Designing a Target Operating Model (TOM)

There are a number of key steps to designing an effective TOM. Utilising an agile methodology - while still ensuring alignment with an overall business strategy - is the most efficient way to create a robust model that facilitates future growth and scalability.

The first step to designing a TOM for a business is to identify and define key objectives.

Defining clear processes and objectives will form the base of the model, providing an outline of the desired outcomes. From there, stakeholders can then operationalize the desired objectives to ensure alignment with overall business goals and strategies.

The second step is to consider the desired technology stack. This includes not only the applications and platforms needed to support the TOM but also the architecture and underlying data infrastructure needed. As the workings of the TOM become increasingly complex, organisations are often best served by leveraging a modern cloud platform such as AWS or Azure.

Thirdly, any TOM must have an ethos of agility and remain open to change and adaptation. The TOM should be designed for constant iteration, with mechanisms in place to facilitate customer feedback and product deployment. This will ensure that the TOM remains effective and relevant within the changing business landscape.

Fourthly, organisations must have a plan for managing the operational costs associated with the TOM. This includes anticipating and managing the costs of running the technology, software and data that supports it.

Fifthly, organisations should have measures in place to ensure they have the right level of customer and employee engagement and satisfaction with the TOM. These include surveys and other feedback methods to gauge employee adoption and customer sentiment, enable agile adjustments and use the TOM to develop efficiencies.

Finally, it’s important to consider the delivery model for the TOM. This includes looking into how the model will be rolled out and secured and also how it will be monitored and maintained going forward. Training and onboarding employees, as well as providing support to users, will be an important part of ensuring a successful TOM implementation.

Designing and implementing a target operating model may seem daunting, but with the right tools and processes in place, businesses can leverage the TOM to become more efficient, focused, and able to respond to the ever-shifting customer needs.