Glossary

These are the working definitions of a proposed model. Each entry first states what kind of thing the term names, because the model distinguishes carefully between units, specifications, mechanisms, functions and the information that supports decisions. Where a term has its own explanation, the entry links to it, and that page links back here.

You do not need these terms to follow the idea. The model explains it through a single demand first and introduces the vocabulary as it becomes useful.

Artifacts

Products of work. Concrete outputs, such as requirements, prototypes, code, and tests, available for evaluation or later use.

Commercial Gate

Economic decision mechanism. A decision point about economic commitment: to continue, revise, or stop.

Delivery Stage

Unit of transformation. A bounded transformation that consumes inputs and produces outputs that can be evaluated.

Delivery State

Representation of the demand’s situation. The current situation of a Delivery Unit, relating progress, pending items, dependencies, and the conditions for continuing.

Delivery Unit

Tracking unit. A bounded demand whose progress and state are managed individually. It may have dependencies. It is not a unit of charge.

Escalation

Exception-routing mechanism. Routes a question to the competence or authority it requires when it exceeds the scope available.

Evaluation

Assessment activity. Examines outputs and evidence against the relevant criteria to support the Quality Gate decision.

Evidence

Decision-support information. Information that supports evaluation and decisions. It can also reveal uncertainty that was previously unknown.

Execution Policy

Execution policy. Rules for the eligibility, selection, autonomy, and supervision of execution, within the authority and scope of decision that have been delegated.

Execution Pool

Structure for organizing capacity. A set of eligible resources shared across demands to organize recurring capacity, while preserving the context and constraints of each piece of work.

Execution Resource

Execution resource. A person, agent, or arrangement eligible to perform work, including decisions within delegated authority.

Flow coordination

Operational function. The articulation of execution, evaluations, dependencies, returns, and decisions. The model assigns this function to the Orchestrator.

Governance

Rules and responsibilities. Establishes authority, delegation, review of conditions, and responsibility for the effects of the operation.

Orchestration

Flow coordination function. The articulation of state, dependencies, execution, and decisions, carried out by the Orchestrator.

Orchestrator

Operational function. The function that coordinates states, resources, evaluations, and transitions. It may plan and replan within its authority.

Outcome

Intended result. The intended result. Software delivery and business effect must be distinguished explicitly.

Pricing

Setting commercial terms. Establishes price and charging in relation to the contracted object, the commitment, and the allocation of responsibilities.

Progressive Commitment

Mechanism for revising commitments. Expanding or revising commitment as the demand becomes better defined.

Progressive Estimation

Mechanism for updating estimates. Updating estimates as context, artifacts, and evidence change.

Quality Gate

Technical decision mechanism. A decision on technical or quality acceptance, distinct from authorization to spend.

Retry

New-attempt mechanism. A bounded re-execution, justified by the conditions and respecting the authorization, limits, and effects of the previous attempt.

Routing

Selection and dispatch mechanism. Applies the Execution Policy to authorized work, eligible resources, and actual availability.

Software Delivery as a Service

Operational, economic, and commercial model. A model for consuming software delivery on demand whose enabling hypothesis is an AI-driven change in the cost of learning, producing, coordinating, and deciding. Organized capacity of people and systems performs bounded advances that produce outputs and information for new commitments. Progressive consumption and the production arrangements behind it are ways of realizing that possibility.

Software Delivery Engine

Delivery operating system. The operational composition of coordination, execution, evaluation, and continuity that carries out demands and maintains the capacity to provide the service. The model does not claim to coin the term.

Stage Contract

Specification. The entry conditions, execution policy, expected outputs, and acceptance criteria of a stage. “Contract” names the specification; it does not imply a separate legal document for each stage.

Unit Economics

Economic sustainability analysis. Relates attributed revenue or resources, consumption, and results per explicit unit of analysis and period, without assuming that a Delivery Unit is a unit of charge.