OOB applications I should learn before starting quote management in ServiceNow

[brandonlab2]

What are the OOB applications I should cover before start working on the Quote application in ServiceNow.  I will be creating  quotes form the CSM/FSM workspace, modifying the existing OOB application. I need to know how quote moves from one stages to another. I will be using the Quote management Data Model OOB application.

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Primary Skills 

• CSA is the primary area of expertise.
• Good knowledge of Flow Designer.
• Knowledge of CSM.
• knowledge of Workspace.
• Basic knowledge of Order Management.
• Familiarity with CPQ and CRM.

Go to NowCreate /Best practice website and download the  process workshop deck Also, review the process documentation to understand how CPQ works in ServiceNow, which will make it easier to understand and configure.

[Abhishek Pal · Accepted solution]

Hi @brandonlab2 ,

Before customizing Quote Management, I recommend learning the following OOB applications in this order:

1. CRM Foundation / Customer Service Management

Understand the shared customer data model:

- Accounts
- Contacts
- Consumers
- Locations and addresses
- Account relationships
- Products and installed products

These records provide the customer context used by quotes.

2. Quote Management Data Model

Learn the core quote tables and their relationships, including:

- Quote
- Quote Line Item
- Quote Line Characteristic
- Quote Pricing Adjustment
- Quote Revision
- Quote Task

Important: Quote Management Data Model mainly provides the underlying quote data structure. It is not a replacement for the complete Quote Management application and its workspace functionality.

3. Quote Management

Study the complete OOB quote process in CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace:

- Quote details
- Product catalog
- Quote line items
- Product configuration
- Pricing adjustments
- Quote revisions
- Quote approvals
- Quote PDF generation
- Quote-to-order conversion

Start with the OOB process before adding custom stages or automation.

4. Product Catalog Management

Quote Management uses product offerings rather than Service Catalog items.

Learn:

- Product specifications
- Product offerings
- Product offering catalogs
- Categories
- Product characteristics
- Bundles
- Eligibility rules
- Product relationships
- Product Configurator

The Product Configurator may have separate entitlement requirements.

5. Pricing Management

This is essential because quote prices should come from the OOB pricing engine.

Learn:

- Price lists
- Price list lines
- Pricing matrices
- Pricing plans
- One-time and recurring pricing
- Markups and markdowns
- Price overrides
- Cost books
- Margin calculations

Avoid calculating quote prices with custom Business Rules unless the OOB pricing framework cannot meet the requirement.

6. Opportunity Management

Learn this application if quotes will be created from sales opportunities.

The typical process is:

Opportunity
-> Quote
-> Customer Order

If quotes are always created directly, Opportunity Management may not be required.

7. Order Management

Learn Order Management if an accepted quote must become a customer order.

Review:

- Quote-to-order conversion
- Product orders
- Order line items
- Order decomposition
- Fulfilment orchestration
- Order lifecycle

Do not build a custom quote-to-order process if the OOB conversion meets the requirement.

8. Sales Agreement and Contract Management

Review these capabilities if the quote contains:

- Contract terms
- Negotiated pricing
- Sales agreements
- Subscription periods
- Renewals
- Electronic signatures

9. CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace and UI Builder

Since the users will create quotes from CSM/FSM Workspace, learn:

- UI Builder
- Workspace page variants
- Record pages
- Declarative Actions
- UX Add-on Event Mappings
- Form views
- Related lists
- Client state parameters
- Data resources

Do not directly modify or clone complete OOB Workspace pages unless there is no supported configuration or extension option.

10. Flow Designer, Workflow Studio and Approvals

For quote stage transitions, inspect the OOB implementation in your installed Quote Management version.

Review:

- Flows and subflows
- Approval configuration
- Advanced Approval Management, if licensed
- UI Actions and Declarative Actions
- Business Rules
- Decision Tables
- Quote state and substate choices
- Notifications
- Quote tasks

The exact lifecycle can vary by Quote Management Store application version and configuration. Do not add a second custom State field before confirming how the OOB quote lifecycle works.

Recommended implementation approach:

1. Confirm your ServiceNow release and installed Quote Management Store version.
2. Review the Quote Management application dependencies and entitlements.
3. Load demo data in a non-production instance if available.
4. Create an OOB quote from CSM/FSM Workspace.
5. Add products, configure pricing, create a revision and convert the quote to an order.
6. Trace every state transition using Flow Designer, UI Actions, Business Rules and approval configuration.
7. Document the gaps between the OOB process and your business requirement.
8. Implement only the confirmed gaps in a custom scoped application using supported extension points.
9. Protect the solution with roles, ACLs and automated tests.
10. Regression-test Quote Management after every Store application or family upgrade.

Recommended learning priority:

Quote Management Data Model
-> Quote Management
-> Product Catalog Management
-> Pricing Management
-> CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace
-> Flow Designer and Approvals
-> Opportunity Management
-> Order Management
-> Sales Agreements and Contracts

Most importantly, do not start by modifying the OOB Quote Management application. First validate whether the requirement can be achieved through configuration, pricing rules, product catalog configuration, Flow Designer, approvals, Declarative Actions or UI Builder page variants.

Official references:

Quote Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/quote-management.html

Configure Quote Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/configure-quote-management.html

Quote Management Data Model release notes:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/store-release-notes/store-rn-som-quote-mgmt-data-model.html

Product Catalog Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/sales-and-order-management/product-catalog-managm...

Pricing Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/pricing-management.html

Opportunity Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/opportunity-management.html

Order Management:
https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/order-management/using-order-management.html

Hope this helps!

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If it resolves your issue, please Accept it as Solution.

Kind Regards,
Abhishek Pal