Reference
Foundations Framework key terms
Definitions for the core vocabulary behind every Clouditive engagement. Each term is used precisely in how the Foundations Framework is applied.
Foundations Framework
The proprietary platform engineering method behind every Clouditive engagement. Three principles, five pillars, five phases.
Three persona platform user
The taxonomy of who uses the platform today: human developer, AI agent, and hybrid collaborator. Each has its own contract with the platform.
Cognitive Absorption
The degree to which the platform absorbs complexity on behalf of the developer, measured by flow state retention, context switch cost, and paved road compliance.
AI mirror effect
The finding that AI amplifies the existing state of the delivery platform. Strong platforms gain code quality. Weak ones lose stability - the 2024 DORA report measured a 7.2 percent stability decrease.
Decision quality preservation
The practice of tracking whether AI-accelerated decisions remain correct over time, measured by decision rework rate and incident pattern shift.
Throughput quality coupling
Whether deployment velocity and code quality move together or diverge under AI adoption. The primary AI productivity signal in the Foundations Framework.
Signal Integrity
The capacity of a platform to produce metrics that are reproducible and defensible. When dashboards disagree on deployment frequency, Signal Integrity has failed.
Measurement theater
Collecting metrics without using them to make decisions. Dashboards that exist to fill slide decks, not to inform engineering priorities.
Paved road compliance under pressure
The percentage of teams that follow golden paths when a deadline is real. The gap between normal adoption and pressure adoption is the real adoption gap.
Method transfer mechanism
The artifacts a consultancy leaves with the client that let the team operate independently. ADRs, runbooks, golden paths, scored radars. Without it, the consultancy creates dependency, not capability.
Put the concepts to work
A Foundations Assessment applies every one of these terms to your platform.
Four to six weeks. Maturity radar, DORA baseline, AI readiness score, and a 90 day roadmap.