Common Service Data Model

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Common Service Data Model

    The Common Service Data Model (CSDM) is the standardized data model that ServiceNow administrators should follow when configuring ServiceNow products and applications. It establishes consistent definitions and relationships for configuration items (CIs) within the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), ensuring data resides in the correct CMDB tables. This alignment maximizes the value and effectiveness of ServiceNow AI Platform applications by supporting unified data access, accurate reporting, and analytics across the service lifecycle.

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    Key Features

    • Unified Data Model: CSDM provides a shared framework across all ServiceNow AI Platform products, enabling seamless access and collaboration.
    • Prescriptive Guidelines: Clear instructions on how to model services and define CI relationships ensure consistent and accurate data representation.
    • Support for Multiple Strategies: The model accommodates various configuration strategies and leverages base-system tables and relationships.
    • CSDM Assessment: ServiceNow offers expert-led assessments to help customers evaluate and improve their CSDM implementation, including personalized guidance and best practices.
    • Comprehensive Documentation and Resources: Detailed reference materials describe relevant tables, properties, and roles. Additional resources include video playlists and product-specific guidance.
    • Data Governance Enablement: The model emphasizes governance and process management to maintain data accuracy and integrity.
    • Consistent Data Integrations: Prescribed technologies support data integrity when integrating external data sources.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Improved Reporting and Analytics: Following CSDM ensures consistent, accurate reports and analyses to effectively manage the digital environment.
    • Enhanced Product Performance: CSDM-compliant data structures allow AI Platform products to deliver maximum value through shared data models.
    • Streamlined Implementation: Automated tools and guidance accelerate adoption and minimize issues during upgrades and configuration.
    • Clear Service Lifecycle Alignment: The data model mirrors the service lifecycle, supporting comprehensive service management.
    • Collaborative Design: Shared base-system tables and common definitions simplify collaboration across product teams.

    Next Steps for Customers

    • Activate and configure CSDM capabilities within your ServiceNow environment.
    • Leverage the CSDM Assessment to benchmark and enhance your implementation.
    • Use the CMDB query builder to create reports based on CSDM-defined CIs and relationships.
    • Consult CSDM reference materials and product-specific guidance to ensure compliance and maximize benefits.
    • Adopt recommended data governance and integration practices to maintain data quality and reliability.

    The CSDM is the data model that admins should follow when they set up ServiceNow products and applications. The standards for defining configuration items (CIs) and relationships between CIs in the CMDB helps to promote that your data resides in the appropriate CMDB tables. The result is maximum value from ServiceNow AI Platform applications.

    About the CSDM

    The CSDM data model reflects your service life cycle. The CSDM is the data model standard for all products that use the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
    • ServiceNow AI Platform products, apps, and features are “CSDM-compliant”. That is, they all share identical access to the underlying CSDM data model. This shared model significantly increases the power of your applications.
    • The CSDM guidelines ensure unified data access for ServiceNow AI Platform products.
    • The CSDM gives you clear direct prescriptive guidelines for service modeling within the CMDB.
    • CSDM terms and definitions ensure consistent and accurate service reporting.
    • The CSDM data model supports multiple configuration strategies and includes guidelines for using base-system tables and relationships.
    • You can use the CMDB query builder to create reports showing CMDB configuration items (CIs) and their relationships.

    Expert guidance to assess and improve your CSDM implementation — the CSDM Assessment

    The CSDM Assessment provides Impact Customers with leading practices and prescriptive guidance on the CSDM and how it supports processes on the ServiceNow AI Platform. To help your organization plan for and implement CSDM, the assessment includes interactions with ServiceNow CSDM experts and personalized content. See Common Service Data Model (CSDM) Assessment Accelerators.

    CSDM documentation

    Key principles that guided the design and development of the CSDM framework

    The framework is intended to help you avoid errors in implementation and to ensure that your ServiceNow AI Platform products generate accurate, complete, and consistent reports. The following principles guided the development of the CSDM framework.
    Use simplified concepts
    Represent concepts in a simple, direct manner to eliminate duplicates and confusion over data sources.
    Design for reporting and analytics
    A prime objective of CSDM is to support consistent analysis.
    Prescribe the data relationships
    Tell users in a clear direct way which relationships and references to use to link CSDM tables.
    Share the data model across products
    The CSDM identifies a data model that is shared across products to simplify concepts and collaboration. Collaborating with other product teams achieves the best shared design.
    Use clear definitions
    Use agreed-upon CSDM definitions wherever a table, reference, or attribute is used.
    Share base-system tables
    zBoot must provide shared base-system CSDM tables by default.
    Consistent data integrations
    To ensure data integrity, use prescribed technologies when integrating external data sources
    Speed adoption
    For each new release, provide automation and guidance for CSDM that accelerates upgrading and minimizes issues.
    Enable data governance and process
    The presence of data within the model provides little value without governance and effective process to manage the truth and validity of the data.
    Provide practical user documentation
    (The content that you’re viewing now) Each product team that references CSDM objects should provide documented guidance on use and/or value of the objects. Links to product guidance appear in Applying CSDM guidelines to your product — product views.

    Helpful resources

    Some ServiceNow resources that can provide you with helpful information are:
    Other CSDM resources
    See What is a CSDM? and CSDM in a nutshell.
    Support
    Video
    Watch Playlist of all CSDM videos.