Defining contracts for service agreements

For an agreement, optionally, you can create a contract. The contract provides information, such as with whom the contract is associated, when it expires, accounting codes, and costs. A service level manager creates this contract between the service provider and the customer. You can also create a contract for internal purposes to which the internal OLAs are associated. This internal contract is created by the service owner. The related components of a contract are agreements, service targets, reports, and dashboards. 

To create a contract

1. Log on to the Service Level Management Console.
2. On the navigation pane, select Contracts to open the Contracts Console.
3. Click Create to open the Contract Information form.

4. Enter information in the fields as shown in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Name	Enter a name for the contract.
   Contract ID	Enter a unique alpha numeric value for the contract.
   Status	Select a status for the contract. Status can be set to Current, Pending Renewal, and Expired.
   Type	Select the duration of the contract from the list.
   Description	Enter a description about this contract.
   Terms	Enter the terms and conditions of the contract.
   Expiration Date	Open the calendar and select a date when the contract expires.
   Notification Date	Open the calendar and select the date when the person or group responsible for the contract will be notified about the contract's expiration.
   Start Date	Open the calendar and enter a start date for the contract.
   Notification Group	Enter the support group name that must be notified when the contract is about to expire.
   Notification Contact	Enter the full name of the person who must be notified when the contract is about to expire.
   Accounting Code	Enter the accounting code for this contract agreement.
   Budget Code	Enter the budget code for this contract agreement.
   Project Number	Enter the project number for this contract agreement.
   Purchase Cost	Enter the purchase cost of the contract.
   Renewal Cost	Enter the amount to be paid if an organization wants to renew a contract.
   Cost Center	Enter the cost center code.

   Important

   Make sure you have BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management installed for sending notifications.

5. On the General tab, enter information in fields as shown in the following table.

   Field	Description
   Company	Enter the name of the company to which this contract applies.
   Organization	Enter the name of the organization to which this contract applies.
   Department	Enter the department to which this contract applies.
   Customer ID	Enter a unique customer ID for this contract.
   Supplier Name	Enter the name of the supplier for the contract.
   Supplier Organization	Enter the name of the supplier's organization.
   Supplier Group	Enter the name of the supplier's group.
   Supplier Phone	Enter the supplier's phone number.
   Attachment	Attach a document covering the terms and conditions of this contract agreement. To attach a document, right-click in the field and select Add. Go to the appropriate folder and select the appropriate document file. Click Open.

6. Click Save.

To modify a contract

1. Select the contract you want to modify.
2. Click View.
3. Make your changes and click Save.

To delete a contract

1. Select the contract you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Yes in the Confirm Operation dialog box.

Relate agreements to a contract

You can also share an agreement among multiple contracts. For example, you have two customers, Acme, Inc. and Calbro, Inc., and for both customers, you create an agreement for the Email Gold service offering. In this case, you define the agreement once, but link it to both customers. The result is two contracts, one with Acme, Inc. and another one with Calbro, Inc., and both the contracts refer to the Email Gold service offering agreement.

To relate a current agreement to a contract

1. Log on to the Service Level Management Console.
2. Click Contracts to open the Contracts Console.
3. Select the contract to which you want to relate an agreement.
4. Click View to open the Contract Information form.
5. On the Agreements tab, click Relate to open the Searching for Agreements form.
6. Enter the search criteria and click Search.
   The agreements that meet the search criteria are displayed in the Results list.
7. Select an agreement and click OK.
   The agreement is related to the contract and is displayed in the agreement table on the Agreements tab.
8. Click Save.

To unrelate an agreement from a contract

1. Log on to the Service Level Management Console.
2. Click  Contracts to open the Contracts Console
3. In the Contracts Console, select the agreement that you want to unrelate and click Unrelate.
4. Click Save.