Vendor Assessment Protocol¶

ADR-017 | Vendor profiles in UC-BoK require evidence-based assessment workshops — not slide decks or marketing claims.

Why No Vendor Profiles Exist Yet¶

UC-BoK does not publish vendor capability profiles based on self-reported data, vendor documentation, or analyst reports. This is a deliberate architectural decision (see ADR-017).

An empty, correct model is better than a populated, incorrect one.

The same platform can behave very differently depending on configuration, version, integration depth, and the SI who deployed it. The only reliable source of vendor capability data is a real deployment tested against UC-BoK canonical scenarios by a qualified System Integrator.

The Vendor Assessment Protocol¶

A vendor profile may only be submitted to UC-BoK after completing the following steps:

Step 1 — Scope Agreement¶

Select the target vertical (RA-001, RA-002, or RA-003) and the subset of capabilities to be assessed. At minimum, all critical capabilities for that vertical must be covered.

Step 2 — Test Scenario Selection¶

For each capability, select one or more canonical test scenarios from the UC-BoK Process Catalog. Each scenario is a real end-to-end flow (e.g., BOPIS happy path, Ship-from-Store exception handling, clienteling sale with loyalty earn).

Step 3 — Live Assessment¶

A qualified System Integrator or certified assessor executes the test scenarios on a representative deployment of the vendor platform: - Standard configuration (no customisation beyond what a typical retailer would apply) - Current production-release version - Documented environment (cloud/on-premise, integration topology)

Step 4 — Capability Scoring¶

Each tested capability receives a UCMI maturity score (0–4) using the evidence from Step 3:

Step 5 — Peer Review¶

The assessment report is reviewed by at least one independent UC-BoK assessor (not affiliated with the vendor or the primary SI).

Step 6 — Submission¶

The vendor profile is submitted as a pull request to catalogs/vendor-profiles/<vendor-id>/ following the UC-BoK vendor profile schema. The submission must include: - profile.yaml — structured capability scores - evidence.md — test scenario results and observations - assessor.yaml — assessor identity, date, platform version, environment

Vendor Profile Structure (Future)¶

Once the Protocol is complete, vendor profiles will live at:

catalogs/vendor-profiles/
  <vendor-id>/
    profile.yaml       ← capability scores + metadata
    evidence.md        ← test scenario results
    assessor.yaml      ← assessor + environment metadata

Not in catalogs/vendor-mapping.yaml — that file is reserved for the framework skeleton only.

Current Status¶

Participating as an Assessor or Vendor¶

If you are a System Integrator or vendor who wants to contribute an evidence-based vendor profile:

1. Read ADR-017 for the rationale and governance rules.
2. Contact the UC-BoK Editorial Board to schedule a workshop.
3. Ensure your assessment covers all critical capabilities for the target vertical (RA-001, RA-002, or RA-003).
4. Submit your profile following the schema and peer review process above.

This page reflects the current status of the UC-BoK Vendor Assessment Programme — v1.1-alpha. The first vendor profiles are expected after the inaugural assessment workshop.

Vendor-specific product names MAY appear in notes, but SHOULD NOT replace canonical UC-BoK identifiers.

Coverage Dimensions¶