Five layers of evidence,and what each one actually proves.
Every record in the Index is built the same way, whoever commissioned it. The layers are published here in full. What is withheld is how they are weighted, because a published threshold is a threshold that can be engineered to.
What we do, in order, every time
A claim can stop at any layer. Where it stops is the determination, and the record says which layer it reached rather than giving a score.
The claim is taken from the vendor, not from us
We read the vendor's own published material and record every named customer claim it makes, exactly as the vendor words it. Nothing is paraphrased and nothing is summarized at this stage.
The named organization is confirmed to exist as a customer
A commercial relationship is established at the vendor. This is the lowest bar in the method and it is where a surprising number of claims stop.
We write to the organization named in the claim
Simple, objective questions, in writing, to the enterprise itself. Do you work with this company. To what extent. Is the capability running. Answers are given under anonymity and the enterprise is never named in anything we publish.
How far the deployment actually goes
Pilot, partial deployment across one business unit, or full deployment across the population it was bought for. The organization states this, not the vendor and not us. The gap between layers three and four is the single most useful thing in the record.
Whether it is still true today
Every determination carries the date it was answered and lapses to unconfirmed twelve months later. Counts in the register fall as well as rise, which is the point. A record that only accumulates is a marketing asset, not a register.
Why the weighting is withheld. The five layers are public so you can check our work. How they combine is not, because the moment a threshold is published it stops measuring behavior and starts shaping it. Vendors would optimize for the line rather than for the deployment. We would rather be accused of opacity on the arithmetic than publish a number people can engineer toward.
Four refusals, stated so you can hold us to them
These are not caveats. They are design decisions and each one costs us revenue.
It never scores or grades
No stars, no tiers, no leaderboard. A record says what was established and at which layer. Interpretation is yours.
It never names the customer
The enterprise that answered is never identified, to anyone, including the vendor whose claim it was.
It never sells the outcome
A vendor pays for the examination. It cannot pay for the result, see it first, or stop it publishing.
It never introduces you to vendors
No referral fees, no brokered meetings, no sponsored placement anywhere in the record.
If a determination about you is wrong
The Ombuds route is free, runs to a published timetable, and the outcome publishes either way.