Update 23D

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Overview

Oracle Configure, Price, and Quote (CPQ) enables companies to streamline the entire opportunity-to-quote to-order process, including product selection, configuration, pricing, quoting, ordering, and approval workflows. Oracle CPQ provides a flexible, scalable, enterprise-ready solution ideal for companies of all sizes that sell products and services across direct, indirect, and e-commerce sales channels.

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Security & New Features

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Configure, Price, Quote

Pricing

The following Pricing features are available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Rate Plan Business Object in CPQ Pricing

Oracle CPQ 23D provides support for the Rate Plan business object to define groups of charges that can be optionally applied to the pricing for a subscription product (e.g. Monthly vs. Quarterly Subscription Plan). Rate plans can be defined within CPQ Pricing Engine Price Models using either the Pricing Portal or Product Workbench (aka Product Launch). Oracle CPQ 23D also provides Pricing Engine UI updates to support the Rate Plans object and to enhance navigation and list pages. These updates improve usability of the pricing UIs, display of multi-column tables, and translations.

Rate plans are also available in the Product Workbench (aka Product Launch) for Oracle CX Sales integrated customers. Oracle CX Sales product managers can now define, select, and apply rate plans for subscription-based products that are linked to CPQ Pricing Engine Price Models.

When pricing is invoked, CPQ Pricing will calculate prices using the requested rate plan. When no rate plan is requested by a sales user, pricing applies the default rate plan if defined, or the stand-alone charges. The pricing output will include the applied rate plan and other available rate plans, if applicable.

Rate Card Business Object in CPQ Pricing

Oracle CPQ 23D introduces Pricing Engine Rate Cards to support usage-based pricing for industries such as telco, utilities, and cloud services. These industries require invoicing or rating calculations based on multi-dimensional tables to capture complex pricing rules, such as for phone call or data storage usage. To support this type of pricing requires that Pricing Engine support the creation of custom dynamic matrices for use in determining the invoice amounts to be billed on a periodic basis. Rate Card Templates are provided to specify the custom fields that are included in a Rate Card item. The Rate Card is then used to define the necessary rows and values for the pricing table matrix.

The new Rate Cards and associated Rate Card Templates are also supported in the Product Workbench for Oracle CX Sales product managers to define complex pricing for usage-based charges for a product.

CPQ pricing also writes the Rate Card data into the applicable quote line charge items. This information can be included in document outputs to assist sales users in pricing negotiations. The Rate Card data is also integrated to a subscription billing system and referenced in the downstream flow to an order management or fulfillment system.

Combine Volume, Tier, and Static Pricing in the Same Price Model

Oracle CPQ 23D combines dynamic pricing with static pricing so all pricing types can be defined in the same Pricing Engine Price Model. This enhancement simplifies administration and discoverability of pricing in the Pricing Engine. Dynamic pricing types, such as Tier or Volume Pricing, have been moved from the parent Price Model level to the Pricing Data section within the Price Model object. This allows administrators to add multiple different dynamic pricing type items to the same Price Model. Administrators can also change the dynamic pricing type for a data item without the need to create a new Price Model.

These price model improvements are also reflected in the Product Workbench for Oracle CX Sales integrated customers to allow product managers to define dynamic pricing for products.

Effective Dating for Price Models, Charges and Rate Plans

Oracle CPQ 23D adds effective start and end dates to the Pricing Engine Price Model, Charge, and Rate Plan business objects. This allows effective dating such as for time-based promotions. If needed, customers  can still use Pricing Rules to define the effective dates as well.

Charge Definitions

This release also introduces optional Charge Definitions that can be used to standardize charge categories. (e.g. Activation Fee, Call Usage, Data Usage, One-time Pricing, Recurring Pricing), and price types. When enabled, the pricing administrator or product manager selects a Charge Definition first when creating a charge, and the charge type and price type are automatically populated.

Commerce

The following Commerce features are available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Pricing Enhancements in Commerce

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, the following CPQ Pricing enhancements are available in Commerce:

Rate Plans – When a rate plan is applied to a subscription type product, CPQ Pricing will apply the associated rate plan charges. CPQ Pricing will also populate the new sub-document Price Attribute Set applied rate plan attributes. Sales users can view the associated charges from a rate plan in the Charge Details drawer and in the Transaction Line Details.

Rate Cards - When rate card charges are applied to a subscription product, a link is displayed to in the charge details to allow sales users to view the rate card data for the applicable line item. The rate card data will be synchronized from CPQ Pricing to the charge array set and can be included in output documents to fully communicate to the customer the pricing that will be applied to consumption-based services.

Charge Definitions – When charge definitions are used to provide standardized charge categories for a usage-based product, sales users will also be able to view this information in the charge details for a line item. The charge definitions will be synchronized from CPQ Pricing to the charge array set.

Line Item Grid Personalization

Oracle CPQ provides users with the flexibility of selecting columns, arranging columns, and applying filters in the Line Item Grid. Previously, Line Item Grid personalization was not retained when a user cleared their cache, changed browsers, or switched between devices. Oracle CPQ 23D enables users to save Line Item Grid personalization, and then apply their saved Line Item Grid personalization to subsequent user sessions.

Default Collapsed Mode for Hierarchical Products in Line Item Grid

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, hierarchical models and products will be displayed in collapsed mode by default. Sales users can identify collapsed items, and then select an individual item or use the Expand All option to view all items within the model or product hierarchy.

Transaction Array Enhancements

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, CPQ will allow users to filter and sort main document and sub-document Transaction Arrays.

Adopt Oracle CX Sales Custom Variable Name Conventions in Commerce

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, CPQ will adopt Oracle CX Sales variable naming conventions for custom items. When administrators create new custom entities in a Standard or non-Standard Commerce Process, an "_c" suffix will be appended to the variable name. This update only effects new custom entities, and there is no change to existing custom entities. This update is applicable to new custom entities in both Standard and Non-Standard Processes.

Configuration

The following Configuration features are available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Pricing Enhancements in Product Workbench

Oracle CPQ 23C introduced the Product Workbench (previously known as the Product Launch UI) for Oracle CPQ sites integrated with Oracle CX Sales. Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, integrated Oracle CX Sales users can access the following pricing functions from the Product Workbench:

• Volume and Tier Pricing - select and define dynamic pricing for charges.
• Rate Plans – create and manage groups of charges for a product.
• Rate Cards - define complex pricing items for subscription-based products using Rate Card Templates that specify dynamic custom fields.
• Charge Definitions – provide standardized charge categories to create charges.

Configuration Actions

Oracle CPQ 23D introduces configuration actions that function as triggers to invoke Recommendation Rules. When added to the condition of Recommendation Rules, invoking the action can trigger the rules.

Integration

The following Integration features are available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Near Real Time Synchronization for Oracle CX Sales SPIM Integration

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, Oracle CX Sales SPIM (Sales Product Information Master) products can be synchronized to CPQ using the “Upsert Product in CPQ” action when an appropriate CX Sales Routine trigger occurs. The Oracle CX Sales Integration Maps use pre-defined mapping for Standard Part Attributes and additional mapping can be added for custom attributes. This provides synchronization of a given product, without waiting for a scheduled batch synchronization to occur.

Oracle CPQ Subscription Pricing Integration with Oracle Fusion Pricing

Oracle CPQ 23D provides productized integration to synchronize price definitions involving usage charges, rate plans, and rate cards between the Oracle Fusion Pricing module (aka QP) and CPQ for subscription-based products. The new Pricing Portal Pricing Integration module allows administrator to define the Integration ID for the Default Partner Price List and initiate synchronization of price definitions. To support integration of charges, the following items have been added to Pricing Charge Attributes: Charge Definition, Charge Definition Code, and Charge Definition Integration.

Support Rate Plan and Rate Cards for Oracle Order Management - CPQ Integrations

Oracle CPQ 23D will support rate plans when creating or canceling orders for Oracle Order Management – CPQ integrations. When a rate plan is applied to a subscription type product, CPQ Pricing will apply the associated rate plan charges. Using the new pricing integration, CPQ administrators can synchronize pricing definitions with Oracle Fusion Pricing. When an order is created, Oracle Order Management billing users will be able to view the rate plan and usage charges within the customer order.

Salesforce: Connect using Oracle CPQ Integration Center

A new Salesforce CRM integration type is added to the Oracle CPQ Integration Center. This feature streamlines the set up and management of the connection(s) between Oracle CPQ and Salesforce. This new interface allows administrators to directly configure the details of the Salesforce environment without the assistance of customer support. Also, Oracle CPQ 23D User Integration page provides a complete list of all enabled Salesforce organizations and the user login.

Salesforce: Manage Salesforce Certificates

The new Salesforce CRM Integration includes support for Salesforce certificates. A Salesforce certificate ensures that communications claiming to originate from your organization are actually from your organization. Once the certificate is applied to the Oracle CPQ site, inbound communications from the Salesforce Integration can be verified. This feature allows administrators to view certificate-related details and upload/download certificates without the assistance of customer support.

Salesforce: Support Custom Login Domains

Oracle CPQ 23D supports custom login domains as well as the previously supported login.salesforce.com and test.salesforce.com URL domains. This feature supports Salesforce’s recently introduced Domain Management features and My Domain login and redirect policies. Prior to Oracle CPQ 23D, only a single domain, either login.salesforce.com or test.salesforce.com, was associated for all Salesforce connections to an Oracle CPQ site.

Support Transaction Arrays in Data Cube Export

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D, CPQ will support exporting transaction arrays in Data Cube Exports. This allows customers to store Commerce attribute information in an array set, and then export the array set instead of exporting a large number of Commerce attributes. This array set can be added to the Data Cube XML mapping file and then exported to .ctl and .dat files when the report is extracted.

Parts

The following Parts enhancement is available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

New Service-Related Parts Fields

Oracle CPQ 23D adds Service Duration Type, Duration, and Duration Period standard parts fields to support service-related products for CPQ sites that are integrated with Oracle CX Sales. These fields are used to capture basic service attributes for Extended Warranty, Included Warranty, Maintenance, or Subscription type items. With this data, Quoting will be able to develop pre-defined logic specific for these items. For example, when an Extended Warranty is defined as Fixed, a sales representative won't be able to change the Duration, nor the Duration Period. On the other hand, when an Extended Warranty is defined as Open Ended, the Quote should allow the override of Duration and Duration Period.

User Management

The following User Management feature is available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Deactivate User Groups

Oracle CPQ 23D supports the ability for administrators to deactivate user groups. The Group Lists page will display active and inactive groups. Once a group is deactivated, it will no longer be allowed access permissions nor will it be selectable for access to Commerce and Configuration properties.

Web Services

The following Web Services features are available in Oracle CPQ 23D.

Add Last Deploy Date to Configure REST API

Beginning in Oracle CPQ 23D (REST version v15), the Last Deploy Date of the product family will be added to the Configure Model REST API response when Configuration cache is enabled. This will allow customers to validate if a local cache instance is up to date with the most current Configuration layout updates.

BOM Mapping REST API Enhancements

Oracle CPQ 23D provides the following BOM Mapping REST API enhancements:

• “Root BOM Item Label” and “Root BOM Item Part Number” are now included in the BOM Item Definition instance and collection responses.
• Case insensitive queries can now be performed on the BOM Item Setups collection.

Oracle CPQ 23D also adds the Update BOM Item Definitions Action to create, update, or delete CPQ BOM hierarchies. This endpoint uses a list format, instead of the hierarchical JSON format.

Calculate Price REST API Enhancements

The Calculate Price REST API has been updated to support Charges and Rate Plans.

Configuration Product Administration REST API Enhancements

Oracle CPQ 23D provides the following enhancements to the Configuration Product Administration REST API:

The following endpoints are added to support Product Family Deployment:

• Deploy a Product Family - Allows for deployment of a specified product family using REST API web services. Deployments can be scheduled, and users can set up email notifications. Data tables associated with rules can be deployed along with the product family.
• Get Undeployed Data Tables – Lists undeployed data tables associated with configuration rules.

Oracle CPQ 23D also adds endpoints to Get, Add, Update, and Delete Configuration Actions (including Configuration Action Translations).

History Action for Commerce REST API

Oracle CPQ 23D adds support for Commerce History type actions for (v15) REST APIs. This endpoint allows customers to retrieve historical changes for a transaction using REST API web services. The transaction history will capture events including but not limited to:

• User and action modifications to main and sub-document attributes
• Activity history for multiple users in Collaborative Quoting
• Transaction locking and unlocking events
• Approval sequences and Workflow transitions
• ABO actions
• Language changes

This REST API will also support queries to search for specific attributes.

Migration Package REST API

Oracle CPQ 23D supports the following migration package and migration resource REST API web services enhancements:

• Get migration package content dependencies
• Get dependencies of the selected migration resources from a source site
• Get dependencies of a migration package from a source site
• Migrate the selected migration resources from a source site
• Migrate the selected migration package from a source site
• Add Util Library Namespaces to migration packages REST APIs
• Specify granular (low-level) content while creating or updating a migration package

Pricing Setup REST API Enhancements

Oracle CPQ 23D adds the following REST API web services to support the rate plan business object and pricing integration:

• Submit Fusion Pricing Synchronization Task
• Get, Add, Update, and Delete Charge Attributes
• Get, Add, Update, and Delete Charge Definitions
• Get, Search, Add, and Delete Price Model Items
• Get, Add, Update, and Delete Charges, Rate Plans, and Rate Plan Charges
• Get, Add, Update, and Delete Rate Cards and Rate Card Templates

Oracle CPQ 23D provides the following updates to existing endpoints:

• Enable Charge Definition option added to Pricing Options endpoints
• Dynamic Pricing Type property added to Price Model Pricing Data endpoints

Oracle CPQ 23D removes support or limits the following updates to existing endpoints:

• Add Price Model Pricing Data (no longer supported)
• Delete a Price Model Pricing Data Item (no longer supported)
• Update a Price Model Pricing Data Item (only changes to price supported)