Overview
Evidence represents the operational safeguards required before implementing a change.
These safeguards ensure that teams have:
• tested the change
• validated expected outcomes
• prepared recovery procedures
Evidence is a critical component of governance because it ensures that operational readiness is documented before deployment.
Why Evidence Exists
Operational failures often occur when teams implement changes without adequate safeguards.
Common causes include:
• insufficient testing
• missing rollback procedures
• incomplete monitoring
Evidence ensures that teams proactively address these risks.
Types of Evidence
Organizations may require different types of evidence depending on the domain and system involved.
Rollback Plan
A rollback plan describes how to reverse a change if issues occur.
Examples:
• restore previous pricing configuration
• revert CRM routing rules
• disable a billing rule update
Rollback procedures should be clear and executable.
Testing Documentation
Testing documentation verifies that the change behaves as expected.
Examples:
• billing simulations
• pricing rule validation
• sample invoice verification
Testing reduces the likelihood of unexpected behavior.
Monitoring Plan
Monitoring ensures that teams can detect problems quickly after deployment.
Examples:
• revenue anomaly alerts
• invoice failure monitoring
• payment error dashboards
Monitoring allows teams to respond rapidly if something goes wrong.
Revenue Validation
Revenue validation confirms that financial outcomes remain correct.
Examples:
• invoice verification
• reconciliation checks
• financial reporting validation
These checks are particularly important for billing and pricing changes.
Evidence Enforcement
Organizations can configure required evidence types based on:
• change domain
• systems involved
• change type
For example:
| Domain | Required Evidence | |------|------| | Billing | rollback plan | | Pricing | testing documentation | | Revenue recognition | financial reconciliation |
Evidence requirements ensure that operational safeguards are consistently applied.
Key Principle
Evidence ensures that every change answers an important question:
"If something goes wrong, how do we detect it and recover?"