How a subscription becomes access

Who holds which licensed software at WashU — and the PHI exceptions, acknowledgements, provisioning and billing that go with it

What happens when somebody gets software

The gates in the middle are the work: an exception is decided here, terms are accepted through the request tooling, and only then does access exist.

Subscribing somebody does not by itself give them anything. If the product requires a PHI exception, they answer for their use of it and a reviewer decides — until then, and if it is refused, there is no access. If the service carries terms, they have to accept them. Once both are clear the subscription is provisioned into its Entra group and starts billing to a cost center.

How the records fit together

Four record types, each narrower than the last. Nearly every screen is a view of one of them, and the flow above runs along the last two.

Product A piece of software from a vendor, and the rules that apply however somebody comes by it — including whether it needs a PHI exception.

Service One way to hold a product: a tier, a price, a billing cadence, and the terms to acknowledge. A product usually has several.

Subscriber A person, with the cost center and supervisory org their charges default to.

Subscription One subscriber's hold on one service — the record that grants access, and the record that generates the billing.

The menu lists the areas your account can reach. If something you need is missing from it, your role does not hold that feature yet — ask a Subscription Manager administrator.