Systems Involved:
Subscription Order management(SOM) can also be replaced with SAP CRM
Convergent Invoicing(CI)
Convergent Charging(CC)
Sales and Distribution(SD)
Supply chain front(Production and Delivery)
Controlling
Finance
Subscription Order management
Subscription Order Management is specifically designed to support the order process of a combination of physical goods, service, and subscriptions to enable you to transition from a product-based model to a service-based one. You can quickly model new subscription offerings with the right mix of products, recurring and one-time services, usage charges, revenue sharing models, and third-party content. With Subscription Order Management you manage your contracts flexibly over the whole contract lifecycle (such as adding, modifying, or removing elements of contracts effortlessly, and tracking of service usage).
Use cases are known across multiple industries, such as:
Selling a physical device, such as mobile phones along with a usage contract
Customers from software industry, offering solutions like packed IT solutions instead of products
Cloud service providers selling software as a service
Subscription order management can also be replaced with other order management systems external/internal, example: SAP CRM(Customer Relationship management) can also be used in BRIM system architecture instead of SOM
Main objects of the SOM/CRM systems are
1. Solution Quotation
Solution quotations are legally binding offers with fixed conditions.
With a solution quotation, you can offer your customers solutions consisting of combinations of different types of products (physical goods, services, subscriptions). These combinations are modeled as product bundles in your master data. When you enter product bundles as items in a quotation, the bundle components are displayed automatically as subitems.
Once a quotation has been released and accepted, follow-up transactions are generated automatically
2. Subscription Order
A subscription order is a special sales order that you can use to sell products or product bundles that consist of subscriptions to services (usage-based charges, recurring and one-time charges) and physical goods.
When the subscription order has been released, a new subscription contract is automatically created, whereby items with a short lifetime (sales items, one-time fees) stay in the order and items with a long lifetime (rate plans, rate plan options) become part of the contract. Whenever contract changes are required, a new subscription order (change order) is created. When the maintenance of this subscription change order is completed, these changes are transferred to the subscription contract. These contract changes can be made using change processes
The subscription order can be used as follows:
Subscription order for selling products and services (such as usage-based charges, recurring, and one-time charges); for the creation of a subscription contract.
Change order for subscription contract changes. When you confirm the subscription order, the application automatically creates or updates the relevant subscription contract, according to the status.
3. Subscription Contract
A subscription contract manages the long-term agreement for a technical service that the provider company offers to the customer. It is represented by a main subscription contract item within a subscription contract document. A subscription contract document contains one or more subscription contracts, where the individual subscription contracts are not dependent on each other.
A typical subscription contract contains important information, such as technical resources (technical IDs/references of services), contract history (an overview of all the changes related to the contract and previously created orders), subscription contract options (sub-items of a subscription contract, containing their own data), and business partner data (for example, alternative addresses for specific address types).
You can only make changes to a subscription contract using change processes.
4. Document Distribution(ODI)
The distribution of subscription documents is a basic requirement in certain scenarios, and it controls the execution of actions needed to fulfill the order across systems like billing, charging and, other fulfillment systems. The document distribution of subscription documents is implemented by the Order Distribution Infrastructure (ODI) framework.
The basic flow of the order distribution in the subscription documents is:
Capture a subscription order.
Based on when the order is completed or submitted, the distribution for the subscription order is triggered.
Once the subscription order is successfully distributed, the subscription contract is created.
Distribution of the subscription contract is triggered when the subscription contract is released (which in most scenarios is done automatically).
When the contract distribution is successful, the subscription contract status is set to Active. In case of contract termination, the deactivation is also a part of the distribution.
While the document distribution is active, the subscription order is locked for manual processing in the transaction UIs. Once the distribution is finished, control is passed back to the document. Depending on the final status, either a new process can be executed or, if errors occur, data can be corrected. By resubmitting the order, the documents are redistributed.
Features
Scheduling, which allows fast processing for the end user and postpones the actual execution of the distribution to a delayed batch process
Storing the result of an executed action in case of a redistribution
Definition of complex distribution models with branching and merging options
Error handling during the distribution process
Convergent Invoicing(CI)
The Billing and Invooicing components together make up Convergent Invoicing.
Convergent Invoicing enables you to integrate the following applications:
This comprehensive integration enables you to implement the business process from the consumption of a service through pricing and billing right up to dispatch of the invoice to the customer.
Convergent Charging(CC)
SAP Convergent Charging helps you quickly define and change subscription services and related partner revenue sharing models. It supports millions of subscribers and is able to meter, rate, and charge each customer event in real time. By allowing non-IT personnel to quickly make pricing changes, service providers can create competitive pricing offers to seize market opportunities. And that translates into increased profitability, end-customer loyalty, and a strong competitive edge in a highly demanding marketplace.
SAP Convergent Charging helps you to:
Design and change end-customer pricing and partner revenue-sharing models quickly.
Give subscribers control over their spending.
Calculate recurring- and usage-based fees and subscription charges in real time or batch.
Operate with low latency, very high volume, and high availability.
Sales and Distribution(SD) and Production
SD is used in BRIM process to build and deliver the physical items(Example: Devices like modem in telco business).
Production order is created as followup to the sales order to track the production or build of the items, once items are bulid and delivered to customer the Production order item sends notification to Subc=scription contract to release the item for charging.
Controlling and Finance
Accounts Receivable (FI-AR) and Accounts Payable (FI-AP)
The Accounts Payable application component records and administers accounting data for all vendors. It is also an integral part of the purchasing system, where deliveries and invoices are managed according to vendors. The system automatically makes postings in response to the operative transactions. In the same way, the system supplies the Cash Management application component with figures from invoices in order to optimize liquidity planning. Payables are paid with the payment program. The payment program supports all standard payment methods (such as checks and transfers) in printed form as well as in electronic form (data medium exchange on disk and electronic data interchange). This program also covers country-specific payment methods. If necessary, dunning notices can be created for outstanding receivables (for example, to receive payment for a credit memo). The dunning program supports this function. Postings made in Accounts Payable are simultaneously recorded in the general ledger where different G/L accounts are updated based on the transaction involved (such as payables and down payments). The system contains due date forecasts and other standard reports that you can use to help you monitor open items. You can configure balance confirmations, account statements, and other notifications to suit your correspondence requirements. There are balance lists, journals, balance audit trails and other evaluations available for documenting transactions in Accounts Payable. The Accounts Receivable application component records and administers accounting data of all customers. It is also an integral part of sales management. All postings in Accounts Receivable are also recorded directly in the general ledger. Different G/L accounts are updated depending on the transaction involved (for example, receivables, down payments, and bills of exchange). The system contains a range of tools that you can use to monitor open items, such as account analyses, alarm reports, due date lists, and a flexible dunning program. The correspondence linked to these tools can be individually formulated to suit your requirements. This is also the case for payment notices, balance confirmations, account statements, and interest calculations Incoming payments can be assigned to due receivables using user-friendly screen functions or by electronic means such as EDI and data telecommunication. The payment program can automatically carry out direct debiting and down payments. There is a range of tools available for documenting the transactions that occur in Accounts Receivable, including balance lists, journals, balance audit trails, and other standard reports. When drawing up financial statements, the items in foreign currency are revalued, customers who are also vendors are listed, and the balances on the accounts are sorted according to remaining life. Accounts Receivable is not merely a basis for adequate and orderly accounting. It also provides the data required for effective credit management, (as a result of its close integration with the Sales and Distribution component), as well as important information for the optimization of liquidity planning, (through its link to Cash Management).
Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable(FI-CA)
Contract Accounting comprises the functions of Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable. It is used as a subledger, implementing the typical functions of accounts receivable accounting, such as posting, payments and dunning with the aim of processing large document volumes. You can integrate Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable as an integral part of Finance with capabilities in Finance and other solutions to accomplish additional business tasks.