How SFIA works
The Skills Framework for the Information Age provides a clear model for describing IT practitioners’ skills. It is constructed as a two-dimensional matrix.
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Skills in categories and subcategories
One axis presents the whole set of SFIA skills. These are defined in a way that makes them easily recognisable in the workplace: the practical nature of the descriptions means that they can effectively be used to construct an organisation’s internal competency framework.
The skills are grouped for convenience into categories which are further broken down into subcategories.
The categories and subcategories are purely for the convenience of the SFIA user: they form a navigation aid. For example, SFIA does not claim to be offering a standard definition of the term ‘Business change management’, nor is it suggesting that this should be the title of a business role or job. It is simply a convenient heading under which to group certain related skills (business analysis, programme management, project management etc).
Levels in SFIA
The other axis defines the different levels of responsibility and accountability exercised by IT practitioners. Each of seven generic levels – from new entrant to strategist level – is defined in terms of autonomy, influence, complexity and business skill.
The matrix shows the complete set of skills used by IT practitioners. For each skill at each level, SFIA provides a clear description of the level of competence required. The matrix is not fully populated; many skills are not practised at every level of responsibility.
The full definitions of the levels of responsibility are given here.
How the professional skills map on to the Framework
Each professional skill is recognised at several levels, though typically less than the seven which the matrix allows for.
As well as the overall description of the skill, there is a specific definition for each ‘skill-at-a-level’. These map on to the framework as shown in the diagram below.
