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Case USA24: Why a Regional Bank Equated Target Operating Model Slides with Enterprise Architecture Design

This case is part of a 100-diagnostic series revealing presentation-based architecture illusions.


In regional banking, leadership rolled out “Target Operating Model” decks to unify channels and product flows. The slides impressed regulators and boards — yet no modeled enterprise anatomy backed them.


P1–P6 Insight Preview: 

TOMs improved conceptual process alignment (P2) and roadmap clarity (P5), but lacked executable strategy (P1) and defined system behavior (P3).


Components (P4) stayed siloed; business + tech ops (P6) kept relying on workarounds.




Role Disconnects:

  • CEO: “Our TOM sets the future” — but execution collapses in practice.

  • CIO: “We have the vision documented” — but no integration pattern supports it.

  • Sales Head: “This model aligns our offers” — yet fulfillment delays remain.

  • Chief EA: We have slides, not architecture.

  • Head of Retail Banking Ops: Branches and digital still work off different product rules.

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