The Nextian Product Catalog is the primary tool for product management. Built on top of the standard Salesforce Product2 and related objects, it enables end-to-end product management with the following features:
- Product Record Types indicating if a product catalog record represents a product, a product part (add-on) or a service request (click here for more information).
- Product Metadata describing general, key product characteristics, such as:
- Is the product a ‘widget’ or a subscription service?
- Does the product require a specific location (e.g., like fiber Internet access), or is it independent of location (e.g. a software license)?
- Is it a single-quantity product (always quoted as 1) or multi-quantity (quoted in variable amounts)?
Product Metadata primarily determines how a product is quoted. For example, a term-based product requires term selection, while a location-based product requires specifying a service location.
- Product Pricing Dimensions which are additional parameters affecting pricing, such as:
- Operation Type defining type of transaction, such as new service, widget delivery, service cancellation, etc.
- Service Term determining pricing based on contract duration (e.g., a 12-month term may have different pricing than a 24-month term).
Additional dimensions are captured on the Price Book Entry (PBE) object.
- Work Order Templates — When an order is created, each line item includes a work order that defines how it will be delivered. Work orders are generated based on templates associated with product price book entries. Work order templates act as delivery or provisioning plans, specifying details such as:
- How is Internet service installed?
- How is a service canceled?
- How is hardware shipped when a customer orders multiple units (e.g., five routers)?
- Service Templates — When a new service is created, its foundational elements can be generated automatically based on service templates (e.g., virtual machines, storage, etc.). Unlike work order templates, service templates apply only to new subscription services and are optional.
The relationships between Nextian Product Catalog objects can be visualized as follows:
