Our neutrality charter
CIAM makes money from vendors, and CIAM helps buyers choose vendors. That is a conflict we take seriously, because the moment our recommendations are for sale, they are worthless. This page is the standard we hold ourselves to, in plain terms.
What sponsorship can buy
- A labeled placement in the directory or on a relevant page.
- A sponsor slot in the newsletter.
- Association with a research report.
Every paid placement carries a visible Sponsored label. If it is not labeled, it is editorial, and no one paid for it.
What sponsorship cannot buy
- A higher position in the vendor matcher shortlist.
- A better verdict in a comparison or guide.
- Removal or softening of a criticism.
- A pay-to-play entry in the directory. Listing is open and free.
Editorial judgment is not for sale. A vendor can be a sponsor and still come second in a comparison, and that is the point.
How the matcher ranks
The vendor matcher scores vendors against your answers, not against what they pay:
- Must-have features are a hard gate. Miss one and a vendor drops out, regardless of anything else.
- Remaining vendors are scored by how well they fit your segment, deployment, and nice-to-have features.
- Sponsorship is never an input to the score. Tier is not a variable in the ranking.
- Ties are broken by score, then by a rotating order, so identical fits do not always favor the same vendor.
We publish the full result with scores so the ranking can be checked.
How we handle being wrong
Vendors change. If a comparison or guide goes stale, tell us and we will fix or date it. Corrections are made in the open, not quietly.
Why this matters to you
If you cannot trust that the shortlist is honest, there is no reason to use it. Independence is the product. Everything else is built on it.