Creating a product or service
To create something new in your portfolio, open the Service Portfolio in the Equipme app and select Add. The system first asks you to choose whether you are creating a Service or a Product. Both represent offers in your portal, but they follow different lifecycles and are managed differently.
What is a Service
A Service describes something functional that you provide, such as software access, a support package, a managed device setup, or anything that requires ongoing usage, assignment or billing. Services often define the work or value a user receives rather than the physical object itself.
What is a Product
A Product describes something physical that is held in inventory, such as a device or accessory, which is delivered to someone and may be combined with a service. Products are normally tracked, stored and assigned through inventory workflows.
If you want a deeper explanation of how products and services differ in Equipme and how they work together, you can find more information in the dedicated article here.
Creating a new Service
For this course we will focus on services. Once you choose Service, a creation flow opens where you set up the basic information that defines how your service should appear in your portal.
The first step is Service details. Here you define the core information that identifies and explains your service:
A name so it can be displayed correctly
A category so it becomes part of your structured catalogue
Optional identifiers such as EAN GTIN or an internal code
A short description that helps others understand what it is
You can also decide whether to make the service directly available in the Marketplace by selecting Activate offer in the marketplace. If you are still preparing the offer, leave it inactive and publish it later. Activation makes the service visible and orderable.
When you have entered the details, continue to the next step to define the pricing model.
Pricing model
The pricing model defines how a service is sold, billed and renewed in the Equipme app. It is not simply a price tag, it represents the commercial structure behind an offer. When you configure a pricing model, you decide whether something is a one time purchase, an ongoing subscription, or a more flexible arrangement that combines both.
This information is essential because it affects how users request a service, how contracts behave and how costs are calculated over time. The more accurately you describe the commercial model, the more predictable and automated the lifecycle becomes for both the organisation and the customer.
Offer name
The pricing step begins with an optional offer name. This allows you to use a more user friendly or context specific name for the commercial offer, without changing the general technical name of the service.
For example, a service called "Microsoft 365 Business Standard" could have an offer called "M365 Standard monthly subscription".
This is not required, but it becomes useful when you create different commercial variants of the same service.
Offer type
The core of the pricing model is the offer type. This setting defines how the offer behaves commercially.
The most common types are:
Purchase A one time transaction where the customer pays a single price. There is no renewal or recurring behaviour.
Subscription A recurring fee that continues over time. The customer pays monthly or annually for ongoing access or service delivery.
Hybrid models A combination of upfront cost and recurring billing. Useful for services that have an initial setup plus ongoing maintenance.
The offer type determines which pricing fields appear and which lifecycle controls are available.
Choosing the wrong type will lead to confusing behaviour later, so it is worth selecting the model that accurately reflects the service you provide.
Prices and currency
Once you choose an offer type, you enter the prices that apply to it. Equipme supports two fundamental price fields:
One time price Charged once at the moment the order starts.
Monthly price Charged repeatedly for as long as the service is active.
These can be combined, which allows you to reflect real world commercial models, such as:
A device setup fee plus monthly support
A low entry price plus a higher recurring cost
A completely free setup with paid usage
You also set the currency. Currency is defined at the offer level, so you can price services differently across regions or customers when needed.
If your portal works with international billing, consistent currency selection keeps reporting, invoicing and budgeting predictable.
Term and runtime extension
Subscriptions often rely on a defined runtime. The term represents the initial commitment period measured in months.
For example, a twelve month term means the customer commits for a full year from the start date.
Once the term expires, you define how the service continues. This is managed through the runtime extension.
An extension of one month means that after the initial period ends, the service renews every month unless cancelled.
This structure is essential because it determines:
When renewals happen
How costs are scheduled
When termination options are available
How long a customer uses the service
Without a controlled runtime model, recurring services would behave unpredictably. Equipme enforces structure so ongoing subscriptions can be managed and billed automatically.
Activation and publication
The pricing model includes two controls that influence visibility and availability.
Publish offer for direct customers Publication makes the offer available to your customer base once the service itself becomes active. It does not automatically make the service visible, it simply prepares the commercial settings.
Activate offer in the marketplace (in the service step) Activation makes the service visible and orderable in the marketplace.
Publication and activation work together:
Publication prepares the offer
Activation makes the service public
You can publish an offer early without distributing it immediately. This gives you time to refine pricing or run internal approval before launching.
Adding images
The final step of the creation flow lets you add images that visually represent your service. Images are optional, but they help users recognise and differentiate services more quickly, especially when working with a larger portfolio. A clear visual identity also makes the marketplace easier to navigate and more pleasant to use.
You can upload one or multiple images depending on how you want the service to appear. The first image acts as the preview, so choose something that reflects the service clearly. If you offer configurable or product linked services, images can give users an immediate sense of what they are ordering instead of relying on descriptions alone.
Images do not influence the behaviour or pricing of the service, but they have a significant effect on usability and recognition, particularly when many services are active at the same time.
Completing the setup
Once you have reviewed all settings and added the images you want, select Save to complete the creation process. Saving finalises the service and adds it to your portfolio.
If the service is already activated, it becomes visible and orderable in the marketplace immediately. If it is still inactive, it remains in your portfolio without being visible to users until you decide to publish and activate it.
Creating a service is therefore a two step process: first defining what it is, how it behaves and how it looks, and then deciding when it should become available. This gives you full control over both the internal setup and the public release.
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