What action will the result authorize?
Examples include selecting a configuration, withholding a claim, approving a controlled pilot, or identifying the next test.
PUBLIC CUSTOMER GUIDE01 / 09
BOUNDED TECHNICAL EVALUATION / DELIVERY PROTOCOL
WHAT
ARRIVES.
Every engagement begins with a written decision boundary and ends with evidence, limitations, and an explicit next action—not an unexplained score or automatic endorsement.
DOCUMENT STATUS
This guide describes the standard engagement structure. The signed scope controls service-specific deliverables, fees, schedule, data handling, acceptance, intellectual property, and remedies.
THE OUTCOME CONTRACT
AGREE BEFORE EXECUTIONTHE FIRST DELIVERABLE
A testable decision, not a vague transformation objective.
Before technical work begins, the parties agree on the decision, authorized inputs, comparison set, primary metric, tolerances, exclusions, stop rules, evidence boundary, and people permitted to approve changes.
What observation changes that action?
One primary gate is named, with supporting measures separated from the release condition.
Where does the conclusion stop?
Population, environment, versions, exclusions, risk classes, and known transfer limits are recorded.
What invalidates a recommendation?
Material data changes, failed controls, unresolved critical errors, and verification disagreement stop or qualify the result.
Unit and denominator
The measured unit, eligible population, missing observations, and denominator are fixed before results are reviewed.
Run conditions
Versions, hardware, concurrency, warmup, cache state, run order, timeout, and retry policy are recorded when they can affect the comparison.
Reported statistics
The contract names the summary measures and precision: for example median and p95 latency, error counts, intervals, or paired deltas.
Failure accounting
Timeouts, retries, abstentions, malformed outputs, and missing values remain in the record under rules agreed before execution.
Independent check
Material scores or claims are checked through a separate implementation or review path. Disagreement is retained until resolved.
Decision rule
The primary gate is applied before supporting measures. Failed controls or invalid inputs stop or qualify the recommendation.
SERVICE ROUTE CATALOG
BOUNDED ENTRY SCOPESCOMMERCIAL TERMS FOLLOW SCOPE
Know the minimum deliverable, schedule, and exclusion before signature.
Verahelm issues a written quotation after the decision, workload, evidence boundary, dependencies, and acceptance criteria are understood. The quotation and signed scope control the final fee.
SERVICEENTRY BOUNDARYSTANDARD OUTPUTCOMMERCIAL BASIS
Automation MapOne engineering workflow · 1–2 business daysProcess model, exception and control map, sequenced backlogWritten quotation
Systems BenchmarkOne frozen workload, two configurations · 3–5 business daysBenchmark contract, result and failure matrix, decision memoWritten quotation
Spend AssessmentOne workload and available usage records · 3–5 business daysUnit-cost model, assumption register, prioritized experimentsWritten quotation
Findings ValidationUp to ten material claims · 5–7 business daysClaim-evidence matrix, check record, reproduction and boundary memoWritten quotation
Evaluation HarnessOne workflow and scoring contract · 2–3 weeksFixtures, scoring logic, regression record, operator runbookWritten quotation
VH RegisterOne active decision record and monthly reviewVersioned gates, run history, limitation and regression stateManaged proposal
Excluded unless quoted: taxes, paid third-party services, travel, regulated-data handling, additional comparators, integrations, remediation, production deployment, continuous monitoring, and work outside the named acceptance gate.
STANDARD ARTIFACT SET
VERSIONED / REVIEWABLEWHAT THE CUSTOMER RECEIVES
A decision package with an evidence trail.
Artifact depth is proportional to the signed scope and risk class. Each item is written for review without disclosing Verahelm's private implementation routes.
Decision and evaluation contract
Contains: question, comparators, measures, thresholds, exclusions, stop rules, versions, and approval authority.
Purpose: prevents the evaluation target from moving after results are known.
Authorized input inventory
Contains: source classes, field boundaries, provenance supplied by the customer, exclusions, and material data limitations.
Purpose: shows what the evidence can and cannot represent.
Matched result matrix
Contains: baseline and candidate measurements, distributions when relevant, exceptions, missing observations, and gate status.
Purpose: separates measurement from interpretation.
Control and failure record
Contains: positive, negative, boundary, determinism, ablation, or replay controls selected for the scope; failed cases remain visible.
Purpose: tests whether the apparent result survives obvious alternative explanations.
Independent verification note
Contains: the material values checked through a separate implementation or review route, disagreements, and resolution status.
Purpose: reduces dependence on one analysis path.
Limitation and exception register
Contains: unresolved risks, untested conditions, adverse observations, claim restrictions, owners, and proposed follow-up.
Purpose: keeps uncertainty attached to the decision.
Executive decision record
Contains: bounded interpretation, approved claim language, decision state, operating controls, and expiration or revisit trigger.
Purpose: converts analysis into a reviewable action.
Reproduction and next-test manifest
Contains: non-secret artifact hashes, version references, rerun instructions appropriate to the agreement, and the next discriminating test.
Purpose: makes later drift or disagreement diagnosable.
Not included by default: Verahelm source code, internal formulas, proprietary algorithms, unrestricted tool access, certification, or a warranty that the evaluated system will succeed in production.
ENGAGEMENT LIFECYCLE
CUSTOMER / VERAHELM / EXIT GATECONTROLLED HANDOFFS
Work advances only when the current boundary is accepted.
Schedule estimates begin after scope, access, and input readiness are confirmed. Delays or changes in authorized inputs may require a written change to the scope.
PHASECUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITYVERAHELM OUTPUTEXIT GATE
01 / QUALIFYState one blocked decision without sending confidential material.Minimum-fit response and no-fit conditions.TESTABLE DECISION
02 / SCOPEConfirm authority, comparators, risk, acceptance, and commercial terms.Written scope and evaluation contract.SIGNED BOUNDARY
03 / PREPAREProvide authorized, minimized inputs through the agreed private route.Input inventory, exclusions, and readiness exceptions.INPUTS ACCEPTED
04 / FREEZEApprove versions, gates, holdout custody, and change authority.Frozen execution and claim contract.RULES LOCKED
05 / EXECUTEAnswer bounded factual questions and preserve system stability.Matched measurements, controls, failures, and exception log.RUN COMPLETE
06 / VERIFYRelease any buyer-held blind set only under the agreed protocol.Independent verification and disagreement-resolution record.VALUES AGREED
07 / HANDOFFReview facts, boundaries, and permitted decision language.Final decision package and next-test recommendation.ACCEPT / CORRECT
08 / CLOSEConfirm return, retention, or deletion obligations.Closure record under the signed data terms.SCOPE CLOSED
EVIDENCE LEVELS
CLAIMS STOP AT THE TEST BOUNDARYHOW RESULTS ARE LABELED
Evidence strength is stated, not implied.
A higher level does not erase limitations. It only indicates that a result has survived a stronger form of observation in the stated scope.
- 01PUBLIC SAMPLE
Synthetic demonstration
Constructed data and controlled conditions demonstrate method and report structure. No customer or production outcome is claimed.
- 02BOUNDED
Buyer-representative evaluation
Authorized buyer inputs test relevance to the agreed population, with limitations for selection and environment retained.
- 03STRONGER
Buyer-blinded holdout
The decision rules are frozen before Verahelm sees a buyer-controlled holdout, reducing adaptation to known answers.
- 04SCOPE-SPECIFIC
Production-observed validation
Authorized field observations test whether the bounded result transfers to the specified operating environment.
The public decision record is a synthetic demonstration. Verahelm does not represent it as buyer-blinded or production evidence.
DATA, SECURITY, AND IP
MINIMIZE / AUTHORIZE / RECORDBEFORE DATA MOVES
The transfer route is part of the scope.
Email verification reduces automated abuse and confirms possession of an address. It does not establish legal identity, create confidentiality, or authorize data transfer.
No confidential submissions
- No public file upload
- No credentials or recovery material
- No production code or regulated records
- Non-confidential decision description only
Written controls before receipt
- Authorized data classes and purpose
- Transfer and access method
- Retention, return, and deletion
- Subprocessor and incident terms when applicable
Inputs and methods remain distinct
- Customer warrants authority to provide inputs
- Customer materials remain subject to the signed agreement
- Verahelm retains pre-existing methods and tools
- Deliverable rights are stated in the signed scope
ACCEPTANCE AND CHANGE CONTROL
FACTS / INTERPRETATION / SCOPEHOW THE WORK CLOSES
A negative or conditional result is still a complete delivery.
Acceptance concerns completion of the agreed work and factual accuracy of the record—not whether the customer preferred the observed outcome.
Reproducible arithmetic, transcription, version, or attribution errors are corrected and the affected artifact is reissued.
Material disagreement is documented with the supporting evidence, boundary, and unresolved point rather than silently removed.
New comparators, populations, metrics, integrations, remediation, or production deployment require written change approval.
A result is requalified when inputs, versions, environment, or controls differ materially from the frozen contract.
PROCEEDPROCEED WITH CONTROLSGATHER MORE EVIDENCESTOP
STANDARD EXCLUSIONS
UNLESS EXPRESSLY SIGNEDWHAT THE ENGAGEMENT IS NOT
Evaluation is not certification or operational custody.
These boundaries protect the integrity of the decision and avoid implying professional services or guarantees outside Verahelm's stated scope.
- 01
Legal, regulatory, medical, financial, safety, or security certification.
- 02
Penetration testing, incident response, continuous monitoring, or an assurance of system security.
- 03
Guaranteed accuracy, latency, savings, speedup, approval, implementation, or business outcome.
- 04
Production deployment, remediation, integration, or operator training not named in the signed scope.
- 05
Transfer of private source code, formulas, algorithms, or unrestricted access to internal tools.
- 06
Conclusions outside the frozen population, versions, workload, environment, and evidence level.
CUSTOMER QUESTIONS
BEFORE PURCHASEPROCUREMENT CLARITY
Questions that should be answered before signature.
Can a customer inspect the reporting format first?
Yes. The public synthetic decision record shows the decision, result matrix, controls, limitations, and handoff structure without using customer data.
Does Verahelm need access to every system?
No. Access is limited to what the signed evaluation contract requires. Some engagements can use exported, minimized, or de-identified records; others require a separately approved execution route.
What happens if the evidence does not support the candidate?
The final state may be stop, gather more evidence, or proceed only with named controls. A predetermined endorsement is not an available deliverable.
Can a buyer keep the holdout hidden?
When feasible, the buyer can retain a blind set until metrics, thresholds, exclusions, and candidate configuration are frozen. Custody and release procedure are written into the scope.
Are private methods disclosed?
Customers receive the observations, controls, material calculations, limitations, verification evidence, and decision logic required by the agreement. Proprietary implementation details are not transferred unless expressly licensed.
What creates a binding commitment?
The public site and this guide provide pre-engagement information. Paid work, confidentiality, data handling, delivery, acceptance, intellectual property, and liability are governed by signed documents.
VERAHELM HOLDINGS LLC / CUSTOMER DELIVERY PROTOCOL