Applying Common Service Data Model (CSDM) in Customer Service Management (CSM)

[Sujit Agrawal]

CSDM is ServiceNow’s standardized, best-practice framework for organizing and relating service-related data within the ServiceNow platform. It provides a common language and structure for defining services, technical components, and relationships, enabling better visibility, automation, and reporting.

Customer Service Management (CSM) is ServiceNow’s application for managing customer interactions, cases, entitlements, and service delivery.

By aligning CSM with CSDM, organizations can map customer-facing services to underlying infrastructure, enable end-to-end visibility from customer issues to root cause and Improve reporting, automation, and service quality.

How to apply CSDM in CSM

1. Understand the CSDM Domains and Core Tables for Business Capabilities, Business Applications Services (Business, Technical, Application), Service Offerings, Technical Services, Configuration Items (CIs)
2. Understand Customer Service (Cases, Accounts, Contacts), Service Portfolio (Business Services, Service Offerings) entities
3. Map Customer-Facing Services to CSDM Entities. Business Services define what you deliver to customers (e.g., “Online Banking,” “Premium Support”). Service Offerings specify variants or packages (e.g., “24/7 Support,” “Standard Support”). Technical Services/Applications link these to the underlying IT components that enable the business service. For Example, A customer reports an issue with “Online Banking.”. The case is linked to the “Online Banking” business service. The business service is linked to a service offering (“Premium Support”). The business service is mapped to technical services/applications in the CMDB.
4. Leverage Relationships for Root Cause Analysis and Automation. Relate Cases to Services and use the “Affected Service” field to tie cases directly to business services. Trace downstream impact if a technical CI fails, we can see which business services (and customers) are impacted. Automate workflows trigger notifications, escalations, or proactive outreach based on service health.
5. Enable Entitlement and SLA Management using CSDM-aligned service offerings to manage what each customer is entitled to. Attach SLAs to service offerings for accurate measurement and reporting.
6. Drive Reporting and Analytics using dashboards to show customer impact, case volumes by service, and trends. Identify recurring issues tied to specific services or technical components.

CSDM is not just for back-end IT — when applied to CSM, it transforms customer operations from reactive case handling to proactive, service-aware customer experience. Whether you're supporting retail locations, telecom subscribers, or enterprise SaaS clients, aligning CSM with CSDM gives teams shared language, clean data models, and a strong foundation for automation, intelligence, and customer trust.