Some customers have sites in multiple regions across the globe. For such cases, we create global customer accounts in SMARTLINK.
Because of the different levels and locations of global customers, it can be a challenge to organize this properly in SMARTLINK. In the following instructions, you will find the guidelines for a clearly structured organization setup. Creating this setup is initiated by Airpower. Following these guidelines is mandatory.
Step 1: Create a new structure in a spreadsheet
First, we need to determine the structure in Smartlink. The internal (AC) person dealing with the key account's HQ will initiate the process by creating a spreadsheet. This sheet contains the desired structure and names that need to be present in SMARTLINK.
NOTE: On each level (local, regional, national) there is a uniform way of naming the organizations. Changes to these names may only be made when authorized by Airpower/customer's HQ.
The following logic has to be followed:
| Global Customer (Root) | Global Customer | Customer | Site | Service Provider |
| "Customer's name" Global HQ | "Customer's name" Regional HQ (EUR) | "Customer's name" Italy | IT - Florence | AC Italy |
| IT - Milan | AC Italy | |||
| "Customer's name" France | FR - Paris | AC France | ||
| FR - Lyon | AC France | |||
| "Customer's name" Regional HQ (ASIA) | "Customer's name" China | CH - Beijing | AC Germany | |
| CH - Wuhan | AC Germany |
| Created by Airpower |
| Created by a local admin |
Attached to this article, you will find an example in Excel format.
Step 2: Creating the organizations
Based on the spreadsheet from step 1, the organizations have to be created.
What Airpower will create for you: a global customer on the root level, a global customer below, and customer organizations per country (for example, ALPLA Italy, ALPLA Belgium, ...). It is marked yellow in the example that was previously mentioned. Creating the sites according to the spreadsheet is a local responsibility.
How it looks in Smartlink:
Step 3: Move all entities to the right location
Now that the sites have been created, the machines and users have to be moved to the correct location. The users must be able to receive the reports and notifications they were previously subscribed to. Therefore, the notification groups and report subscriptions have to be recreated on the new sites.
Step 4: Delete everything else
Once all entities are moved and the subscriptions recreated, you must start deleting everything else. Anything that is not mentioned in the approved spreadsheet, must be deleted.
Step 5: Instruct your colleagues
The setup has now been created and may only be changed when Airpower specifically instructs you to do so. Any other change - unless coming directly from the key account's headquarters - is not authorized. The local admin is responsible to maintain this specific structure in SMARTLINK.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ERP-CONTROLLED ORGANIZATIONS: We understand it may be difficult to align with your SAP team. If this is the case, we recommend breaking the link of SMARTLINK to SAP for the key account's organizations. If you don't do this, any changes made in SAP by your colleagues will be processed in SMARTLINK accordingly.
Your checklist
| TO-DO | STATUS (Work-in-progress; done) |
| Create the sites according to the approved spreadsheet | |
Migrate all users and machines to the new CUSTOMER {{Your Country}} organization | |
If applicable, recreate all notification groups and report subscriptions | |
Delete sites and customers outside this new CUSTOMER {{Your Country}} organization that do not match the spreadsheet | |
Instruct your colleagues – every single person with permission to change this organization – not to ever touch the key account’s organizational structure again (unless explicitly approved by Airpower) | |
Double-check the full organization structure that applies to your country (the spreadsheet) and make the appropriate changes where necessary. |