In SAP terminology the customer asset is termed as installed base and the management of these assets is termed as Installed base management.

1. What is the installed base?

In SAP CRM, an Installed base is a hierarchical and comprehensive representation of objects installed at your customer site for which service is offered. This can even include intangible objects like software packages, licenses etc.

How does an Installed base look like in SAP CRM? An installed base is a tree structure typically containing a header node (called installed base) and few sub nodes (called installed base component) representing the various assets of the customer.

An example of such an installed base can be as shown below:

Suppose you make and sell IT products. You offer your customer Denver a scanner and one server and execute regular maintenance services. You can create one installed base and add two components (objects) for Scanner and PC for the above customer asset in this installed base.

Installed base management is about managing the complete life cycle of the customer assets from the time it is installed and becomes productive, through the period it is in use until the period till eventually it is dismantled.

2. The structure of installed base

In SAP CRM, an installed base could be composed of:

1) Products

The product contains general information about the goods or services it describes, such as devices, machines, or software.

2) Objects

A unique instance of a product that exists only once, for example, a vehicle, a PC, or a serialized spare part. It is generally identified by a number, fixed relationship, or description, such as ID number, location, and building with address.

3) Text

Text components can also be used to structure an installed base by room numbers in the customer's building, for instance.

4) Installed base components

An installed base could be a component of another installed base.

The following example demonstrates how to organize the structure of the installed base with different components.

3. Information integration in the installed base

The installed base can store various types of Information like:

• Counter and reading

You can assign counters to an object or an installed base component. You can view and assign counter information and record measurement readings for installed base, installed base components, and objects. The maintenance order will be triggered when specified counter reading is reached. CRM billing from service documents can be performed on the basis of counter readings (for example, consumption).

• Qualification requirement

You can define qualification requirements for service employees for an installed base or an installed base component and then assign the qualified employees for the field service for example.

• Service levels

You can assign the correct service profile and response profile to Installed Base and Components for Service Level Agreement (SLA) determination during the service process.

• Partner Information

You assign business partners such as sold-to party, service employee group, responsible employee, and so on, to each installed base or each installed base component. The installed base can be identified and displayed using the partner information in the service process.

• Address Information

You can assign an address to each installed base or installed base component. An address can be, for example, the delivery address, location, or customer address.

• Equipment and functional location

Functional location and equipment that has been already maintained in ERP can now be downloaded to SAP CRM system and graphically represented in the install base tree structure.

In SAP CRM, installed base management is also supported through multiple channels like Interaction center (call center) and mobile channel (e.g. laptop)