Implementation Guide › Implementation › How to Create Contracts (Contract Manager) › Create Contracts from a Service

Create Contracts from a Service

Creating contracts in the system using a Service Catalog, either from a template or without a template (based on multiple service level templates) provides much greater efficiency and high level of re-usability, applicable to many different contracts. In general, service level templates contain a collection of pre-defined Metrics applicable to certain service components. If required, you can also have more than one service (and associated Metrics) in a single service level template. Generally a service level template's contents are defined by how it will be used, and can vary according to requirements.

As an example, consider an Application Hosting service which is offered by an organization. The organization may offer its customers three different service packages such as Bronze, Silver and Gold, depending on what is included in the package. A good example of the use of service level templates could be to create one for each of the packages.

Once defined, these definitions can be used to create a new customer contract very efficiently. For example, Customer ABC decides to sign up for a Gold Application Hosting Package. You can create this new contract in the system directly using the service level template as follows:

In the Contracts page, click Add New, Using Service Catalog, and select either Based on Template or Without Template. Then follow the Contract Wizard to complete contract creation. If you choose Based on Template, then you need to specify the template settings.

The Contract Wizard displays a list of service level templates and you can specify which service level templates you would like to include in the Contract. Note that it is possible to select specific Metrics from multiple service level templates, or just select the whole definition for inclusion. In this example, all Metrics from the Gold hosting package. Note that selecting the top level automatically selects all the child nodes. Also note that it is possible to assign the Metrics to a different service if required. However, the default is to keep them assigned to the same service components as in the definition.

Once all of the required Metrics are selected, click the Next button to transfer those Metrics across to the new contract template and prompt for a contract name and general details to be entered. Click Save and Next to create the Contract.

Once this is completed you have the following options:

• Continue with the Contract Wizard, define parameters, and run the Metric Wizard, which opens the Wizard interface and allows customization of the contracts Metrics. The wizard allows each of the Metrics to be reviewed and modified by changing the available fields, such as the Metric Parameters in the objective statement, the Metric Name, Timeslot, and description. Once completed for each Metric, the wizard returns you to the Contract Metrics page, where you can close and save the new contract.
• Open the Contract page, to view or edit the contract.