System Boundary

Executive Summary

System Boundary defines what is inside Algosure and what remains external at the architecture context level. It is the governing boundary for the C4 Level 1 view.

Why This Exists

Algosure will integrate with many actors and systems. Without an explicit boundary, architecture can accidentally give Algosure responsibility for external authority decisions, external platform availability, customer governance, or partner operations.

Owner

The owner is the Chief Product Officer and Enterprise Architect.

Business Value

The system boundary gives teams a shared rule for ownership, accountability, risk, tenant isolation, integration design, and audit obligations.

Boundary Diagram

flowchart TB
    subgraph External["External Environment"]
        Customer[Customer Organization / CEO and Users]
        TenderSources[Public and Private Tender Sources]
        Authorities[SARS, CIPC, CSD, CIDB, COIDA, B-BBEE Agencies]
        Productivity[Gmail, Outlook, Google Drive, OneDrive, DocuSign, WhatsApp]
        Partners[Payment Provider, Funding Partners, Marketplace Providers]
        Future[Future Government and Country-Specific Integrations]
    end

    subgraph Algosure["Algosure System Boundary"]
        Tenant[Tenant Workspace]
        Domains[Domain Modules and Bounded Contexts]
        Workflows[Workflow and Process Layer]
        AIOS[AIOS]
        Professionals[Digital Professionals]
        Events[Event Layer]
        Security[Security, Tenant Isolation, and Audit]
        Integration[Integration Boundary]
    end

    Customer --> Tenant
    Tenant --> Security
    Security --> Domains
    Domains --> Workflows
    Workflows --> AIOS
    AIOS --> Professionals
    Domains --> Events
    Events --> Integration
    Integration <--> TenderSources
    Integration <--> Authorities
    Integration <--> Productivity
    Integration <--> Partners
    Integration <--> Future

Inside Boundary

Area	Inside Algosure Because
Tenant workspace	Algosure must provide isolated organization context, work queues, evidence, status, and operating views.
Domain modules and bounded contexts	Algosure owns internal business language, rules, state, lifecycle, source facts, and events for its Domains.
Workflow and process layer	Algosure owns execution of approved business processes, SOPs, tasks, exceptions, and approval gates.
AIOS	Algosure owns orchestration behavior, context assembly, delegation, reasoning governance, approvals, and audit evidence.
Digital Professionals	Algosure owns the AI worker roles, guardrails, memory interactions, and delegated outputs.
Event layer	Algosure owns internal business event governance, publication, consumption, traceability, and event-driven coordination.
Security, tenant isolation, and audit	Algosure owns enforcement of access, tenant boundaries, traceability, and internal security controls.
Integration boundary	Algosure owns the translation layer between internal Domains and external actors or systems.

Outside Boundary

Area	Outside Algosure Because
Customer organization and CEO	They own business accountability, organization policy, staff decisions, approvals, and outcomes.
Organization users	They are customer-controlled people operating under tenant-scoped authorization.
Public tender sources	They control publication, amendments, deadlines, documents, and source availability.
Private tender sources	They control invite-only access, participation rules, documents, and updates.
SARS	It controls tax authority records and compliance determinations.
CIPC	It controls company registry records and company authority data.
CSD	It controls central supplier registration and government supplier status.
CIDB	It controls construction industry registration and grading data.
COIDA	It controls compensation compliance records and requirements.
B-BBEE agencies	They control verification outputs, certificates, affidavits, and expiry rules.
Gmail and Outlook	They control email mailbox platforms, delivery, availability, and external email policy.
Google Drive and OneDrive	They control external file storage, document permissions, retention, and availability.
DocuSign	It controls signature envelope execution and signature platform evidence.
WhatsApp	It controls messaging delivery, account policy, and channel availability.
Payment provider	It controls payment processing, settlement, refunds, disputes, and payment compliance.
Funding partners	They control funding criteria, offers, underwriting, approvals, and disbursement decisions.
Marketplace providers	They control supplier participation, quote availability, pricing, fulfilment, and marketplace rules.
Future government and country-specific integrations	They will be external authorities or providers with independent rules, jurisdiction, and ownership.

Boundary Rules

Rule	Boundary Requirement
Do not absorb external authority	Algosure must not become the authority for tax, company registration, supplier registration, grading, compensation, B-BBEE verification, payments, funding, or marketplace fulfilment.
Preserve Domain ownership	External data must enter through the owning Domain or governed application service; it must not bypass business ownership.
Preserve tenant context	Every user action, AI action, external request, imported document, message, validation, event, and audit record must remain tenant-scoped.
Require human accountability	External submissions, commercial commitments, funding decisions, and high-impact AI outputs require explicit approval where governed by policy.
Treat integrations as contracts	Each external relationship must have a governed contract, error model, audit model, and ownership before implementation.
Use events for meaningful change	Domain-significant external observations should produce governed business events rather than hidden side effects.
Keep implementation out of context	Boundary documents define responsibility, not technology, runtime topology, or vendor-specific mechanics.

Boundary Questions for Future Architecture

Question	Future Architecture Area
Which Domain owns each external fact after it is interpreted by Algosure?	Bounded Context Architecture
Which events represent external observations and partner updates?	Event Architecture
Which data is evidence, derived state, source fact, memory, or audit history?	Data Architecture
Which user and AI actions require approval?	Workflow, AIOS, and Security Architecture
Which integrations are required for each release wave?	Integration Architecture