What is main task for CSDM under CMDB

[BadshahS]

What is main task for CSDM under CMDB Table. ? Pls explain or share doc for CSDM 

[SANDEEP DUTTA]

Hi @BadshahS ,

CSDM is not a task under CMDB. Let me try to explain with some analogy:

CMDB stands for Configuration Management Database.

It’s like a digital warehouse that keeps track of all the important items in your IT environment — called Configuration Items (CIs).

Simple Analogy: A Library

Imagine you’re managing a library:

• Each book is a Configuration Item (CI).
• You record details like title, author, location, edition.
• If a book is damaged, lost, or replaced, you update your system.

Now, think of an IT environment:

• A CI can be a server, database, application, router, or even a cloud instance.

The CMDB stores information like:

• Who owns it
• Where it is
• What it does
• How it connects to other CIs

So in short, CMDB = a giant catalog of everything your IT runs on.

What is CSDM?

CSDM stands for Common Service Data Model.

Unlike CMDB, CSDM isn’t a database — it’s a framework or set of rules that guides how your CMDB should be structured.

Library Analogy Continued:

You’ve already recorded your books (CMDB), but now you want to make sense of them:

• Group them by genre: Fiction, History, Science
• Organize by author and year
• Link them to classrooms and curriculum

That’s what CSDM does:

• It tells you how to organize your CIs logically
• It maps services to business functions, teams, and infrastructure
• It ensures your CMDB is clean, connected, and usable

CSDM gives your CMDB structure and purpose.

[GlideFather]

Hi @BadshahS,

CSDM is guidelines, it means it is how CMDB shall be maintained in optimal way.

Recommendations and good practices and CMDB is the related module.

• https://www.servicenow.com/products/it-operations-management/what-is-csdm.html?state=seamless
• https://www.servicenow.com/now-platform/common-services-data-model.html
• https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/washingtondc-servicenow-platform/page/product/csdm-implementa...

Example is similar to ITSM and ITIL.