CSDM v5 and instance health

[nizar_tliba]

Hi everyone,

I have noticed that many of my customers complain about low ServiceNow Health Scan scores. They are often worried that a low score means their production instance is of poor quality.

This raises an important question: does the ServiceNow Health Scan really reflect the true quality of an instance ?

In my opinion, the answer is not straightforward.

For example, HS reports sometimes include findings related to OOTB records, which customers did not touch. In addition, if findings are remediated too aggressively, important business features may be impacted.

For these reasons, I do not believe that the Health Scan alone is the best way to improve instance quality. It is often very difficult to convince customers to roll back business functionality simply to improve Health Scan scores.

Instead, we should consider another approach to improving the health and quality of a ServiceNow instance.

One strong option is adopting CSDM v5, either by migrating from a previous version or by implementing it directly if it is not already in place. CSDM v5 helps reduce technical debt in a more structured and sustainable way.

CSDM v5 provides prescriptive guidance for placing data in standard, OOTB tables across all ServiceNow products. By aligning with these tables :

- Custom CI classes are removed

- Built-in ServiceNow product logic is reused instead of re-implemented

- Customers follow a data model that ServiceNow officially supports and evolves

CSDM migration guidance also forces attribute rationalization. This includes:

- Identifying unused or rarely used custom fields

- Classifying each custom attribute as:

      * Best Practice

       * Keep

       * Refactor to OOTB

       * Do Not Need (DNN)

In addition, CSDM v5 highlights a critical but often hidden source of technical debt: table dependencies in reports, business rules, scripts, and integrations.

The recommended migration approach includes:

- Automated discovery of dependencies

- Refactoring logic to use CSDM-compliant tables

- Decommissioning obsolete reports and rules

This approach removes long-standing hidden coupling, which is one of the main reasons upgrades become risky and expensive.

Finally, CSDM v5 is not only corrective, it is also preventive:

- All new ServiceNow products assume CSDM-aligned data

- Capabilities such as AI, Enterprise Architecture (EA), SAM, Vulnerability Response (VR), ITOM, and SPM depend on these tables

- Non-CSDM data models will not fully benefit from future platform capabilities.

To conclude, adhering to CSDM v5 reduces ServiceNow technical debt by replacing custom data models, attributes, scripts, and manual processes with a standardized, product-aligned CMDB structure that ServiceNow itself relies on.

The result is lower maintenance costs, safer upgrades, reliable impact analysis, faster adoption of new modules, and long-term platform sustainability.

Please feel free to comment !

Thanks.