What category definition pages cover
A Brightfield category definition page establishes the shared vocabulary and scope boundaries for a market segment. It answers four questions that any rigorous analyst must address before beginning comparative work in the category:
What the market segment means
The category is defined with scope boundaries — what is included and what is excluded. Where adjacent categories exist, the boundaries between them are stated explicitly. Definitions are based on documented market evidence and editorial analysis, not on vendor self-categorization.
Who the category serves
The organizational contexts, role types, and decision situations for which the category is relevant. Category definitions are not written for all possible readers — they identify who the category was designed to serve and which decision-maker profiles have the clearest fit.
Evaluation questions
The questions a rigorous evaluator should be asking when operating in this category. These are derived from category analysis and from the documented failure modes that occur when evaluations skip them. They are not checklists; they are the analytical questions that expose the real tradeoffs in the category.
Proof standards
What evidence a decision-maker should require before accepting claims from organizations in this category. Proof standards vary by category because different claims require different types of corroboration. Category definitions specify the minimum independent evidence appropriate for each major claim type.
How Brightfield defines categories
Category definitions at Brightfield are developed from the coverage initiation process — the structured review that precedes any research publication in a new market segment. A category definition begins with the research question, maps the available evidence landscape, and establishes scope boundaries that reflect what the evidence supports rather than what the market claims for itself.
Categories in Brightfield's coverage are defined to be useful to decision-makers, not to map onto vendor-created market designations. Where vendor-created designations are useful, they are referenced. Where they conflate genuinely distinct categories or obscure meaningful differentiation, the Brightfield definition reflects the analytical distinction rather than the market convention.
Published category definitions
No category definitions published yet
Category definitions are published alongside first research outputs in each covered area. Coverage is in development. The research agenda outlines planned coverage.
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