Capabilities: Outcomes & priorities
Turn strategic priorities into explicit capabilities and service outcomes. Make the target clear before changing processes or choosing technology.
A capability model with agreed priorities and measures of success.
Target Operating Model consulting & implementation
Design how your
enterprise works.
Put it into operation.
DNA designs and implements connected Target Operating Models for public and private organizations across the GCC. We bring processes, policies, decision rights, people, data and technology into one operating foundation.
Discuss your operating modelWhere we work
Target Operating Model consulting
across the GCC.
Digital North Associates (DNA) serves public and private organizations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the wider UAE, Saudi Arabia and across the GCC. We connect operating model design to the processes, policies, decision rights, data and technology required to put it into practice.
When DNA is a suitable fit
When your challenge crosses functions or entities, and you need both an agreed target and the capability to implement and maintain it.
- Align how multiple entities work while preserving necessary local differences.
- Prepare workflows, ownership and controls for an ERP or digital transformation.
- Establish the business context and decision boundaries needed for AI adoption.
Explore the operating model
Six dimensions. One connected enterprise.
What to establish
An agreed operating model that connects business priorities to the people, processes, decisions and systems that deliver them.
Select a dimension below to explore its role and relationships.Explore the operating model
Six dimensions.
One connected enterprise.
Select a dimension to see what DNA builds and why its connections matter.
Target operating modelInteractive view
Business intent.Connected to daily work.
Illustrative relationships · tailored to your organization
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What must the business be able to do?
Turn strategic priorities into explicit capabilities and service outcomes. Make the target clear before changing processes or choosing technology.
What you take forward
A capability model with agreed priorities and measures of success.
Why these dimensions connect
Explore the supporting expertise Processes deliver the capability. Measures establish whether it achieves the intended outcome.
Read all six dimensions
Processes: Work & service delivery
Define the workflows, handoffs and exceptions that turn intent into delivery. Connect each process to its rules, owners and enabling systems.
An agreed process architecture and prioritized workflows for implementation.
People: Ownership & capability
Establish responsibilities, service ownership and the capabilities teams need. Prepare people to operate and improve the model after implementation.
Accountable owners, role requirements and a capability-transfer plan.
Decision rights: Policy & authority
Connect policies, delegated authority and escalation routes to real decisions. Keep proposed future arrangements distinct from current approved authority.
Approved policy relationships, decision rights and implementation requirements.
Enablers: Data & technology
Connect capabilities to applications, information and infrastructure. Identify the integration and data-governance requirements behind the target model.
A view of enabling dependencies, information owners and technology requirements.
Governance: Controls & measures
Place obligations, controls and performance measures within the work. Establish review routines and ownership so the model can adapt as the business changes.
A governance rhythm, control responsibilities and performance measures.
See it in practice: one purchase approval
An illustrative example / purchase approval
One request.
Five connections that matter.
Process
Each entity follows a different request route.
Policy
Teams search separate files to find the rule.
Authority
The approver is found through informal messages.
People
Handoffs have no clear accountable owner.
Systems & data
The business rules and system setup drift apart.
The request depends on people joining the dots.
A change to a policy or approval threshold can leave processes and systems working from different assumptions.
Illustrative future-state design, not a client case or a claim of measured results. New arrangements require approval and implementation before becoming operational.
From design to daily work
A transition your teams can own.
Understand
Start with reality.
Agree the business outcomes, scope and constraints. Examine how work, decisions and systems operate today, including the gaps between documentation and practice.
Stage output
Current-state assessment
- 01Business outcomes
- 02Operating constraints
- 03Priority gaps
What must be established
A shared view of the problem and the scope to address.
An iterative journey. Revisit the model as evidence, priorities and operating conditions change.
Read the complete delivery approach
Understand
Agree the business outcomes, scope and constraints. Examine how work, decisions and systems operate today, including the gaps between documentation and practice.
Design
Define capabilities, process ownership, decision rights and enabling requirements. Resolve cross-functional dependencies with the people accountable for them.
Implement
Develop the methods and governance, work with your teams to configure enabling technology, pilot the changes and prepare people to use the model.
Sustain
Embed measures, review routines and change responsibilities. Transfer knowledge to your teams and establish a Center of Excellence where the scope calls for one.
What you take forward
A working capability.
A clear owner.
The scope is agreed around your outcomes and existing maturity. The engagement can include:
- A current-state assessment and prioritized operating gaps
- An agreed target model with explicit relationships and decision rights
- Process, policy, governance and technology implementation requirements
- A sequenced transition roadmap with accountable owners
- A connected model in MOSAIC, with maintenance responsibilities
- Measures, review routines and capability transfer for your teams
The disciplines behind delivery
One engagement.
The expertise it requires.
Business Process Management
Translate the target into workflows, handoffs, ownership and improvement measures.
Policy Management
Connect approved rules to the work and establish a policy lifecycle.
Delegation of Authority
Define who may decide, approve and escalate under specified conditions.
Enterprise Architecture
Align capabilities, applications and technology dependencies.
Data & Knowledge Governance
Give information clear meaning, authoritative sources and accountable owners.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
Place obligations, risks and controls within the operating model.
Operational Excellence
Embed performance management, adoption and continuous improvement.
Connected through MOSAIC
A model you can use.
And keep current.
MOSAIC connects the elements of your operating model, helping teams understand what a process depends on, which policy governs it and who owns the decisions. We establish how changes are reviewed and maintained, so the model remains useful after implementation.
Current approved operations and the future target remain distinguishable. System permissions and transaction controls are enforced through the relevant applications.
Before we begin
Your questions, answered.
What is a Target Operating Model?
A Target Operating Model describes how an organization intends to operate to achieve its objectives. It connects capabilities, people, processes, decision rights, information, technology and governance. The transition plan explains how to move from current operations to that target.
Is this the same as organizational restructuring?
No. Structure is one consideration. Many improvements depend on clearer processes, ownership, authority and system connections rather than a new organization chart. We establish which changes the business outcomes actually require.
Can we start with one function or business unit?
Yes. Scope can begin with a function, service, entity or cross-functional workflow. We identify the enterprise dependencies it touches so that a local improvement does not create a wider conflict.
Do you implement the model or only design it?
DNA designs, implements and embeds the capability. We agree responsibilities for business change, governance, technology implementation and capability transfer with your teams at the start of the engagement.
How does this support AI adoption?
A connected operating model makes the relevant processes, policies, authority and information relationships explicit. AI workflows still require suitable integrations, enforced permissions, evaluation and operational monitoring. Future-state designs must remain distinguishable from current approved rules.
How should we evaluate a Target Operating Model consultant?
Ask how the consultant connects the target design to implementation, what deliverables and acceptance criteria will be agreed, who owns decisions during the transition, and how your teams will maintain the model. Request relevant engagement evidence and clarify the proposed team’s role in that work.
Where does DNA deliver this work?
We serve public and private organizations across the GCC, including Dubai and the wider United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Delivery arrangements and scope are agreed around your organization and teams.
Your next move
Put your operating
model into motion.
Bring us the outcome you need and where work is becoming difficult. We will discuss the right starting point with you.