Business Roadmapping acknowledges that the business environment is forever changing. Those changes, whether internal or external and beyond the ability of managers to control will impact on future business outcomes.
 
Business Roadmapping looks beyond the immediately obvious - a reasonable (probable) future outcome based on initial assumptions to include those emerging trends and issues that could impact on the business. Identifying and monitoring possible and feasible trends and issues - requires a business approach to Business Intelligence.

Business Roadmapping creates a future state built upon reasonable assumptions about the future at the time of developing the roadmap. However, the process recognises that in defining "reasonable assumptions", other possible activities, more or less likely, have been considered and these can impact on future direction. Companies can monitor the business environment, as part of business intelligence, to gauge whether other activities can develop into opportunities or threats to the currently created preferred future.

By looking forward, managers can anticipate what may happen and enable the business to respond accordingly and prepare for new opportunities.

The purpose of creating a preferred future is not to lock in a particular future, but rather to build in flexibility and more easily be able to deal with things that are currently unknown.

Business Roadmapping builds a dynamic and visual model that can energise and commit people and enable them to respond with agility to change.

© Bmaps Pty Ltd 2013