Product Processing in SAP CRM 
Product Category
Product categories are used for grouping products according to different criteria. A category can belong to a hierarchy or another product category. If it belongs to another product category, all the set types that are assigned to this higher-level product category are also assigned to the lower-level product category. A product category is then assigned to one or several products.
You can use the following views for saving the logic for the product determination:
Configuration view
In this view, you allocate an alias to each configurable attribute, and define the attribute as mandatory or hidden.
Table view
In this view you define value tables.
Formula view
In this view, you define formulas and conditions. A formula is only applied if the condition is true.
Condition view: In this view, you define formulas and attributes. If a condition is true, the attribute property applies (for example, mandatory).
You process product categories in the Easy Access menu of the CRM system under 
Master Data 
Products Process Categories and Hierarchies 
, and in the CRM WebClient UI under Sales Transactions Product Hierarchies .
Products
There are three product categories: Financing, Material, and Service. Generally, IS-U uses service products for, among other things, the creation of gas, electricity, and water supply contracts. You can use material products for physical products such as hot water storage.
When you create a product, allocate it a product category. This product category determines which views and fields are available in the product. You can define the attributes of some of these fields, for example mandatory or hidden, in the configuration. For most products, a description and a base quantity unit are required. If you want to use the product in documents with organizational data, it must be assigned to a sales organization and a distribution channel. You process products in the Easy Access menu of the CRM system under Master Data Products Process Products , and in the CRM WebClient UI under Sales Transactions Products . For more information about products in SAP CRM, see the Products section.
Configurable Products
In addition to the product itself, the configurable product also has configuration characteristics. When you enter a contract and allocate a configurable product to it, you can specify additional characteristic values in the configuration view of the contract item. In this way, you determine a specific definition of a configurable product. Typical examples for these configuration values are, for example, "Indicator for 2% Discount" or "Connection Service 6 kW or 9 kW". Once you have entered the characteristic values, they are saved along with the contract. These values are then connected to this contract only. During replication of the CRM contract to SAP IS-U, these values can be transferred to the master data generator in SAP IS-U. For example, if you use the indicator in the CRM contract to grant a 2% discount for the contract, you can use a master data template in SAP IS-U to create the corresponding installation facts. IS-U billing can then include the discount in contract billing. The are two ways to create a configurable product. You can either use the integrated Product Modeling Environment (PME), or you can use the simplified configuration. Both options are described in more detail below:
Note
You must choose one of the two configuration options for every product. If you use the simplified utility contract item as the item object type, you can only use the simplified configuration.
Both variants can exist together in the document. For example, if you offer a product item with simplified configuration and a product item (an older product, for example) with Internet Pricing and Configurator configuration. However, this is not recommended.
For more information about the different configuration options, see the following sections: