Explore the Industries Order Management Solution
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Differentiate between Salesforce order management solutions.
- Identify the Salesforce clouds that use Industries Order Management (OM).
- Describe the Industries cloud solution map and how Industries OM fits in.
- Recognize the major components of Industries OM.
Order Management Solutions
Salesforce offers two types of order management solutions: Salesforce OM and Industries OM. Although both solutions are top-notch, they each serve a different purpose.
- Salesforce OM provides order management for companies with order processes that use static rules and don’t require complex decomposition.
- Industries OM is best for communication service providers (CSPs) and other industries that require lots of different dynamic rules, and decomposition and orchestration scenarios.
The Infiwave team knows that the company’s requirements are complex, just like most CSPs. When the team looks at the flexibility and power of Industries OM, and how it’s completely integrated with the Industries cloud solution, it’s clear that it’s the correct choice for the company’s digital transformation.
The Industries Solution Map
Infiwave is gaining momentum in its digital transformation. By using Enterprise Product Catalog (EPC), Industries Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), the Industries Shared Catalog, and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) with Industries OM, Infiwave puts the final touch on its move to hassle-free orders.
Industries OM is compatible with Communications Cloud, Media Cloud, and Energy & Utilities Cloud. In these clouds, several components work together to provide great customer experiences. This solution map shows where Industries OM fits with the other components.
Now, we examine each of the components.
Shared Catalog
Shared Catalog provides a single source of truth for product and service information. It empowers product managers to quickly create, test, launch, and update offerings from reusable product, service, and asset components.
Product managers use Shared Catalog to support automation of catalog-driven workflows, including capture, decomposition, orchestration, and fulfillment of orders.
Product rules built in the catalog ensure that customers see only the eligible products, offers, and configurations.
Industry Data Model
Each cloud includes a data model that organizes data into objects that applies to each industry and follows best practices. In Industries CPQ and Industries OM, the data model also includes a basis for offering specifications, bundles, promotions, products, services, resources, rules, pricing, and decomposition maps.
Enterprise Product Catalog (EPC)
You can extend the standard Shared Catalog to include the EPC. EPC gives the Shared Catalog additional product-lifecycle-management capabilities, including entity versioning. Infiwave plans to deploy Shared Catalog initially and then EPC further down their transformation journey.
Industries Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ)
Industries CPQ uses Shared Catalog to give sales teams the ability to offer the best available products across all channels. Among other things, CPQ validates orders and sends them to Industries OM to be fulfilled.
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)
CLM integrates with Industries CPQ to automatically generate and manage proposals and contracts based on completed quotes. When a sales rep changes a quote, they can regenerate the contract and send it to the customer for review and signature.
Industries OM
At each key stage of the order fulfillment process, Industries OM communicates the order status to Industries CPQ. So, if a customer decides to change an order, Industries CPQ can use the correct process.
For example, a customer at Infiwave wants to make a change to an order that’s mid flight.
- If the product is already in the mail, the order is past the point of no return (PONR). Industries OM informs Industries CPQ that the order can’t be amended, and Industries CPQ takes the appropriate action, such as calling for a change order.
- If the order hasn’t reached the PONR, Industries OM informs Industries CPQ that an in-flight amendment is valid and can be submitted.
Industries OM Components
We introduced the major components of Industries OM in the first unit. Now we explore these components a little more to get a better understanding of how Industries OM works.
Decomposition
After the customer places an order, Industries OM first segregates the order into different parts that must be handled. That’s decomposition. Decomposition can get complex and is worth spending more time on. For now, remember that the order is decomposed into technical items that the customer doesn’t really need to know about. At Infiwave, decomposition involves tasks like reserving a port in a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) or ensuring that fiber is laid to the right node. Decomposition identifies their feasibility and passes that information to the next step in the process: orchestration.
Orchestration
Orchestration is the process of taking decomposed tasks and completing them. In the case of Infiwave’s internet order, Industries OM instructs the billing department to check the customer’s credit. It also asks an external system to check whether fiber exists at the customer’s address. Orchestration also makes information available to the customer service rep, so that they can check the order status.
What’s Next?
In this unit, you learned about Industries OM in detail, including where it fits into the overall solution map and its two key components. Keep reading to find out what type of users work with Industries OM and what their primary roles are.