The inclusion test
The inclusion test behind Build, Run, Observe, Control, and Secure, plus the alternatives considered.
BROCS has to remain short enough for an architecture review while keeping separate jobs with separate owners. The inclusion test produced Build, Run, Observe, Control, and Secure.
Origin
The framework started as a question from an engineering leader at a healthtech company, after several weeks of evaluating the AI tooling market:
I need somewhere to build it, somewhere to run it, a way to see what it's doing, and ensure it doesn't go off the rails.
The sentence contains Build, Run, Observe, and Control in the order work moves through a system.
Secure covers the evidence and accountability required by security teams, compliance officers, and regulated buyers. That work has a different owner from day-to-day system operation.
Inclusion test
A letter earns its place when each statement holds.
- An accountable team owns the work. Build usually belongs to platform or developer experience; Run to infrastructure; Observe to service owners; Control to architecture and identity; Secure to security, compliance, and finance.
- Its absence produces a distinct failure documented in the failure-mode library.
- An established adjacent discipline provides relevant practice. See adjacent practices.
- An organization can score zero on the letter while performing well on another.
Alternatives considered
Govern
Governance policy needs enforcement through Secure and Control. A separate letter would separate the policy from the systems that apply it.
Data
Data responsibilities already have clear owners across BROCS. Builder access belongs to Build, storage and movement to Run, retention to Control, and residency to Secure. A separate Data letter would have no single owner.
Cost
Observe provides per-application and per-team attribution. Secure sets and enforces spending limits. A separate Cost letter would repeat those responsibilities.
Evaluate or measure
Evals verify model behavior and belong in Observe, alongside metrics and traces.
Merge Control into Run
Run covers execution. Control covers deliberate, reversible change. An organization may operate a reliable workload while still requiring a code change to switch providers, so the responsibilities stay separate.
Sequence
The letters follow an operating sequence: work is built, run, observed, controlled, and reviewed against security requirements. Teams revisit each capability as systems and policy change. Secure findings change the requirements and defaults offered through Build.