An overview of catalog organizations and subcatalog organizations
Typically, a catalog organization defines an item master that is shared with the other organizations in a participant model. The item master is defined in only one catalog, called the master catalog, eliminating the need of other organizations to create their own item definition.
However, in some business scenarios, you may want to authorize an organization, other than the catalog organization, to maintain a portion of the master catalog. Although enterprises can share the master catalog, in some cases a catalog organization may want to extend the master catalog to other enterprises, allowing them to manage categories within the catalog.
Additionally, the catalog organization can allow some enterprises to access categories in the master catalog. The Sterling™ Order Management System provides the following configurations for catalog management:
The catalog organization is an enterprise that maintains the master catalog and defines other enterprises as subcatalog organizations. The catalog organization authorizes subcatalog organizations to manage the categories within the master catalog and defines seller entitlements that grant or restrict other organizations' access to categories within the master catalog. Depending on an organization's seller entitlements, the organization may be able to view or sell catalog items that are maintained by the catalog organization or other organizations.
Subcatalog organizations are enterprises that refer to a catalog organization as their catalog organization. If a vendor or seller is an enterprise, it can be set up as a subcatalog organization. Subcatalog organizations can perform the following functions:
- Manage categories within the master catalog
- Manage items within categories in the master catalog
- Assign catalog organization attributes to subcatalog categories and items
- Assign items from the master catalog to the subcatalog
organization's categories