CSDM 5 Modeling and Validation
Last Updated: September 7, 2026
CSDM is ServiceNow's Common Service Data Model. It defines entities, their purpose, and the relationships and references used across ServiceNow products. It is not a mandatory four-layer hierarchy or a universal naming convention.
Names and Classes
| Concept | ServiceNow table | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Business Application | cmdb_ci_business_app | Design & Planning application portfolio record |
| Business Service | cmdb_ci_service_business | Operational service delivering business outcomes |
| Technology Management Service | cmdb_ci_service_technical | Provider-facing technology service; formerly labeled Technical Service |
| Service Offering | service_offering | A business or technology management offering with commitments |
| Service Instance | cmdb_ci_service_auto | Parent category for deployed service instances |
| Application Service | cmdb_ci_service_discovered and other population subclasses | A Service Instance representing a deployed application stack |
| Dynamic CI Group | cmdb_ci_query_based_service | Query-based grouping; its classification determines application-service or technology-group use |
| Application | cmdb_ci_appl | Deployed application discovered on infrastructure; distinct from Business Application |
Application Service remains a valid CSDM 5 term. The parent table was relabeled Service Instance; application-service population subclasses remain Application Services. Data, Connection, Network, Facility, and Operational Process Service Instances extend the broader model.
The displayed Technology Management Service label does not rename its stored service_classification: the ServiceNow value remains Technical Service. Business offerings use Business Service; technology management offerings use Technical Service.
Prescribed Connections
The white paper's Figure 16 distinguishes CMDB relationships from references and many-to-many associations.
| From | Connection | To |
|---|---|---|
| Business Application | Uses::Used by | Application Service |
| Business Service | Published as (reference) | Business Service Offering |
| Technology Management Service | Published as (reference) | Technology Management Service Offering |
| Business Service Offering | Depends on::Used by | Service Instance |
| Technology Management Service Offering | Contains::Contained by | Service Instance or Dynamic CI Group |
| Application Service | Depends on::Used by | Application or Service Instance |
| Application | Runs on::Runs | Infrastructure CI |
| Service Instance | Connected by::Connects | Connection Service Instance |
| Connection Service Instance | Provided by::Provides | Network Service Instance |
Publication uses the offering's parent service reference. Do not replace that reference with a Uses, Used by, or Depends on CMDB relationship. Business Applications do not own Service Offerings.
Infrastructure content follows ServiceNow Discovery and Service Mapping conventions. A diagram's vertical position does not certify the model's relationships.
Adoption and Quality Checks
CSDM supports incremental adoption. The Crawl stage can establish Business Applications, Application Services, Applications, and hosts before adding service offerings. Missing offerings warrant review against the intended adoption stage, not an automatic claim that every Crawl model violates CSDM.
Use environment designations such as Payroll Production and Payroll Test to distinguish deployments. CMDBx placeholder-name and environment checks are quality heuristics. Review legitimate shared services and cross-environment dependencies before changing them.
CSDM lifecycle uses both Life cycle stage and Life cycle stage status. Operational status is a separate attribute. Pair completeness alone does not certify that a pair is appropriate to every CI class.
What CMDBx Assesses
CSDM Validator checks supported relationship patterns, observed offering and service content, isolation, dependency cycles, and lifecycle completeness. Strict checks add naming and environment heuristics. Results depend on synced classes, relationships, and available evidence.
CSDM Workbench creates Business Applications, Service Offerings, Application Services (under its Service Instance palette item), and Technology Management Services. Existing CIs retain their ServiceNow identities. Preview rejects unsupported authoring relationships.
The Workbench does not author service publication references. Configure an offering's parent Business Service or Technology Management Service in ServiceNow. A passing result covers supported checks, not every CSDM domain, reference, or adoption requirement.
For a typical application model, connect a Business Application to its Application Service with Uses, map the deployed application stack, and connect a business offering with Depends on or a technology management offering with Contains. Review the preview before governed write-back, then sync and validate again.
Structural CSDM findings do not carry a promised numeric health-score gain. The CI health component also includes CMDBx quality heuristics and is not a white-paper certification.
Source and Related Guides
This guidance follows the ServiceNow CSDM 5 white paper, especially pages 37–39 and Figures 15–16. The paper uses different tag-based table spellings on pages 39 and 47; CMDBx recognizes both without recommending a class migration based solely on that difference. Confirm release-specific tables against your ServiceNow dictionary.