Overview of software contracts
You use the Software Contracts application to create, view, and revise software contract records and to perform other tasks related to software contract management.
You can perform the following contract management tasks in the application:
- Create, revise, and view software contracts
- Associate contract line items with a software license
- View licenses that are associated with a software contract
- Associate people with software contracts
- Associate assets with software contracts
- Specify properties of software contracts
- Associate terms and conditions with software contracts
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.
To approve a contract, use the Change Status action.
Approved software contracts cannot be edited. You must use the Revise Contract action to change the status of an approved contract. 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.
- 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 associate a license with a line item using one of the following
options:
- Click Associate by Software Product to select from a list of software products that are associated with software licenses.
- Click Associate by Vendor to select from a list of vendors that are associated with the contract line item that was selected.
- Click Associate Licenses to select from a list of available licenses.
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
- 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 must 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.