Editorial Trust

Editorial Standards

How we research, write, source, and update our buyer's guides. Last updated: 13 May 2026.

1. Independence

TechDirectory is editorially independent. Buyer's guides are written by TechDirectory's editorial team, not the vendors discussed. No vendor pays — directly or indirectly — for inclusion, ranking, or favourable language in our guides. Vendors cannot review or edit guides before publication.

2. Authorship

Guides are written and reviewed by the TechDirectory Editorial Team. Each piece passes through at least two team members — a primary researcher and an editor — before publication. Contributing analysts and vendor practitioners who participate in research are credited on the About page where appropriate. We do not publish unedited AI output under the team byline, and the team is collectively accountable for every factual claim in a published piece.

3. Research process

Each guide goes through the following before publication:

  1. Primary research. We talk to at least three Singapore-based buyers and three vendors active in the category, on background. We don't publish interview quotes without consent; the conversations inform the analysis.
  2. Public-record review. We cross-check vendor claims against ACRA registrations, IMDA partner lists, CSA-certified vendor lists, and other public registries where available.
  3. Product testing where possible. For software-as-a-service vendors with public free tiers or trial accounts, we run hands-on tests against a documented scenario. Hardware and field-services vendors are evaluated on case studies and references only.
  4. Pricing transparency. Where vendors publish pricing, we report it. Where they don't, we note that the price is undisclosed; we don't fabricate ranges.

4. Sources & citations

  • External data points (industry reports, government statistics, regulatory citations) are linked inline to their primary source.
  • When we cite vendor-published material (case studies, press releases, certifications), we mark it as such — vendor-published claims are not independent verification.
  • We avoid linking to paywalled or short-lived URLs where a permanent alternative exists.

5. Updates

Every guide carries two dates: the original publication date and the most recent substantive update. We review each guide at least every 6 months, and update sooner when:

  • A regulatory or grant change affects the category (e.g. IMDA grant scheme changes, CSA mandate updates, PDPA amendments).
  • A major vendor enters, exits, or merges in the Singapore market.
  • Our own data — reviews, profile additions, observed buyer questions — reveals a material gap in the existing guide.

Substantive updates trigger a bumped dateModified in the article's structured data so search engines and readers can see the guide has been refreshed.

6. Corrections

Factual errors are corrected as soon as they are confirmed. When a correction materially changes a guide's recommendation, we note the correction in a visible "Editor's note" at the top of the guide. Spelling, link rot, and typographical fixes are made silently.

7. Conflicts of interest

If an author has a personal or financial relationship with a vendor discussed in a guide — past employment within 2 years, consulting work, equity, or board position — the author either recuses from the guide or discloses the relationship in an Editor's note within the guide itself. We maintain an internal register of these disclosures.

8. AI-assisted research vs. AI authorship

We use AI tools (Gemini, Claude, GPT-class models) for research synthesis, draft scaffolding, and editing — the same way many newsrooms use them. We do not publish unedited AI output, and the named human author is responsible for every factual claim in the published piece. AI is a tool, not the byline.

Ranking and sort methodology

Directory ranking starts with relevance to the selected category, Singapore presence, profile completeness, verification status, and buyer-useful trust signals such as reviews, certifications, source notes, and case studies. Paid sponsorship can create labelled ad placements, but it does not rewrite editorial copy or silently override organic category rankings.

Company profile verification

Profiles are checked against available public signals such as company websites, ACRA or UEN presence, local office information, partner directories, certification pages, and vendor-supplied documentation. Claimed profiles are marked separately from unclaimed listings, and vendor-provided claims are treated as source material until independently confirmed.

Data sources & what "checked" means

Structured facts on company profiles — technology partner tiers, accreditations, certifications, and government panel listings — are drawn from the sources listed below. Each sourced fact carries a ↗ badge that links to the original source page, and a Data checked [month year] line shows when that source was last consulted for this company.

"Checked against" means we retrieved the data from the named authoritative source and reproduced it on the profile. It is not a guarantee that the information remains current after the check date. For government registry data (ACRA), the source is the official public record. For vendor partner directories, the source is the vendor's own published programme page — we check it, but the vendor controls it.

Sources currently used:

  • ACRA — Entities with ACRA (data.gov.sg): company name, UEN, entity type, and registration date. Checked against the monthly CSV published at data.gov.sg.
  • IMDA Accreditation programme: pre-approved status and programme participation under the SMEs Go Digital initiative. Checked against the published IMDA Accreditation listing.
  • CSA Cyber Labelling Scheme: Cyber Essentials and Cyber Trust certification marks. Checked against the Cyber Security Agency's certified-vendor list.
  • Cisco Partner Programme: partner tier and declared specialisations. Checked against Cisco's Partner Locator.
  • HPE Partner Ready Programme: partner tier. Checked against HPE's partner directory.
  • Microsoft Partner Network: partner tier and solution designations. Checked against the Microsoft Partner Centre public directory.
  • AWS Partner Network: partner tier and programme membership. Checked against the AWS Partner directory.

Update cadence: ACRA data is refreshed when a new monthly release is published by data.gov.sg. Vendor partner-directory data is refreshed periodically; the Data checked date on each section shows the last check date for that company.

Stale or incorrect data: If a partner tier or accreditation status has changed since the last check, use the Suggest an Edit link on the company profile or email [email protected].

Category assignment policy

Each company has one primary category used for browse pages and sitemaps. Category assignment is based on the company's main buyer problem, service descriptions, case studies, certifications, and repeated keyword evidence. Ambiguous multi-service vendors are reviewed manually rather than bulk-moved by automation.

Review moderation

Reviews are moderated before publication. We check for a plausible commercial relationship, concrete project detail, conflicts of interest, duplicate submissions, and coordinated activity. The full review policy lives at review-policy.html.

Sponsored and paid placement disclosure

Sponsored placements, paid lead routing, and commercial widgets are labelled when they appear. Sponsored participation may affect where a paid module is shown, but buyer guides, category descriptions, and correction decisions remain editorially controlled by TechDirectory.

9. Feedback & corrections

If you find an error, an out-of-date claim, or a gap in a buyer's guide, email [email protected] with the URL and a short note. We acknowledge corrections within 2 business days.