CSDM data domains
Summarize
Summary of CSDM data domains
The Common Service Data Model (CSDM) provides a standardized data model for ServiceNow administrators to structure configuration items (CIs) and relationships within the CMDB. This structured approach ensures data resides in the appropriate CMDB tables, enabling optimal value from ServiceNow AI Platform applications. The CSDM organizes data into specific domains aligned with business and technical functions, facilitating clear roles, responsibilities, and service lifecycle management.
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CSDM Domains
- Foundation domain: Contains base data essential for referencing across other domains. Populating this foundational data is a prerequisite for using ServiceNow products.
- Ideation & Strategy domain: Focuses on generating and managing ideas, concepts, and improvements for services. This domain supports Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM).
- Design & Planning domain: Used by enterprise architects and digital product owners to design and plan digital products your organization may build or buy.
- Build & Integration domain: Supports development teams during the build phase (e.g., Agile development) of digital products. Contains logical development details rather than operational CIs.
- Service Delivery domain: Represents the end-to-end service delivery infrastructure including technologies, integrations, and operational models that deliver services to users.
- Service Consumption domain: Manages internal and external consumer requests through service catalogs. Business services offered here correspond to deployed digital products in the Service Delivery domain.
- Manage Portfolio domain: Acts as a layer integrating other CSDM domains, allowing service owners to manage services spanning multiple domains.
Services and Service Types
Services in CSDM enable business outcomes with minimal risk and cost ownership. They typically include interaction, offering, and service system components. The model defines key service types:
- Technology Management Service (cmdbciservicetechnical): Operational CIs representing systems managed by admins in the Service Delivery domain. These are provider-focused, leaf node services used in Incident, Problem, and Change Management processes.
- Service Instances (cmdbciserviceauto): Logical representations of deployed application stacks, considered operational CIs. They can be environment- and region-specific and monitored via the Application Services dashboard.
- Business Services (cmdbciservicebusiness): Consumer-focused services published to business users, often representing business capabilities. These are operational CIs used for impact analysis and approvals in ITSM processes.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Following CSDM domains ensures CMDB data is well-organized, improving data quality and governance across ServiceNow products.
- Enables effective service lifecycle management, from ideation through delivery and consumption.
- Supports alignment of services with business capabilities and technical components, aiding impact analysis and change management.
- Facilitates clear role responsibilities and service ownership across portfolios.
- Improves monitoring and management of application services and technology components via predefined service types.
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.
CSDM domains
As described in Exploring the CSDM model, each domain is associated with one or more products, services, or service types, each of which you can extend as needed. Every box in the diagram (except Catalog Item) represents tables that hold CIs in the CMDB. Each connecting line represents a relationship between CI classes. Roles and user types appear next to their area of responsibility.
- Foundation domain
Tables in the Foundation domain contain base data that is referenced from or to objects in the other CSDM domains. Before you can use ServiceNow products, you must populate foundational data. For more information, see Foundation domain in the CSDM model
- Ideation & Strategy domain
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The Ideation & Strategy domain represents the ideas, concepts, and considerations for both the creation of new or additional services as well as improvements and enhancements to existing services. These capabilities are part of Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM). For more information, see Ideation & Strategy domain in the CSDM model.
- Design & Planning domain
- Enterprise architects and digital product owners work on the design and planning of digital products that your organization can either buy or build. For more information, see Design & Planning domain in the CSDM model.
- Build & Integration domain
- Development teams use the tables in the Build & Integration domain during the build effort (systems development life cycle — Agile development) of digital products. The tables represent the logical development details of the enterprise applications (digital products) to be deployed and used by your organization. These are not operational CIs. For more information, see Build & Integration domain in the CSDM model.
- Service Delivery domain
- The Service Delivery domain represents the overall end-to-end service delivery system that includes the infrastructure, technologies, integration patterns (infrastructure, systems, data, processes, dependency models), service delivery networks, and operational models. Together, these items deliver the CSDM-conforming services to internal and external users and organizations. For more information, see Service Delivery domain in the CSDM model.
- Service Consumption domain
- Internal or external consumers can request business services through the request catalogs in the Service Consumption domain. The business service offerings in the request catalogs are the deployed digital products in the Service Delivery domain. Business relationship managers and customer service managers might sell or even consume elements of the Service Delivery domain. For more information, see Service Consumption domain in the CSDM model.
- Manage Portfolio domain
- The Manage Portfolio domain is a layer on top of the CSDM conceptual model that interacts with the other CSDM domains. The typical user, a service owner, might be responsible for services in more than one domain. For more information, see Manage Portfolio domain in the CSDM model.
Services and service types
A service enables you to achieve the outcomes that you want with minimal risks and without ownership of specific costs and risks. (This definition is consistent with the base definition of “service” in ITIL v3 and IT4IT.) Services typically have three components: the interaction, the offering, and the service system.
The ServiceNow AI Platform includes the following base-system service types that you can extend to align with the service types in your organization.
- Technology management service [cmdb_ci_service_technical] table (formerly Technical service)
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Technology management services are the systems associated with the admins of CIs in the Service Delivery domain. Service instance owners, Technology management service owners, and Technology service owners. Technology management services are typically lower-level leaf nodes of one or more business services or business service instances in a structured hierarchy.
- Technology management services are operational CIs.
- A technology management service must be a one-level service and not a hierarchy of technology management services.
- Technology management services are used for impact in Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Management. Also used for approvals for Change Management.
- Technology management services must be provider-focused and include the technology provided for the business to consume or sell.
For more information, see Manage Portfolio domain in the CSDM model.
- Service Instances — Service Instance (called application service before CSDM v5) [cmdb_ci_service_auto] table
- A service instance is a logical representation of a deployed application stack. Because service instances are logical in nature, they should use the Logical life-cycle value pairs. Service instances follow the same life-cycle guidance as any other logical CI.
- A service instance is an operational CI and a unique instance of an application.
- Used in Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Management.
- Can be created for each region and each environment (Development, QA, and Production).
- Can be created via manual mapping, service mapping with entry point, and dynamic query.
For more information about leaf nodes and structured hierarchies, see Design & Planning domain in the CSDM model.
You can monitor service instances (called application service before CSDM v5) on the Application Services dashboard. For more information, see Use Application Services dashboard to monitor health.
- Business services (cmdb_ci_service_business)
A business service is a service type that is published to business users. A business service typically implements one or more business capabilities.
Usually, business users order business services. Business users can select the desired offering and service commitment levels via the Service Catalog. For example, procurement, shipping, and finance.For more information, see Service Consumption domain in the CSDM model.- A business service is an operational CI.
- A business service must be a one-level service and not a hierarchy of business services.
- A business service can be used for impact in Incident Management, Problem Management, and Change Management and for approvals for Change.
- A business service must be focused on the consumer or seller.