You use the Software Contracts application to create, view,
and modify software contracts. You can associate contract line items
with a software license and you can associate people or specific assets
with a software contract.
On a contract, you can specify items or services provided by the
contract, costs, shipping and handling, expected delivery times, financial
terms, and vendor information.
You can associate contract line items with a software license.
You can also associate people or specific assets with a software contract.
When you use a standard software contract, the system requires
a purchase order, but does not specify a maximum amount that you can
spend. Before you can approve a software contract, you must specify
a vendor, have at least one authorized site, and a start date. Approval
is performed using the Select Action menu to
select Change Status.
Approved software contracts cannot be edited. You must first use
the Revise Contract action on the Select Action
menu to change the status. Line items can be added to any contract
that has DRAFT or WAPPR (waiting for approval) status.
When you save a software contract, the application evaluates the
contract line items to determine the level of licensing. The level
of licensing is displayed in the License Status field.
The Software Contracts application contains the following tabs:
- List
- Use this tab to search for software contracts. Specify information
about a contract in the available fields to narrow the search results.
Omitting information from one or more fields creates more generalized
search output.
- Contract
- Use this tab to create, view and modify software contract records.
This tab displays information about a contract, such as the contract
ID, vendor information, contract dates, and renewal information. If
the contract is associated with a master contract, the application
lists the master contract identifier.
- Properties
- Use this tab to specify properties associated with a software
contract. System administrators can use the Organizations application
to set default values and editing rules for properties. Tables on
this tab show and configure the following properties:
- General properties.
- Contract terms and conditions.
- Updates and maintenance properties.
- Support properties.
- Contract Line Items
- Use this tab to add, view, and modify contract line items on a
software contract and to view and associate licenses with a software
contract line item. This tab contains two tables:
- Contract Lines
- This table window lists all items associated with the software
contract. In this table, you can:
- Create a payment schedule for the item by clicking Payment
Schedule.
- Add items from a vendor by clicking Vendor Items.
- Associated Licenses
- This table lists software licenses associated with the line item
that you select in the Contract Lines table window.
In this table you can select a license to associate with the line
item by clicking Associate Licenses and selecting
a license from a list.
When you associate a license with a contract
line item, the application performs a calculation to determine how
much of the line item's license capacity is used. It compares the
number of licenses that you have associated with the line item to
the total capacity for the licenses and tells you whether you are
below capacity, at capacity, or above capacity. The application displays
this information in the Utilization field in
the Contract Lines table window on the Contract
Line Items tab. If a contract line item is not associated
with a license, the License Status field displays
NOT LICENSED.
- Associated Licenses Summary
- Use this tab to view licenses associated with contract line items.
Information on this tab is read-only.
- Associated Assets and People
- Use this tab and its tables to associate users or specific assets
with a software contract or to view the people and assets associated
with a contract. Clicking Associate Assets or Associate
People creates an association. The following conditions
must be true before you can associate people or assets with a software
contract:
- The contract status must be approved (APPR).
- Persons associated with a contract must exist in the Person table
in the database.
- Assets must match the items selected in the Contract Lines table
window on the Contract Line Items tab.
- Assets cannot be already associated with another contract.
- Assets can not be retired from service. Retired assets have a
status of DECOMMISSIONED.
- Terms and Conditions
- Use this tab to associate terms and conditions with a contract.
Terms and conditions that are allowed are specified in the Terms and
Conditions application. The terms can contain information such as
liability concerns, shipping and handling details, or delivery time
expectations. You cannot change terms and conditions for contracts
that have been approved, revised, closed, or cancelled. System administrators
can set default values and editing rules for terms and conditions
using the Organizations application.