First-everThe 2027 State of DOAP Survey is open.Take the survey

The nine domains of keeping an app platform running

These are what we train and certify on, and what the survey scores. Each domain is one part of keeping a platform running, from backups to the AI agents that write to it.

Get involvedThe survey

The nine domains

Each domain has a platform-neutral core, and a platform-specific layer defined by each platform’s steering committee.

  1. Protect

    Backup, restore, and archive

    Backup, restore, and archive. What the platform’s native history keeps and does not keep; how to get data out and back in.

  2. Change

    Code management, deploy, rollback

    Code management and the deployment lifecycle within the platform. Sandboxes, staging, release, rollback.

  3. Observe

    Schema monitoring, change visibility

    Schema monitoring and change visibility. Knowing what changed, when, and by whom.

  4. Governance

    Users, auth, access control

    Users, authentication and access control. What the platform offers on its business plans, and where it works differently from the others.

  5. Documentation

    In the platform and across teams

    Documentation within the platform, and centralized documentation across platforms and teams.

  6. Data

    Cleansing, hygiene, integrity

    Data and schema management: cleansing, hygiene, integrity.

  7. Integrate

    What connects, and how, securely

    What can be integrated and how; managing integrations securely; troubleshooting when they break.

  8. Support

    Ability to address the training and feedback of end users

    Getting support from the platform, and providing it to end users, including through a center of excellence.

  9. Agents

    Agent Ops: permissions, oversight, audit

    Agent Ops: managing the AI agents that act inside the platform. What each agent can read and write, who approved it, how its changes are reviewed, logged and rolled back, and how to switch it off.

Launching 2027

Join the Alliance.

The Alliance forms platform by platform, when twenty people register for each. Add your name, and your platform gets one closer.

Join the AllianceRead the manifesto
  1. Sep 2026 · nowFounding members join

    Gathering initial interest: your name on the join form, and the first survey open, for every platform.

  2. Q1 2027First survey opens

    The industry report, the rubric published with it, and the first benchmark.

  3. Summer 2027The Alliance forms

    Three platforms at twenty, steering committees seated, the benefit corporation filed.

  4. AfterCertification opens

    The exam follows the nine domains the survey measures.

Join the AllianceRead the manifesto