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How this project works

Why it is separate

The workbook publishes guidance that has passed its review gates. Research is earlier than that: it asks what a service can do, what it costs and where it is available, without deciding anything. Keeping it in its own repository means a research note can never be mistaken for workbook guidance, and the workbook never changes because research was done.

Isolation rules

  1. One way only. Research pages may link to workbook pages, Microsoft Learn and other public sources. The workbook does not link to, import, embed or build anything from this project.
  2. No automated connection. No submodule, shared build, shared workflow, or automation that opens changes in the workbook repository.
  3. Every page is labelled. Each topic page states that it is research, the date it was last checked, and its status.
  4. The workbook's public rules apply here too:
    • No agency names, and no description of any agency's status or systems.
    • Microsoft 365 GCC Moderate, or an equivalent tenant, is the baseline. GCC High and DoD appear only as side notes.
    • A control or tool supports or addresses a requirement. Research never claims that a tool by itself fulfils one.
    • Every claim names its source. Where something is my inference, the page says so.
    • Examples are generic. No work data comes here.

Status values

Status Meaning
Open The question is being researched.
Findings The answer is written up with sources. Nothing is decided.
Candidate for integration The finding has been put forward for the workbook.
Integrated A workbook change was made. The page links to it.

How a finding can join the workbook

  1. A topic is marked Candidate for integration.
  2. The workbook owner names that topic and approves moving it.
  3. The finding is rewritten to workbook standards in a normal workbook pull request and goes through the workbook's usual gates. It is not copied across.
  4. The topic page here is updated to Integrated, with a link to the workbook page.

Nothing moves without step 2.

License

The same terms as the workbook: the writing is under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, and any code is under the MIT License. See LICENSE.md.