To-be

To-be is a word that means an ideal situation or a targeted situation of something.

Overview
Many companies are iterating "improvements" in various aspects everyday, but it is not possible to achieve effective "improvements" without clearly understanding the ideal situation and identifying problems to be solved to accomplish that goal. To-be exactly means the targeted ideal situation, which is an ultimate goal. On the other hand, As-is means the current situation. Improving activities are defined as activities to get closer to To-be from As-is. In Japanese, it is called "ideal figure" or "what it ought to be."

Regarding business architecture and business process, it is desirable to define the ideal situation as To-be model and to proceeding toward To-be model by first figuring out problems, through the comparison of the current status (As-is model) and To-be model, and then breaking down the problems into concrete activities to be done by each individual or organization.

Application in BPM
In order to execute BPM, As-is model must be grasped by means of modeling and visualizing the current business process by using a business process diagram. On the other hand, To-be model is defined as the most effective and efficient business process. Then, problems are identified by comparing As-is model and To-be model, and thereby improvements are done. It is crucial to always clarify To-be model of business process and compare it with As-is model in order to iteratively improve business process.

Related Articles

 * BPM
 * Process Improvement
 * Process Owner
 * As-is