Upgrade/Downgrade a Subscription

The interworks.cloud platform allows your customers and resellers upgrade or downgrade their subscriptions, fully or partially. This page contains instructions on how to set Upgrade paths, and how to Upgrade and Downgrade subscriptions in the BSS and in the Storefront.

 

Setting Upgrade Options

To provide resellers with the option to upgrade a subscription, you must first set the products that can be upgraded to.

Select Upgrade options in the product overview.

This will display a pop-up window where the upgrade products can be defined. Select the products that can be upgraded to from the current product and then select Add to set them as upgrade options.

Please note that upgrading or downgrading requires that the target product is of the same product type.

For example, if a product has multiple upgrade tiers, only the higher tiers must be set as upgrade options for each product.

Setting Downgrade Options

The BSS automatically creates a downgrade relation when an upgrade option is set. For example, if Product B has been set as an upgrade of Product A, then Product A will automatically be set as a downgrade for Product B.

Product Upgrade and Downgrade Paths

An upgrade path is created when one or more products is set to be an upgrade of another product. The path formed from products to their respective upgrades may be linear, or as complex as required, depending on the upgrade options set for each product.

For example:

Product

Upgrade Options

A

B, C

B

D

C

None

D

None

Customers who own product A may follow either of the upgrade paths:

  • A→B→D

  • A→C

Customers who own product B may follow this upgrade path :

  • B→D

Full Upgrade via Storefront

A full upgrade refers to the upgrade of all the licenses of a subscription. Resellers can upgrade their subscription via the Storefront automatically. In subscription view, select I WANT TO… and then Upgrade the subscription.

The Subscription Upgrade pop-up window displays all the available upgrade options, in a carousel fashion. You can navigate to all the upgrade options with the left and right (blue) arrows.

After selecting the product to upgrade to, the following pop-up window is displayed where you can either increase the Quantity number of the product you wish to upgrade to or go back to select another service to upgrade to. Of course, at this stage, you can view the Unit Price of the (upgrade to) product you have chosen, but the final price will be calculated on the next step, after clicking on the Proceed to Checkout button.

By clicking on the Proceed to Checkout button, you are redirected to the Basket Items page where you can view the final price (highlighted in green) and proceed with purchasing the upgrade.

The upgraded subscription will keep the renewal date of the existing subscription.

When the checkout is complete, the upgraded product will be provisioned to the reseller automatically.

If the Account Billing Options are set to enable billing on order day, the new invoices will be automatically generated immediately after the action is complete.

Alternatively, the invoices will remain in the status “Pending” until the billing date. This allows the system to accurately calculate any adjustments for charges or refunds based on the cancellation date.

The following example is of a subscription to Product A receiving a full upgrade to Product B:

Subscription

Operation (on 05/07)

Resulting Subscriptions

Debit Invoice

Credit Invoice

Product A
01/07 – 31/07

Quantity: 10

Full Upgrade

Product B

05/07 - 31/07

Quantity: 10

Product B

05/07 - 31/07

Quantity: 10

Product A

05/07 – 31/07

Quantity: 10

Partial Upgrade via Storefront

To upgrade a selected number of licenses via the Storefront:

  1. Select the subscription you wish to partially upgrade to, on the first pop-up window.

  1. On the second pop-up window specify the number of licenses before clicking on the Proceed to Checkout button.

  1. After clicking the Proceed to Checkout button, you are redirected to the Basket Items page where you can view the final price (highlighted in green) and proceed with purchasing the upgrade.

In the case of a partial upgrade, a new subscription is created for the new product, and the quantity is updated for the old product.

If the Account Billing Options are set to enable billing on order day, the new invoices will be automatically generated immediately after the action is complete.

Alternatively, the invoices will remain in the status “Pending” until the billing date. This allows the system to accurately calculate any adjustments for charges or refunds based on the cancellation date. Specifically, a debit invoice is issued for the new subscription, with a new cycle, which begins on the date of the upgrade, while a credit invoice is issued for the remaining days of the cycle of the old subscription with the previous product.

The following example is of a subscription to Product A receiving a partial upgrade to Product B:

Subscription

Operation (on 05/07)

Resulting Subscriptions

Debit Invoice

Credit Invoice

Product A
01/07 – 31/07

Quantity: 10

Partial Upgrade

3 Licenses

Product A
01/07 – 31/07

Quantity: 7

 

Product B (New Sub)

05/07 - 31/07

Quantity: 3

Product B

05/07 - 31/07

Quantity: 3

Product A

05/07 – 31/07

Quantity: 3

Full Upgrade via BSS

You can upgrade a reseller’s subscription to any of the upgrade options set for it by selecting Upgrade in the Shortcuts menu in the subscription view.

 

A pop-up window displays all the available upgrade options. Select one of the products and then select Upgrade.


In the next pop-up, specify the date when the upgrade should take effect, and select Save. The product will be provisioned to the reseller automatically.

 

Partial Upgrade via BSS

To upgrade/downgrade a selected number of licenses via the BSS, specify the quantity before selecting Upgrade or Downgrade.

 

Downgrade via Storefront

To downgrade a subscription via the Storefront, either fully or partially, select I WANT TO… and then Downgrade the subscription. The experience is identical to that of upgrading.

Managing Downgrade Requests

If Automatic execution of downgrade requests has not been enabled in the BSS, a pop-up confirms the submission of the request, which is sent to the BSS for approval.

To manage a downgrade request, in the BSS go to Billing Subscriptions and select the subscription.

On the subscription page, a ribbon shows that there is an active subscription downgrade request. Select View request.

 

A pop-up window contains all the details of the downgrade request:

  • Submitted by - The storefront user (reseller) who made the request

  • Submission Date - The date and time that the downgrade request was created

  • Downgrade - The product the reseller wants to downgrade to

  • Downgrade Instructions - The extra information that the reseller included in their request

  • Send Confirmation Email - If this is enabled, one of the related system notifications will be sent to the reseller, informing them of the result of their request.

 

In the next pop-up, specify the date when the upgrade should take effect, and select Save. The product will be provisioned to the reseller automatically and a Downgrade Request Completed notification email will be sent.

 

Downgrade via BSS

Downgrade a reseller’s subscription to any downgrade option by selecting Downgrade in the Shortcuts menu in the subscription view. The process is identical to Upgrading.

To downgrade a selected number of licenses via the BSS, specify the quantity before selecting Downgrade.

Email Notifications for Upgrade/ Downgrade Requests

When a downgrade request or a subscription upgrade is created in the Storefront by a reseller, a system notification email is sent automatically to the recipients you have set. 

All the available system notifications related to the downgrade request or subscription upgrade, can be found under BSS → Setup → Administration → Notifications → Customer Notifications → Subscriptions.

The available notifications are the following:

  • 1. Downgrade Request - Sent to the customer's account manager when a customer has submitted a downgrade request.

  • 4. Downgrade Request Completed - Sent to the customer when the downgrade request they have submitted has been completed

  • 7. Downgrade Request Cancelled - Sent internally when a customer cancels their downgrade request

  • Subscription Upgrade - Sent when a subscription is upgraded

Price Protection & Upgrades

Price Protection will remain as set for the initial subscription.

Upon renewal, the subscription will inherit the proration and price protection options of the upgraded product.

Please see the table below, which shows all possible scenarios with examples:

Price Protection

Subscription A

Subscription B (upgraded 19/05/22)

Products A & B: 1 year

Start: 01/05

End: 31/05

Ribbon message in subscription view:
Subscription is under price protection until: 31/12

Start: 19/05

End: 31/05

Ribbon message in subscription view:
Subscription is under price protection until: 31/12

Product A: 1 year

Product B: no price protection

Start: 01/05

End: 31/05

Ribbon message in subscription view:
Subscription is under price protection until: 31/12

Start: 19/05

End: 31/05

Ribbon message in subscription view:
Subscription is under price protection until: 31/12

Product A: no price protection

Product B: 1 year

Start: 01/05

End: 31/05

No price protection

Start: 19/05

End: 31/05

No price protection