This decision tree is part of the network change acceptance guide. It answers one question for network automation integrators: when an operator has years of tested, accepted and reviewed changes, who can say yes to a conversation about that history?
Who holds each record, and their place on the tree
| Record | Usual system | Day-to-day holder | Role on the tree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change requests, impact analyses, approvals | ITSM change module | Change manager | Describes only |
| Test plans and run results | Test automation system | Network test lead | Describes only |
| Maintenance notes | Change system or engineering log | Network engineers, sometimes contractors | Describes only |
| Config backups and inventory history | Backup store, inventory tool | Network operations, planning | Describes only |
| Coverage, gaps and history across all of the above | All tools | Head of network operations | Starts the conversation |
| Customer contracts, outage filings, contractor agreements | Legal files | General counsel | Advises; sets scope with the signer |
| Decision to treat records as a licensable asset | None | CEO | Signs |
The head of network operations is the right first contact because one conversation with them sizes the whole history: tools, years, how many changes, how many with linked incidents. They are not the last contact because the decision involves customer obligations, contractor terms and company strategy.
The yes path: five questions in order
Work through these with the head of network operations. Each answer moves the introduction forward or adds a branch.
- Is the history complete enough to describe? If test results were overwritten each run or backups kept for only a few weeks, note it. The worked exception shows what a complete chain looks like.
- Who wrote the records? Operator staff, a refresh contractor, an MSP, or a mix. That decides the ownership fork in the graphic.
- Who would sponsor a data licensing discussion? Usually the CFO or another senior executive, who brings it to the CEO to authorize; in a carrier owned by a larger group, possibly a group executive as well. Get a name.
- Does counsel need to be in the first call? For telecom operators, nearly always, because customer network information is involved.
- Does anyone else have to agree? A parent company, investors or a board. A first-month plan for operators and board members covers how board-level contacts make introductions.
Contractor-authored notes: whose are they?
Network refreshes and automation projects bring outside engineers into the change process. They write test plans, maintenance notes and sometimes the templates that generate tests. The fork on the tree asks a simple question with a contract-dependent answer: did the operator's staff write this, or someone else?
| Who wrote it | Typical position | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Operator employees | Operator's own records | General counsel |
| Contractor working inside the operator's change system | Often the operator's, depending on the services agreement | Counsel, per the agreement |
| MSP in its own ticketing or automation platform | May be the MSP's records, or shared | Counsel for both parties |
| Vendor-supplied test templates | Vendor's material, licensed to the operator | Counsel, per the license |
A partner flags which rows apply and stops there. Reading agreements is counsel's job, and the answer feeds SourceX's rights review.
Customer and outage material that waits for counsel
Change records are full of customer information. These branches belong to the operator's lawyers.
| Branch | Why it needs review | Who decides | Common outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circuit, service and configuration details tied to customers | Where the operator is a telecommunications carrier, technical configuration and usage of a customer's service can be customer proprietary network information under federal law | General counsel | Pseudonymized or excluded |
| Network topology and addressing | Security sensitivity | Counsel with the security lead | Generalized or removed |
| FCC outage reports and drafts | Part 4 filings are presumed confidential | General counsel | Usually excluded; internal records describe the event |
| Customer names in incident tickets | Customer contracts and privacy law | Counsel | Removed, roles kept |
The federal definition, in 47 U.S.C. 222, covers information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location and amount of use of a telecommunications service that a carrier obtains through the customer relationship. Whether it applies to a given record is a legal question, and it shapes preparation rather than ruling the history out. Why data rights matter explains why SourceX settles rights before anything is licensed.
Access is not authority, including the change board
The change approval board is the trap in this workflow. Its members approve changes every week, so they sound like the people who approve things. NIST SP 800-128 describes a configuration control board as the body that controls and approves changes, with its size and formality set by the organization. That is authority over the network, not over the company's records as an asset.
The same applies to anyone with deep access: the test lead who can export every run, the integrator with read access to every change, the MSP engineer with admin rights to the backup store. Each can supply metadata for the brief. None can open a licensing conversation on the operator's behalf.
What stays open after the signer agrees
- Rights: which record classes, years and contractor-authored material the operator can license.
- Preparation: how customer network information and topology are removed or generalized.
- Demand: whether a buyer wants change acceptance histories; how AI labs buy data explains how buyers screen for rights and quality, and what makes a dataset licensable covers the rest.
- Terms: whether an offer follows.
The introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), 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 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions; one partner is credited per company. The referral brief template puts these answers on one page.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once the head of network operations has named the executive who can say yes and flagged any contractor-authored records, register as a partner, confirm the operator on who qualifies and read the program terms before making the introduction.