What Is Target Operating Model Software? A Plain-English Guide | HOBA

Your Operating Model Lives in Forty Slide Decks

Ask most organisations where their target operating model is, and you'll get a folder. Inside it: a strategy deck, a current-state assessment in a spreadsheet, process maps in another tool, a capability map someone drew two years ago, and a roadmap that was last updated before the programme changed direction.

None of them agree with each other. That's not a documentation problem. It's the reason so many transformations drift: there's no single version of the design that everyone is working to.

Target operating model software exists to fix exactly that.

What Is Target Operating Model Software?

A target operating model (TOM) describes how an organisation will work in future to deliver its strategy: its people, processes, technology, data and governance, and how they fit together.

Target operating model software is a platform that holds that model in one place. It connects:

• the strategy: vision, goals and the measures that show progress;
• the current state: how the organisation really runs today;
• the design: the future operating model and the options considered;
• the roadmap: how you get from one to the other, and in what order.

Change one part and you can see what it affects in the others. That's the difference between a model and a pile of documents. If you want the fundamentals first, read what's the difference between an operating model and business design.

Who Needs It?

TOM software is built for the people accountable for change landing:

• Transformation and change leaders who need one design the whole programme works to.
• Business architects and business analysts who maintain the models and the links between them.
• Organisations building their own transformation office instead of renting one from consultants.
• Consultancies and partners who need a repeatable method their whole team delivers the same way.

What It Is Not

TOM software is often confused with three other kinds of tool:

• Enterprise architecture tools catalogue applications and technology. They answer "what systems do we have?", not "how should the business work?"
• Project management tools track tasks and dates. They assume the design is already decided.
• Process mapping tools document individual processes, often in great detail, without connecting them to strategy or to each other.

You'll often use these alongside TOM software. The difference is that TOM software sits on top: it's where the business design is decided, and the other tools follow it.

What to Look For

1. A method, not just a canvas. A blank canvas reproduces whatever method each person brings. Look for a tool built on a defined approach, so the whole team works the same way.
2. Traceability from strategy to delivery. Every design decision should trace back to a goal, and every roadmap item to a design decision.
3. Options, not a single answer. Boards approve choices. The tool should help you present do nothing, good, better and best.
4. Outputs people actually use. Board papers, business cases and plans, generated from the model rather than rebuilt by hand.
5. Business-led language. If only architects can read it, the business won't own it.

How HOBA Pro Approaches It

HOBA Pro is target operating model software built on the six HOBA® steps: Focus, Control, Analyse, Evaluate, Design, Implement. Each step has its own building blocks, and each building block feeds the next, so the model stays connected from vision to roadmap.

It also builds in the HOBA® 4+1 Ladder, Eliminate, Standardise, Optimise, Automate, +1 AI, so designs fix the process before they automate it. That order is what found £62M inside one public sector process, and it's why AI agents come last, not first, in an agentic operating model.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does TOM stand for?

TOM stands for target operating model: the description of how an organisation will operate in future to deliver its strategy.

Is target operating model software only for large organisations?

It's most valuable where many teams, sites or divisions need to work to one design, which usually means larger or multi-site organisations. Smaller organisations with a significant transformation benefit too.

How is TOM software different from enterprise architecture software?

Enterprise architecture software catalogues systems and technology. TOM software designs how the business will work, and connects that design to strategy and to a delivery roadmap.

---

About HOBA Tech

If this resonated with you, discover how to make Business Transformation a reality — with less stress, fewer resources, and faster results. Explore our award-winning agile Business Transformation Framework, trusted by organisations worldwide, from the UK Government and FTSE-100 companies to innovative start-ups. Ready to begin your transformation journey? Start here.

Curious why The Business Transformation Playbook is hailed as the "Business Transformation Bible"? See what readers are saying in the Amazon reviews.

We'd love to hear your thoughts! Let us know in the comments what stood out to you or what topics you'd like us to cover next. If you found this valuable, share it with others who could benefit!

Thank you for reading, and here's to your transformation success!

Sincerely,

Heath Gascoigne

P.S. If you want to join our Business Transformation Community of 2,000+ like-minded Business Transformators, join the HOBA Community here.

P.P.S. If you want to learn more about business transformation, check out The Business Transformation Playbook.