Cost model elements palette

The left pane of the IT Service Cost Modeler window, the Cost Model Elements palette, lists classes of elements that represent cost components for a service and that are available for building a cost model.

The first time that you select a class of elements, click the search icon to display all the available elements. The elements available in these classes are those that you define while creating cost models. The elements that you add and save in a cost model are added to the Cost Model Elements palette and are available for reuse. The elements do not represent any object or project data from the existing

database. The elements that you define can either be specific to a cost model or shared across multiple cost models. A saved element is available in the palette as long as it is used in a cost model.

The following classes of elements are available:

• Technical Service elements represent actual cost models that you create for technical services in your organization. They enable you to represent an embedded technical service within a high-level service. Each Technical Service element that you create appears in the list, and you select elements from the list to add the services to a cost model that you are building. You cannot edit the data for a Technical Service element in the cost model that uses the element, but you can edit its data from within its own model. After you add a Technical Service element to a cost model, you cannot add more elements to that Technical Service element, but you can continue to add more elements to the main cost model.
• Project elements add the projects associated with a service to the cost model. You can then add other elements to the Project element as required to model the service: Technical Service, Project, Application, Labor, Asset. and Vendor Services. When you reuse a Project element in other cost models, all child elements and the cost data associated with the Project element are carried over to the new cost model. The new cost model displays the total cost associated with the reused Project element even though it does not display the child elements. You can edit a Project element in the cost model where you defined it. To edit a reused Project element and to view the associated child elements, use the link to the original model for the element from within the model that reuses that element.
• Application elements add the applications associated with a service to the cost model. You can then add other elements to the Application element as required to model the service: Technical Service, Project, Application, Labor, Asset, and Vendor Services. When you reuse an Application element in other cost models, all child elements and the cost data associated with the Application element are carried over to the new cost model. The new cost model displays the total cost associated with the reused Application element even though it does not display the child elements. You can edit an Application element from within the cost model where you defined it. To edit a reused Application element and to view the associated child elements, use the link to the original model for the element from within the model that reuses that element.
• Labor elements add labor resources associated with a service to the cost model. You can add a Labor element to any other element in the cost model. However, you cannot add any element to an Labor element in a model.
• Asset elements add the assets associated with a service to the cost model. You can add an Asset element to any other element in the cost model. However, you cannot add any element to an Asset element in a model.
• Vendor Service elements add the vendor services associated with a service to the cost model. You can add a Vendor Service element to other elements, such as Project or Application. However, you cannot add any element to a Vendor Service element.
• Other elements enable you to create any element that cannot be represented by any of the predefined categories. For example, to add costs related to overhead in a model, you can add an Other element called Overhead. When you reuse an Other element in a new cost model, all child elements and the cost data associated with the Other element are carried over to the new cost model. The new cost model displays the total cost associated with the reused Other element even though it does not display the child elements. You can edit an Other element in the cost model where you defined it. To edit a reused Other element and to view the associated child elements, use the link to the original model for the element from within the model that reuses that element.

The following table identifies the elements that you can add as parent elements with child elements and the elements that you can add only as child elements.