Persona & Outcomes Gap Analysis
Expert View vs. Synthesized Documentation
Generated: 2025-01-14
Executive Summary
This document compares the expert's persona and question mapping (from Software analysis.xlsx) against the synthesized XOPS documentation (02-User-Persona-Question-Mapping.md).
Key Finding: The expert's view is more operationally focused with simpler personas, while the synthesized documentation provides a more comprehensive enterprise architecture view with detailed technical delivery methods.
Persona Mapping Comparison
| Expert's Personas | Synthesized Doc Personas | Mapping Status |
|---|---|---|
| VP (IT) | IT Manager + CIO/CTO | ✓ Covered (split across 2 personas) |
| End User | MISSING | ⚠️ Gap - No end user persona |
| Director - SAM | Software Asset Manager (SAM) | ✓ Covered |
| Field tech | Service Desk Analyst + IT Technician | ✓ Covered |
| CISO / CIO | Security/Compliance Officer + CIO/CTO | ✓ Covered |
| - | CFO / Finance VP | ✓ Additional (good) |
| - | Procurement Manager | ✓ Additional (good) |
| - | Financial Analyst | ✓ Additional (good) |
Critical Gap: Missing End User Persona
Expert's End User Questions
The expert identified an End User persona with the following needs:
| Question | Why it Matters | Component |
|---|---|---|
| I need to total spend of software | Be able to control spend and identify for budgets | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see top 10 vendors and cost | I need to see top groups for spend and managing relationships | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see how much each software is per user / or pools of licenses | Be able to control spend and be able to know what charge backs (if applicable) can be allocated | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need the ability to see when licenses are expiring coming up for renewal | Be able to prepare for license discussions | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see when this was purchased | Be able to control timing of agreement | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see who purchased the license | Be able to see if they have budget or transfer of software budget | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see how is the sponsor/owner | Ability to ask more question about the product and capabilities | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to see how pricing is put together | Need the ability to see how things are broken out to control pricing | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| I need to question how competitive my license agreement is | The ability to have options and competitive intelligence | Knowledge graph, experience center, copilot |
| Ability to ask IT about a new software or open source I want to use to do my job | I need the ability to ask for new software | Copilot, sidekick |
| I need the ability to request a different software offering | Ability to do my job, I need to have a new type of software package. Because my role changed, or evolved | Copilot, sidekick, Service ticketing system |
Status: ⚠️ MISSING - The synthesized documentation does not include an End User persona.
Impact: This is a significant gap because end users are the actual consumers of software and have self-service needs that drive adoption.
VP (IT) Persona - Question Comparison
Expert's Questions (14 questions)
- I need to total spend of software
- I need to see top 10 vendors and cost
- I need to see how much each software is per user / or pools of licenses
- I need the ability to see when licenses are expiring coming up for renewal
- I need to see how we are using the licenses
- I need to see when this was purchased
- I need to see who purchased the license
- I need to see who is the sponsor/owner
- I need to see how pricing is put together
- I need to question how competitive my license agreement is
- I need to see if I have any unusable credits or services in my software licenses
- I need to see utilization of the licenses
- I need to identify alternatives
- I need to see what the proposed percentage increase for renewal will be
Synthesized Doc's IT Manager Questions (5 questions)
- What's our actual software spend per employee?
- How quickly can we provision software for new hires?
- What's the operational overhead for software management?
- Are there redundant tools across departments?
- What's our software stack risk profile?
Gap Analysis
| Expert Question | Covered in Synthesized? | Gap? |
|---|---|---|
| Total spend of software | Partially (spend per employee) | ⚠️ Missing aggregate total |
| Top 10 vendors and cost | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| Cost per user / pools of licenses | ✓ | ✓ |
| When licenses are expiring | ✗ (in CFO persona) | ⚠️ Should be in IT Manager |
| How we are using licenses | ✓ (operational overhead) | ✓ |
| When this was purchased | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| Who purchased the license | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| Who is the sponsor/owner | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| How pricing is put together | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| How competitive my license agreement is | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| Unusable credits or services | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
| Identify alternatives | ✓ (redundant tools) | ✓ |
| Proposed percentage increase for renewal | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing |
Assessment: The expert's VP (IT) persona is more financially and procurement-focused than the synthesized IT Manager persona, which is more operationally focused.
Director - SAM Persona - Question Comparison
Expert's Questions (7 questions)
- I need to see the software spend is that I am managing
- I need to see when contracts are expiring
- I need to know how many licenses we have left
- I need to know the utilization of the licenses
- I need to know who my sales/vendor name is
- I need to know proposed increase percentage of increase
- I need to know potential other tools to use
Synthesized Doc's SAM Questions (6 questions)
- How many licenses do we have vs. how many are we using?
- Which users have licenses but aren't using the software?
- Are we compliant with our license agreements?
- What software is installed that we didn't purchase?
- When do our contracts renew and what should we negotiate?
- Which terminated employees still have active licenses?
Gap Analysis
| Expert Question | Covered in Synthesized? | Gap? |
|---|---|---|
| Software spend that I am managing | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing spend visibility |
| When contracts are expiring | ✓ (contract renewal) | ✓ |
| How many licenses we have left | ✓ (licenses vs. using) | ✓ |
| Utilization of licenses | ✓ (inactive users) | ✓ |
| Who my sales/vendor name is | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing vendor contact |
| Proposed increase percentage | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing renewal pricing |
| Potential other tools to use | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing competitive alternatives |
Assessment: The synthesized SAM persona is more compliance-focused (shadow IT, terminated employees) while the expert's Director-SAM is more vendor relationship and renewal-focused.
Field Tech Persona - Question Comparison
Expert's Questions (3 questions)
- I need to know who needs a licenses (Ability to provision and give access)
- I need to know which licenses I have to take away (terminated, intern, retired)
- I need to see how many licenses I may have left to give out
Synthesized Doc's Service Desk Analyst Questions (5 questions)
- Are there licenses available to assign to this user?
- Why doesn't this user have access to software X?
- What software should this user have based on their role?
- How do I provision this software request?
- What's the approval workflow for this software?
Gap Analysis
| Expert Question | Covered in Synthesized? | Gap? |
|---|---|---|
| Who needs a license (provision) | ✓ (provisioning, availability) | ✓ |
| Which licenses to take away (reclaim) | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing reclamation workflow |
| How many licenses left to give out | ✓ (availability) | ✓ |
Assessment: The synthesized Service Desk persona is more request fulfillment-focused while the expert's Field Tech includes license reclamation responsibilities (taking away from terminated/retired employees).
Key Difference: Expert mentions Operator App component explicitly for Field Tech, which is not mentioned in synthesized doc.
CISO / CIO Persona - Question Comparison
Expert's Questions (4 questions)
- I need to identify which software is not approved and used
- I need to see who is using that software
- I need to see where it is running
- If there is a software vulnerability need to see where it is and how it is configured
Synthesized Doc's Security/Compliance Officer Questions (5 questions)
- Are we using any software with known vulnerabilities?
- Do we have unapproved software in our environment?
- Are terminated employees properly deprovisioned?
- What's our audit readiness posture?
- Are we compliant with software license terms?
Gap Analysis
| Expert Question | Covered in Synthesized? | Gap? |
|---|---|---|
| Which software is not approved and used | ✓ (unapproved software) | ✓ |
| Who is using that software | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing user drill-down |
| Where it is running | ✗ | ⚠️ Missing location/device view |
| Software vulnerability + configuration | ✓ (known vulnerabilities) | Partial - missing configuration |
Assessment: Both are similar in shadow IT focus, but expert's view is more incident response-focused (who/where/how) while synthesized is more compliance audit-focused.
Component/Technology Terminology Gaps
Components Mentioned by Expert BUT NOT in Synthesized Doc:
-
"Experience Center" - Mentioned throughout expert's view
- Status: Not explicitly named in synthesized doc
- Likely maps to: "Control Center" in synthesized doc
-
"Copilot" - Mentioned frequently for all personas
- Status: Not mentioned in synthesized doc
- Gap: Missing conversational AI interface
-
"Sidekick" - Mentioned for End User and Field Tech
- Status: Not mentioned in persona doc (but exists in other docs)
- Gap: Missing from persona-specific delivery methods
-
"Operator App" - Mentioned for Field Tech
- Status: Not mentioned in persona doc
- Gap: Missing mobile/field app for technicians
-
"Service ticketing system" - Mentioned for End User
- Status: Not mentioned in persona doc
- Gap: Missing ITSM integration context
Components in Synthesized Doc NOT Mentioned by Expert:
- "Cerebro Augmentation" - Detailed in synthesized doc
- "Work Unit Metrics" - IT Manager capability
- "Cost Center Attribution" - Financial Analyst capability
- "Runbook Automation" - Service Desk capability
- "Policy Engine" - Service Desk capability
Question Focus Differences
Expert's Question Pattern:
- "I need to..." - Action/outcome focused
- Tactical and operational
- Specific data points (e.g., "top 10 vendors", "percentage increase")
- Relationship focused (vendor contacts, sponsors)
- Self-service oriented (End User requesting software)
Synthesized Doc's Question Pattern:
- "What/How/Which..." - Information query focused
- Strategic and analytical
- Broader metrics (e.g., "utilization rate", "compliance score")
- Process focused (workflows, automation)
- Platform capability oriented (what XOPS can do)
Assessment: Expert questions are more user story-like and outcome-driven, while synthesized questions are more analytical and platform-capability driven.
Recommendations
Priority 1: Critical Gaps to Address
-
Add End User Persona
- Include self-service software request capabilities
- Emphasize Copilot/Sidekick for conversational interactions
- Add ITSM integration for service requests
- Questions should focus on "How do I get software I need?" not "How do I manage licenses?"
-
Add Vendor Relationship Questions
- Who is our vendor contact/account manager?
- What's our relationship tier/status?
- Who is the internal sponsor/owner of this software?
-
Add Renewal/Pricing Questions
- What's the proposed renewal increase percentage?
- How does our pricing compare to market rates?
- What credits/services are included but unused?
-
Add Location/Device Visibility Questions
- Where is this software running? (geography, device, department)
- Who specifically is using this unapproved software?
Priority 2: Component Terminology Alignment
-
Clarify "Experience Center" vs "Control Center"
- Are these the same? If not, define both clearly
-
Add Copilot Component
- Define Copilot as conversational AI interface
- Show which personas use Copilot
- Map Copilot to specific question types
-
Add Sidekick Component
- Define Sidekick for end-user interactions
- Show mobile/desktop integration
-
Add Operator App Component
- Define mobile app for field technicians
- Show license reclamation workflows
Priority 3: Question Style Alignment
Consider creating two versions:
- Executive Summary Version: Use expert's "I need to..." action-oriented language
- Technical Spec Version: Keep existing analytical language
Detailed Persona Gap Summary
| Persona | Expert Questions | Synthesized Questions | Missing in Synthesized |
|---|---|---|---|
| VP (IT) | 14 | 5 | Total spend view, Top vendors, Purchase history, Vendor contacts, Pricing breakdown, Competitive analysis, Unused credits, Renewal pricing |
| End User | 11 | 0 | Entire persona missing |
| Director-SAM | 7 | 6 | Spend visibility, Vendor contacts, Renewal pricing, Competitive alternatives |
| Field Tech | 3 | 5 | License reclamation workflow |
| CISO/CIO | 4 | 5 | User drill-down, Location/device view, Configuration details |
Conclusion
The synthesized documentation provides a more comprehensive enterprise architecture view with detailed technical delivery methods, metrics, and dashboards. However, it misses the end-user persona entirely and doesn't emphasize the vendor relationship management and renewal negotiation aspects that the expert view highlights.
The expert's view is more operationally and outcome-focused, using "I need to..." language that maps directly to user stories and product requirements.
Recommendation: Merge both perspectives to create:
- End-user self-service capabilities (from expert view)
- Vendor relationship management features (from expert view)
- Comprehensive technical delivery (from synthesized doc)
- Executive and operational dashboards (from synthesized doc)
This will result in a product that serves both operational needs (expert view) and strategic management (synthesized view).