How would a business analyst make use of an agreed Target Operating Model (TOM) when...

Gap analysis is defined as comparing a current state with a desired future state in order to determine where the current situation has “gaps” that need to be resolved and what actions are required to improve it. The guidance explains that when you have an agreed model of the desired future business system (the book uses a Business Activity Model as an example of an agreed “future view”), the analyst should examine the activities on that model one by one to see where the current business system is lacking. This is exactly what option A states: the agreed TOM (as a target picture of “how the business should operate”) becomes the reference point for assessing deficiencies, inadequacies, or missing capabilities in today’s way of working.

The documented gap analysis procedure reinforces this by explicitly instructing analysts to examine the activities on the future-state model, consider how well each activity is currently carried out (and supported by information systems), and then analyse the gaps between the existing and desired systems to identify improvements. Options B, C, and D may be useful activities in other contexts (e.g., stakeholder negotiation or external analysis), but they are not the core way the target model is used to perform a gap analysis as described in the guidance.