn develop software prototype required
- optional, not held ensure compliance with company regulations optional
- optional, not held ensure compliance with legal requirements optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a software analyst role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 ICT system user requirements study this
- 02 business requirements techniques study this
- 03 create software design practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 68 skills that carry over
- already held analyse business processes skill
- already held create data models skill
- already held define technical requirements skill
- already held design information system skill
- already held execute feasibility study skill
- already held interact with users to gather requirements skill
- already held manage ICT legacy implication skill
- already held software architecture models knowledge
- already held ABAP knowledge
- already held AJAX knowledge
- already held APL knowledge
- already held ASP.NET knowledge
- already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
- already held C# knowledge
- already held C++ knowledge
- already held COBOL knowledge
- already held CoffeeScript knowledge
- already held Common Lisp knowledge
- already held Erlang knowledge
- already held Groovy knowledge
- already held Haskell knowledge
- already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
- already held JavaScript knowledge
- already held LDAP knowledge
- already held LINQ knowledge
- already held Lisp knowledge
- already held MATLAB knowledge
- already held MDX knowledge
- already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
- already held N1QL knowledge
- already held Objective-C knowledge
- already held Open source model knowledge
- already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
- already held Outsourcing model knowledge
- already held PHP knowledge
- already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Perl knowledge
- already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
- already held R knowledge
- already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
- already held SAP R3 knowledge
- already held SAS language knowledge
- already held SPARQL knowledge
- already held Scala knowledge
- already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
- already held TypeScript knowledge
- already held VBScript knowledge
- already held Visual Basic knowledge
- already held XQuery knowledge
- already held analyse ICT system skill
- already held computer programming knowledge
- already held core banking software knowledge
- already held hybrid model knowledge
- already held identify ICT system weaknesses skill
- already held levels of software testing knowledge
- already held manage system testing skill
- already held monitor system performance skill
- already held object-oriented modelling knowledge
- already held provide ICT consulting advice skill
- already held query languages knowledge
- already held resource description framework query language knowledge
- already held service-oriented modelling knowledge
- already held solve ICT system problems skill
- already held unified modelling language knowledge
- already held use an application-specific interface skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held manage ICT project optional
- optional, not held create project specifications optional
22 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT problem management techniques optional
- optional, not held ICT project management optional
- optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
- optional, not held Process-based management optional
- optional, not held Prototyping development optional
- optional, not held Rapid application development optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held Spiral development optional
- optional, not held Waterfall development optional
- optional, not held create prototype of user experience solutions optional
- optional, not held incremental development optional
- optional, not held inter-organisational middleware system optional
- optional, not held iterative development optional
- optional, not held lean project management optional
- optional, not held manage ICT project optional
- optional, not held trading software optional
- optional, not held create project specifications optional
- optional, not held ensure compliance with company regulations optional
- optional, not held ensure compliance with legal requirements optional
29 held skills the software analyst role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role Apache Tomcat knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT performance analysis methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT process quality models knowledge
- not needed by the target role Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
- not needed by the target role NoSQL knowledge
- not needed by the target role analyse software specifications skill
- not needed by the target role analyse the context of an organisation skill
- not needed by the target role apply statistical analysis techniques skill
- not needed by the target role attack vectors knowledge
- not needed by the target role audit techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role automate cloud tasks skill
- not needed by the target role conduct quantitative research skill
- not needed by the target role data mining knowledge
- not needed by the target role decision support systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role digital systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role distributed computing knowledge
- not needed by the target role execute analytical mathematical calculations skill
- not needed by the target role hardware architectures knowledge
- not needed by the target role hardware platforms knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify customer requirements skill
- not needed by the target role implement a firewall skill
- not needed by the target role implement a virtual private network skill
- not needed by the target role online analytical processing knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform ICT security testing skill
- not needed by the target role software metrics knowledge
- not needed by the target role system design knowledge
- not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge
- not needed by the target role use query languages skill
22 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn ICT system user requirements required
- still to learn business requirements techniques required
- still to learn data models required
- still to learn software design methodologies required
- still to learn legal requirements of ICT products required
- optional, not held Agile development optional
- optional, not held Agile project management optional
- optional, not held DevOps optional
- optional, not held ICT problem management techniques optional
- optional, not held ICT project management optional
- optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
- optional, not held Process-based management optional
- optional, not held Prototyping development optional
- optional, not held Rapid application development optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held Spiral development optional
- optional, not held Waterfall development optional
- optional, not held incremental development optional
- optional, not held inter-organisational middleware system optional
- optional, not held iterative development optional
- optional, not held lean project management optional
- optional, not held trading software optional
Common questions about this move
Can an ICT system analyst become a software analyst?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An ICT system analyst already covers 61% of what a software analyst is expected to do: 68 skills carry over, 8 of which the software analyst role treats as required.
What skills does an ICT system analyst need to become a software analyst?
11 required skills are missing, plus 22 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is ICT system user requirements.
How hard is the move from ICT system analyst to software analyst?
Its learning distance is 54.2 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.