This decision tree is part of the alert deduplication decisions guide. It works through the questions in order, so a partner can tell after one conversation whom to introduce and which questions to leave for SourceX's review.
Who knows the records and who can say yes
Two different people answer two different questions. Getting them confused is the most common reason an introduction stalls.
- The person who knows. The operations center director (sometimes titled NOC manager or head of site reliability) knows which alert groups, merge notes and incidents exist, how far back, in which tools, and when the old platform goes dark. Alertmanager and similar tools deduplicate, group and route alerts; the director decided how they were configured, and that makes them the best guide to the records.
- The person who can say yes. The alerts describe the company's production systems, so the records are usually the company's own, and a decision to discuss licensing belongs to the CEO, who can bind it. The CTO or VP of engineering usually sponsors the discussion internally.
The partner's job is to identify both, introduce the second and mention the first.
The decision tree, question by question
Work down the list. Each answer either sends you to the next question or adds a sign-off.
| Question | If yes | If no or not sure |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Does the company itself run the monitored systems? | The company's own executive is the owner; go to 2 | It monitors for customers; go to 3 |
| 2. Is there a CTO or VP of engineering over production data? | Ask them to sponsor; introduce the CEO with the director named; go to 4 | Introduce the CEO with the director named; go to 4 |
| 3. Do customer contracts say who controls alert data about customer environments? | General counsel reads them before any discussion; go to 4 | Treat as unknown; counsel and SourceX review decide; go to 4 |
| 4. Do analyst notes or chat threads name employees? | HR or privacy input may apply; go to 5 | Go to 5 |
| 5. Did the records come with an acquisition? | Counsel confirms what the acquisition transferred; go to 6 | Go to 6 |
| 6. Is there one authorized contact willing to take the introduction? | Make the introduction | Do not submit yet; ask who that contact would be |
Two branches catch most real cases. A product company that monitors only its own platform usually ends at question 2 or 4. A managed service provider, hosting company or security operations provider that monitors customers almost always passes through question 3.
Roles and what each can authorize
| Role | What they know | Can they authorize a licensing discussion? |
|---|---|---|
| Operations center director | Record classes, coverage, note quality, tool deadlines | Rarely; the natural guide and sponsor |
| Platform or SRE lead | Rule history, version control, integrations | No |
| CTO or VP of engineering | Production systems and the data they generate | No, but often sponsors the discussion |
| General counsel | Customer contracts, acquisition documents | Advises; must review customer-related records |
| Privacy or HR lead | Employee data in notes and chat | Advises; may set conditions |
| CEO | Commercial priorities and the company's signature | Yes, within what contracts permit |
Titles below the CEO vary, so ask who knows the records and who would sponsor the discussion, then introduce the CEO.
Branches that need legal, customer or privacy sign-off
Customer environments. When the company monitors customers, an alert about a customer's server is operational data about that customer. Whether the company may license it depends on the contract. Counsel reads it; the partner does not interpret it.
Personal data in notes. Incident log entries record who acknowledged, reassigned and merged incidents, and PagerDuty's REST API returns those entries for an incident along with separately listed notes. The European Commission describes personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual, including a name or an IP address. Alert payloads can carry IP addresses; notes carry names. That makes privacy review a normal step, not a red flag.
PagerDutyAcquired stacks. Roll-ups often inherit several monitoring platforms. The MSP acquisition due diligence checklist and the cybersecurity services roll-up guide cover where those records end up. Managed service providers and data licensing explains why customer contracts sit at the center for service companies.
Why data rights matter explains, in general terms, why a buyer's interest depends on a clean answer to these questions.
What stays unknown until SourceX's rights review
The tree tells a partner whom to introduce. It does not decide whether anything can be licensed. These answers stay open until SourceX reviews the opportunity with the company:
- whether the company holds the rights to license each record class
- what customer contracts permit for alerts about customer environments
- what would need removing or de-identifying (hostnames, IP addresses, employee names)
- whether there is buyer interest and on what terms
For SourceX, an introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 70% of the data is in English. Partners keep discovery at metadata level, never ask for alerts, notes or logins, and sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions. The worked alert storm shows the kind of records under discussion, and the referral brief template has a field for the authorized contact.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once the CEO, who can say yes to a discussion about the operations center's records, is willing to take the call, register as a partner, check the company against who qualifies and read the program terms before introducing the CEO.