Required criteria for service assignment matrix records

The service assignment matrix (SAM) records include all combinations of request or service class, service geographical areas, service locations, and customer organizations that are specified in the originating contract.

The criteria for SAM records are defined on the Terms & Conditions tab of the service agreement, blanket purchase order, and warranty record. On the real estate lease record, the criteria for SAM records are defined on the Service Areas tab.

For valid service assignment matrix records to be created, a minimum of three criteria must be supplied in the contract:

• At least one associated request class or service class. The request class is used for the service request process. The service class is used in the procurement process.
• At least one associated location or geography record. The system searches for locations first and then geographies only if a match is not found.
• At least one valid customer organization. The customer organizations, like the other criteria, are pulled from the request when the process searches for a suitable match.

When you create contracts, select the highest level in the hierarchy that accurately describes the work that is covered. For example, if every floor uses the contract, select the building level for locations. Selecting the highest level provides the following advantages:

• Requires the fewest number of SAM records to be generated, speeding up the generation and search processes.
• Supports management through exception. For example, the electrical group covers all electrical calls for a building, except the IT server room that is covered by IT. In this case, two service agreements both technically cover the server room. However, if a call is specifically for the IT server room, the only the SAM record for the IT group is processed.

When the contract is activated, a SAM record is created for each unique combination of criteria. For example, if you specify two request classes, two locations, and two organizations, then eight SAM records are generated.