Products vs. Services
Product vs Service in equipme
Before you start building your portfolio, it’s important to understand how equipme differentiates between Products and Services.
Both live in the same catalog. Both can be published to customers. Both can be ordered.
The difference is not what you sell. The difference is how the offer behaves.
Think less in terms of simple vs complex, and more in terms of structure vs configuration.
What is a Product?
A product in equipme represents a structured, flat offer with a clearly defined logic.
Products are designed to work especially well when:
pricing should be calculated automatically
external systems or integrations are involved
the offer follows a predictable structure
A product can:
have multiple offers
support subscriptions
allow customer-specific pricing
use automated price calculation logic
What products intentionally do not support is deep configurability through options and variants.
A good mental model: A product is not “one offer”. A product is a stable product definition that can be offered in multiple ways.
Products are especially well suited for:
hardware or accessories with structured pricing
items coming from third-party systems
offers where logic should stay flat and predictable
scenarios where integrations benefit from a reduced model
Products shine when consistency, automation and integrations matter.
What is a Service?
A service is the configurable building block in equipme.
Services are designed for offers that need to adapt. They allow you to shape the same service differently depending on the customer, context or use case.
Services support:
options and variants
different configurations per customer
bundled components
logic driven setups and automation
structured managed service models
Where products focus on structure, services focus on flexibility.
Services are ideal for:
managed service packages
subscription-based service models with variations
bundled hardware and software offerings
offers with SLAs, logic or evolving configurations
If an offer needs to change shape, it belongs as a service.
How Products and Services work together
Most real portfolios use both – by design.
You might:
publish hardware as a product and add support as a service
use products as part of a service bundle
keep services purely software-based and products purely physical
equipme does not force you into one model. It lets you choose based on how much structure or flexibility the offer needs.
A product provides clarity and automation. A service provides adaptability and depth.
Both are first-class citizens. They complement each other – and each has a very intentional role.