Gap analysis looks at the current state of a situation, a market, a product, a resource and so forth and compares that to target levels of performance. Resource gap analysis, a subset of gap analysis,focuses solely on the resources held by a company or organization, including both the current levels and the estimated future needs thereof. In other words, resource gap analysis examines the gap between a company's current resources and what resources will it need to satisfy future needs. Applications of this important, versatile tool range from human resources to mergers and acquisitions to purchasing.