IS nested Characteristics Supported in SOMT

[MalayanurKR]

Let me elaborate:

Question1:

Under Product offering say I have A,B,C, D as characteristics.

Can i have x,y,z characteristics nested under my main Characteristic "A"?

Question :2:

I have to pre - sync few billing related characteristics(some may have prices) before commencing of order ? (EPC)

How do I achieve this using which entity?

[MC30 · Accepted solution]

Hi Malayanur,

Nested characteristics are not natively supported in the standard Product Model data model.

However, you can achieve this functionality using a workaround. Below are the workarounds with pros and cons

Approach	Pros	Cons
Characteristic Groups	OOB, Standard Approach	No strict hierarchy
Dependent Characteristics (Scripted)	Conditional logic	Customization required
Custom Data Model (Parent-Child Relationship)	True hierarchical nesting	High customization effort

For most implementations, Characteristic Groups or Dependent Characteristics via scripting are preferred since they keep the data model aligned with standard ServiceNow practices while achieving the required functionality.

Question -2:

Since you need to pre-sync billing-related characteristics, including those with prices, before the order is connected in an EPC (Enterprise Product Catalog) + SOMT setup, the best way to handle this is through:
1 Product Configuration Item (Product CI)
2 Order Item Dependencies & Pre-Provisioning Flows
3 Service Configuration (Service Configuration Specification)
4 Price Synchronization via TMF Standard APIs (TMF622, TMF637)

The best approach is using Product Configuration Item (Product CI). Below are the implementation Steps:
1 Extend Product Configuration: Add required billing-related characteristics.
2 Create a Business Rule on Order Item: Generate Product CI before order reaches "Connected" state.
3 Use Flow Designer/Workflow: Automate syncing of pricing & billing characteristics before activation. 

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If my response helped, please mark it correct.

Regards,

Madhuri

[MalayanurKR]

Hi @MC30 ,

PLease share the URL/Documentation for Question 2 .(Standard by SNow if available)

Question1: IS Product Configuration Item (Product CI) and product characteristic same? If no please guide me for creating CI.

Question2: Another Scenario is we are maintaining rateplan related data in custom table in CMDB. We want to expose custom data to third party billing system. How do we achieve this?

[MalayanurKR]

Hi Madhuri,

Question1: IS Product Configuration Item (Product CI) and product characteristic same? If no please guide me for creating CI.

Question2: Another Scenario is we are maintaining rateplan related data in custom table in CMDB. We want to expose custom data to third party billing system. How do we achieve this?

[MC30]

Hi Malayanur,

Question1:

No, Product Configuration Item (Product CI) and Product Characteristics are not the same. Differences Between Product CI and Product Characteristics

Concept	Description
Product Configuration Item (Product CI)	Represents a specific instance of a product in the CMDB. It is created when a customer orders a product and is tracked for lifecycle management.
Product Characteristics	Defines attributes or properties of a product (e.g., speed, bandwidth, service type). These are typically defined at the product level in the Product Catalog and inherited by the Product CI.

Creating a Product Configuration Item (Product CI) in SOMT

Step 1: Define the Product Model**  
1. Navigate to Telecom Service Management > Catalog & Order Management > Product Models.  
2. Click New and fill in:  
  -Name (e.g., "Fiber Internet 1Gbps")  
  -Type (Product)  
  -Lifecycle (Active)  
  -Product Class (Service, Device, etc.)  
3. Add Product Characteristics if needed (e.g., speed, data cap).  
4. Save and publish the product.  

Step 2: Order the Product**  
1. Create a new order via Service Orders > Orders.  
2. Select the product from the catalog and submit the order.  

Step 3: Generate the Product CI
1. Once the order is processed, a Product CI is created in the CMDB.  
2. Navigate to CMDB > Product CIs to view it. 

3. The Product CI will inherit details from the product model but can have unique values per customer.

Step 4: Associate CI with Customer and Location
1. Open the Product CI record.  
2. Set the Customer Account and Location fields.  
3. Save the record.

Question 2:

We had a similar requirement in my previous project. To expose the custom rate plan data from your CMDB table to a third-party billing system, you can use the following approaches. Unfortunately, I couldn't recall the implementation steps:

Approach 1: REST API (Recommended)
You can create a custom REST API in ServiceNow to expose the data securely.  

Approach 2: Outbound API (Push Data to Billing System)
If the third-party billing system cannot call the API, you can push data using REST Message or MID Server.  

Alternative Approaches
- MID Server + JDBC: If the billing system uses a database, you can push data using MID Server and JDBC Integration.  
- Export Set + FTP: Export rate plans as CSV/XML and send via FTP.

Please mark this as helpful

Regards,

Madhuri