GAP Analysis?

Question

I want to learn about Gap Analysis any recommended reading or any resources

SERIOUS answers please

Answer 1

Gap analysis is a business assessment tool enabling a company to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. This provides the company with insight to areas which have room for improvement. The process involves determining, documenting and approving the variance between business requirements and current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking or other assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in the industry is understood it is then possible to compare that expectation with the level of performance at which the company currently functions. This comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or operational level of an organization.

'Gap analysis' is a formal study of what a business is doing currently and where it wants to go in the future. It can be conducted in different perspectives as follows:

Organization (e.g. human resources)
Business direction
Business processes
Information technology
Gap analysis provides a foundation for how much effort, in terms of time, money and human resources, is required to achieve a particular aim (e.g. to turn the salary payment process from paper based to paperless with the use of a system).