Manage add-on products

This section introduces add-on products and provides the procedures for you to add, configure, and manage them.

The version of add-ons (v2) explained in this section replaces add-on offerings (v1) which are only available to organizations that have published v1 add-on offerings. If you require v1 add-on offerings functionality and do not have it, contact your AppDirect technical representative.

Add-ons are products designed to complement other products. For example, if you offer a standalone database product, you might offer customers a report generation add-on. Or, if you are selling a standalone storage product, you might offer customers additional storage options in the form of add-ons. The standalone product to which you connect an add-on, is also called the parent product.

For information about Microsoft specific add-ons see Add-on products for Microsoft products.

Add-on products can be non-stackable or stackable:

• Non-stackable add-on products:
  • Customers can only own one active subscription for each add-on product.
  • Non-stackable add-on products can be integrated by API or with manual integration.
• Stackable add-on products:

📝 Note AppDirect must enable this product type. Contact your AppDirect technical representative for more information.

• Customers can own more than one active subscription for each add-on product. For example, for parent products App A and App B, customers can own two active subscriptions for Storage add-on X (one for App A and one for App B).
• Customers can only own one active subscription for each add-on product associated with a parent product. For example, for Web App A, customers can only own one active subscription for Storage add-on X and only one active subscription to 24x7 Support add-on X.
• Stackable add-ons are integrated by API.

The following describe add-ons:

• Add-ons must be connected with a standalone product in order to appear on a marketplace.
• Add-ons cannot be purchased by themselves without a parent product.
• Add-ons are always optional purchases.
• Multiple add-ons can be connected with one parent product.
• One add-on can be connected with an unlimited number of products.
• Add-ons do not have editions (you configure only one pricing plan for each add-on).
• Add-ons can be purchased in quantities that differ from the quantity of parent product or other add-ons purchased.
• Add-ons appear on the same invoice as the parent product unless their billing cycles are configured to differ.
• Add-ons can be prorated to match the billing cycle of the parent product.
• Add-ons can inherit the single sign-on settings of the parent product.
• No integration report page is available for add-ons.

Parent products may have more than one edition and add-ons can be connected with at least one, and optionally more than one, of those editions. The add-on can only be purchased with the connected editions. In the marketplace, potential customers can view all add-ons that are available for a product on the Editions and Pricing tab. Then, during the order process they select the ones that they want to purchase.

After purchase, add-ons are assigned to users independently of parent products, and users do not need to be assigned the parent product to be assigned the add-on.

An add-on subscription can be canceled from an order without canceling the parent product subscription or other add-on subscriptions. However, when an order includes an add-on product, the add-on subscription must be canceled before the parent product subscription can be canceled.

💡 Tip Consider parent product configuration when planning add-on product configuration, and test all use cases, to avoid unintended conflicts. For example, when a parent product has no contract period and an add-on does, the parent product subscription cannot be canceled until the add-on subscription contract has ended (because add-on subscriptions must be canceled before a parent product subscription can be canceled). This is acceptable if it aligns with your business requirements.