Software Methodology

Restoration software, compared on capability.

Working operators define what each category of software has to do. Every vendor is measured against that. The mapping is the score.

Run by an independent data trust that takes no vendor advertising, sponsorship, or paid placement, so no vendor can buy a better score.

The Method, In One Picture

Define, weight, map.

Operators name the capabilities a category needs and how much each one counts. Every vendor is measured against them, and the weighted total is the score.

1Define capabilities
2Operators weight them
3Map vendors on evidence

Field Documentation · Vendor Anonymized

Provisional
Moisture & psychrometric logging
Present
Photo, sketch & 360 capture
Present
Carrier-ready exports
Present
Offline field capture
Partial
Verifiable on-site proof
Absent
Bar length = operator weight fill = vendor fit
Weighted total → the score

A popularity ranking tells you what other people bought. This tells you what a tool actually does against the work, which is the question an operator is really asking.

What Gets Measured

A capability set for every category.

The KPIs are specific to the work. A few examples, at the category level. The published issues carry the full universe.

Field Documentation

Moisture loggingPhoto & 360 captureOffline captureCarrier-ready exportsOn-site proof

Estimating

Xactimate & Symbility interopSupplement capturePrice-list currencyApproval workflowMacro libraries

Job & Project Management

Scheduling & dispatchJob costingWIP visibilityCarrier & TPA intakeMobile workflow

Accounting & ERP

Job-level cost trackingNormalized COA fitLabor-burden allocationAR & days-to-payLender-ready export

Vendor-by-vendor results are published in the Restoration Software Intelligence Report and on the software comparison pages.

Who Sets the Weights

The Operator Research Panel.

A body of working restoration operators that sets the capability weights. It rates capabilities, not vendors, so the operator voice stays on what the work requires.

Field Docs
Estimating
Job Mgmt
Accounting
Payroll & CRM
~15Operators
≥3Per category
0Vendor strings

About fifteen operators, every software category covered by at least three, so no single voice sets a category's weights. Seats span size, region, and service-line mix, hold no vendor strings, and are reviewed annually. The Panel is distinct from the Operator Advisory Council, which reviews the data-use policy.

How Vendors Are Heard

Self-reported, then cross-checked.

Vendors report their own capabilities. A self-report is a starting point, weighed against independent evidence before it counts.

1

Self-Report

Vendors answer against the same KPIs the Panel defined.

2

Cross-Check

Weighed against docs, reviews, and operators who use it.

3

Review

A pre-publication review and a standing right of correction.

4

Publish

Whether a vendor answered is part of the reading.

How It Adds Up

Three inputs, one reading.

No single input can move a score on its own. Keeping them separate is what makes a reading legible and hard to game.

Vendor self-report

Claims, confirmed or discounted

Panel weights

How much each KPI counts

Operator experience

The peer-rating signal

One reading, with a confidence label

The full eleven-dimension Verinode Score, its confidence labels, and its quality controls are on the methodology page.

Built in the Open

Where this stands today.

The scoring engine and vendor catalog are live. The operator-calibration layer is the next build, roughly six months out.

Live Today

A research-derived Verinode Score for every catalogued vendor

Evidence gathered from the open record, each datapoint sourced and dated

A structured vendor questionnaire that raises a reading's confidence

Separate scores per category, each with a confidence label

Now · roughly six months to the calibration layer

Forthcoming

Operator-set capability weights replacing today's defaults

Capability testing against a published rubric, not documentation alone

Peer ratings graduating from Early signal to Widely rated as the network grows

Why It Can Be Trusted

Independence, in three commitments.

No Vendor Pays

No placement, sponsorship, or scoring influence is for sale. Funded by operator membership.

No Hidden Agenda

No vendor advertising and no vendor sponsorship. Operator data is never sold to carriers.

Reproducible

The same evidence and weights produce the same reading next quarter. A score moves when a product moves.

The full position is on the independence and data-use policy pages.

Join the Panel

Have a say in which capabilities count.

The comparison gets stronger with more operators setting the weights. Seats are by application, capped per cycle, and open to operators of every size and specialty.

For associations and networks: to help shape the capability standard, contribute panelists, or review the method, reach the research team at [email protected]. Independent of any commercial relationship.

This page describes the method at the category level. Vendor-level results are published in the Restoration Software Intelligence Report. The full cross-platform methodology is at verinode.ai/methodology. Last updated July 2026.