The commercial form should follow the responsibility—not disguise it.

When appropriate

Architecture, operating responsibility, governance, readiness, risk treatment, recovery, or transition decisions are unclear or contested.

Customer ownership

Owns business priorities, risk appetite, approval, funding, and final decision authority.

AOT responsibility

Structures the evidence, options, dependencies, responsibilities, and decision record within the agreed advisory scope.

Expected evidence

• Current-state evidence
• Decision options and implications
• Recommended responsibility and transition plan

Transition

Closes with an approved decision record and a clear owner for each next action.

When appropriate

A deployment, migration, integration, remediation, modernization, or site program has an agreed outcome and bounded delivery period.

Customer ownership

Owns priorities, material change approval, access, business decisions, and acceptance authority.

AOT responsibility

Owns the agreed delivery scope, work sequence, supplier interfaces, documentation, testing, exception control, and acceptance evidence.

Expected evidence

• Controlled delivery plan
• Technical and decision records
• Testing, acceptance, and handover package

Transition

Moves into customer operation, another provider, or an agreed continuing operating model only after acceptance.

When appropriate

Daily monitoring, incidents, changes, records, suppliers, reviews, or follow-through require a continuing responsibility boundary.

Customer ownership

Retains business authority, priorities, risk decisions, material approvals, and oversight of the agreed service.

AOT responsibility

Owns the contracted operating activities, records, escalation, reporting, supplier follow-through, and review obligations.

Expected evidence

• Operating responsibility schedule
• Service records and agreed reporting
• Review, escalation, and improvement evidence

Transition

Uses documented exit, knowledge, records, access, open-action, and receiving-owner requirements.

When appropriate

The condition requires decisions, implementation, and a continuing or staged responsibility across several workstreams.

Customer ownership

Retains the authorities defined for each phase and accepts changes to the responsibility boundary.

AOT responsibility

Owns only the responsibilities assigned within each phase, with explicit gates between advice, delivery, operation, and transfer.

Expected evidence

• Phased responsibility map
• Decision and acceptance gates
• Integrated evidence and transition record

Transition

Occurs at defined gates so temporary project responsibility does not become an undocumented operating assumption.