Service Templates are where the Nextian Product Management intersects with the Nextian Service Management.
A Service Template is a collection of predefined service elements. For example:
- A Business Internet product might include a router, WAN port, and POP.
- A Data Center Server product might consist of a server, RAM, CPU, storage, power supply, and cabinet space.
Service Templates allow for quick and consistent creation of service elements in the following scenarios:
- Automatically — When a service is created as part of the quote-to-order process, and the associated Price Book Entry (PBE) includes a linked Service Template.
- Manually — Via the Create Elements From Template service action.
In other words, Service Templates ensure that identical products consistently generate the same set of service elements every time they are provisioned.
| Important | Service Templates are typically prepared by the product management team during product planning — the end-users do not need to design their own templates. |
Element Types in Templates
Each template can contain two types of elements:
- New — A brand-new element is created each time the template is used.
For example, a residential internet service may require a new router for the customer each time it is provisioned. - Existing — An existing element is referenced in the template and added to the service (but not created). Existing elements typically represent shared infrastructure components, such as core routers, power supplies, backup systems, and similar resources.
Accessing Element Templates
To access element templates, go to:
App Launcher → Service Templates
They are also available as a menu item in the Nextian Product Management app:
App Launcher → Nextian Product Management → Service Templates
Service Template Object and Fields
Templates are stored in the Service_Template__c object:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Element Count | Auto-calculated, total number of elements in the template. |
| MRC | An auto-calculated Monthly Recurring Cost (MRC) of a service built using this template, based on a sum of individual element MRCs. This value may be pushed as booked MRC to price book entries that reference this service template. |
| Own MRC | Auto-calculated Monthly Recurring Cost (MRC) of own elements, i.e., ones that do not have a provider specified (MRC = Own MRC + Providers’ MRC). |
| Providers’ MRC | Auto-calculated Monthly Recurring Cost (MRC) of providers’ elements, i.e., ones that do not have a provider specified (MRC = Own MRC + Providers’ MRC). |
| Description | Optional, user-provided description of the template. |
| Element Structure Definition | XML definition of service element structure. |
| Is Valid | Auto-calculated flag checked if the template is valid: not empty and with valid XML. Attempts to create services from invalid templates (either from order line items or directly) always fail. |
| Important | Element Count, MRC, Own MRC and Providers’ MRC are recalculated after template validation and after editing the template XML. |
