Definitions of life-cycle values for intangible/logical entities

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of Definitions of life-cycle values for intangible/logical entities

    This content defines the life-cycle stages and status values for intangible or logical assets such as software, applications, services, and licenses within ServiceNow’s Asset Management and Configuration Management Database (CMDB). These life-cycle values help track the status and progression of software and logical items throughout their entire life span, from initial evaluation to retirement.

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    Life-Cycle Stages and Statuses

    • Ideation Stage: Focuses on evaluating new software or services before approval.
      • Under Evaluation: Assessing business fit, licensing, and technical feasibility.
      • Pilot: Limited deployment to test functionality and usability.
    • Purchase Stage: Covers procurement activities after approval.
      • On Order: Licenses or subscriptions purchased but not yet available.
      • Preallocated: Licenses assigned ahead of official deployment.
    • Inventory Stage: Software licenses are available for assignment.
      • Available: Ready for allocation but not yet assigned.
    • Design Stage: Involves defining architecture and development/configuration.
      • Chartered: Project initiation for designing/configuring solutions.
      • Design: Defining logical architecture and system requirements.
      • Build: Developing or customizing software for deployment.
    • Deploy Stage: Preparing software for operational use.
      • Test: Validation in test environments before production rollout.
    • Operational Stage: Software actively in use.
      • In Use: Deployed and functioning in production.
      • End of Support: No longer supported by vendor or IT, but may still be used.
      • Pending Retirement: Scheduled for decommissioning but still operational.
    • End of Operation Stage: Transition phase after active use ends.
      • On Hold: Operations halted due to suspension, blocking, or pausing of service or subscription.
    • End of Life Stage: Software is decommissioned.
      • Retired: No longer used; licenses revoked or reassigned.
      • Obsolete: No longer relevant due to risks, incompatibility, or advances in technology.

    Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding and utilizing these life-cycle stages and statuses enables ServiceNow customers to accurately track the state and progression of their intangible assets such as software and licenses. This classification supports better software asset management, compliance, and decision-making related to procurement, deployment, usage, support, and retirement. Visibility of these values is limited to intangible/logical asset tables within Asset Management and the CMDB, ensuring precise control over logical asset life-cycle management within the platform.

    The intangible/logical life-cycle value pairs represent the overall life cycle of logical assets and CIs as related to their products. A logical or software asset includes items like applications, services, and licenses. The life cycle stage and life cycle stage status values of logical items are visible only in tables related to intangible/logical items in Asset Management and the CMDB.

    Definitions

    Relationships between CSDM stages and life cycle values.

    Ideation life cycle stage

    In this stage, new software or service products are evaluated and tested before they are approved for use.

    • Under Evaluation: The software is being assessed for business fit, licensing implications, and technical feasibility.
    • Pilot: The software is deployed in a limited way to test its functionality and usability before full-scale implementation.
    Purchase life cycle stage

    After the software is approved, the organization procures the necessary licenses or subscriptions.

    • On Order: Licenses or software subscriptions have been purchased but are not yet available for use.
    • Preallocated: Licenses are assigned to users or departments before they are officially deployed. 
    Inventory life cycle stage

    The software licenses are now available for assignment and deployment.

    Available: The software licenses are ready for allocation but have not yet been assigned to a specific system or user.

    Design life cycle stage

    For software development or major configurations, this phase defines the logical and architectural structure.

    • Chartered: A project is initiated to design or configure software solutions. 
    • Design: The logical architecture and system requirements are being defined.
    • Build: The software is being developed, customized, or configured for deployment.
    Deploy life cycle stage

    Software and services are prepared for operational use and are tested before full implementation.

    Test: The software is installed in a test environment for validation before production deployment.

    Operational life cycle stage

    The software is actively in use by the organization.

    • In Use: The software is deployed and functioning on production systems.
    • End of Support: The software vendor or internal IT team no longer provide updates or technical support, but the software might still be in use.
      Note:
      A CI might be in the Operational stage, but might no longer be supported by the vendor or publisher or third party. That doesn’t mean, however, that it can be or should be retired.
    • Pending Retirement: The software is scheduled for decommissioning but remains operational until a replacement is implemented.
    End of Operation life cycle stage

    End of Operation is an intermediate stage between Operational and the next stage. Operations of the product have ended, but the product instance might transition to a new life cycle stage and life cycle status.

    On Hold: Operation of the asset is halted for one of the following reasons:
    • Suspended: service, subscription, and so on.
    • Blocked: credit card, account, and so on.
    • Paused: subscription, lease, and so on.
    End of Life life cycle stage

    The software is no longer in active use and is being decommissioned.

    • Retired: The software is no longer used and its licenses might have been revoked or reassigned.
    • Obsolete: The software is no longer relevant due to security risks, incompatibility, or technological advancements.