Service Operations Workspace vs CSM Configurable Workspace

[TStark]

As a company using both ITSM (currently) and CSM (in the near future) which workspace is better to use from an agent's perspective?

[KevinBellardine]

Honestly? They're both built on the same fundamental architecture, I'd say it comes down to the records the agent is going to be working on. CSM is going to be a better experience for Case Management, and it's going to work better with the CSM integrations like FSM. The same goes for Service Operations.

Honestly the use cases are starting to bleed together, for instance even if you're in CSM using the Request Item UI action will open to the SWP portal. Just think about the kind of work the agents are going to be doing and how the features of each fit that.

[Joshua Chen FX]

In my case, service desk agents and fulfillers handle cases, take chats or create cases from chats, and work on incident, problem, and change records.

We’re currently using only the native UI, no workspaces yet. Over the years, we’ve built a number of custom UI actions and now want those incorporated into the CSM/FSM Workspace.

Given the mixed use of CSM and ITSM, I'm trying to determine which workspace makes the most sense for the ITSM personas : CSM/FSM Workspace or Service Operations Workspace (SOW)?  where to put the UI actiosn related to incidents flow

[GlideFather]

• SOW > ITSM would be for your internal employees - their incidents, requests, changes, problems, and knowledge.
• CSM is for EXTERNAL users and their Cases.
  • however both can have Interactions

Also if you use the virtual agent, this is where the agents are divided Customer support x IT support.

It is two absolutely different things and both have different scopes and predefined processes as both aim at different audience and different users.

Let me know if it makes sense or if you have any other questions.

[Marcos Kassak]

Hi @TStark,

As a few of the members recommended here, I'd keep CSM agents in CSM Configurable Workspace (case timelines, playbooks, customer context, omnichannel support) and ITSM agents in Service Operations Workspace (changes, problems, contextual side panels and more); the CSM portion is Configurable Workspace for a reason, if you feel like it, you can add Incidents as displayed below to help identify your customer activity:

https://www.servicenow.com/community/next-experience-articles/exposing-customer-central-to-incidents...

Overall, I recommend keeping things separate if possible, especially when expanding into new products. They will see other workspaces entering and will ask you to unify everything, which could lead to significant technical debt during upgrades.

✅ If you found my answer helpful or correct in any way, please don't forget to mark it to help future readers! 👍

Kind regards,

Marcos Kassak
🌟 ServiceNow MVP 2024, 2025
🎯 Certified Technical Architect
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