TBM Integration Model: ServiceNow® CSDM
High-level analysis of synergies and opportunities between the intersecting models of Technology Business Management (TBM) and ServiceNow® Common Service Data Model (CSDM).
Complementary Models: TBM & ServiceNow CSDM
Technology Business Management (TBM)
TBM provides a standard taxonomy to describe cost sources, technologies, IT resources, and solutions. The taxonomy provides the ability to compare technologies, resources, and solutions to peers and third-party entities.
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ServiceNow CSDM
A standard and shared set of service-related definitions across ServiceNow products and platform. The data model is a CMDB framework that will enable and support multiple configuration strategies.
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Lemm, Scott. “CSDM 4.0 Draft White Paper.” ServiceNow, 18 Jan. 2022.
- Consumers
- Business Solutions
- Technical Solutions
- Applications
- Infrastructure Assets
| TBM | CSDM: CMDB Table |
|---|---|
| Consumer (attributes) | Company: core_company |
| Business Unit: business_unit | |
| Department: cmn_department | |
| Users: sys_user |
Recommendation
In your TBM tool, enhance the data obtained for Company, Business Unit, Department, Users, and other foundation elements with data pulled from other systems of record (eg., Workday, SAP, Oracle Financials, Active Directory). Frequently, a ServiceNow CMDB’s foundation data is limited to information it needs to function and excludes information required for TBM success.
| TBM | CSDM: CMDB Table |
|---|---|
| Solution Offering | Business Service Offering: service_offering |
| Service Classification = “Business Service” | |
| Solution Name | Business Service: cmdb_ci_service |
Note
- A Solution is a generic reference to a Service or a Product.
- Service is the means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks nor awareness of underlying resources and processes needed. Services can comprise of none, one, or many Applications and/or other Services.
- Product is alternative label used for a Service. A Product is not equivalent to an Application nor Application Family.
Recommendation
Use the standard TBM Solution’s Name (tier 3) values belonging to the Business, Workplace, and Shared and Corporate Solution Types (tier 1) to establish initial values for the CMDB’s Business Service table.
| TBM | CSDM: CMDB Table |
|---|---|
| Solution Offering | Technical Service Offering: service_offering |
| Service Classification = “Technical Service” | |
| Solution Name | Technical Service: cmdb_ci_service_technical |
Note
- A Foundation element (eg., Company, Users, Locations, Life Cycle) can be related to most, if not all, elements in any other domain.
Recommendation
Use the standard TBM Solution’s Name (tier 3) values belonging to the Delivery, Platform, and Infrastructure Solution Types (tier 1) to establish initial values for the CMDB’s Technical Service table.
Recommendation
Expand the Solutions layer of the TBM Taxonomy to meet your needs organization’s needs.
- After exhausting existing options, expand the Name (tier 3) level.
- Offering (tier 4) is 100% custom, so add as many offerings as needed.
Recommendation
If you are in the process of adopting, or planning to adopt, or are already using a product model…
- Register products and services into Technical/Business Service Offerings.
- In Technical/Business Service Offering records’ schema and your Solutions layer of the TBM Taxonomy Offering (tier 1), add a Sub-Classification (or Offering Type) attribute to define the record as a “Product” or a “Service”.
| TBM | CSDM: CMDB Table |
|---|---|
| Application | Business Application: cmdb_ci_business_app |
Note
- Although “Business” appears in the name, the table should include logical representations of all applications in the organization’s application registry or ServiceNow’s APM, if in use. The reference to “Business” is applied to the whole organization (inclusive of Technology).
- Do not use data from the cmdb_ci_appl table when collecting a list of applications for your organization.
- An Application is an identifiable software or tightly coupled software components providing functions required by a Solution.
- An Application is not equivalent to a Solution but can be a component of a Solution of the same name.
Recommendation
Treat Applications as part of the Infrastructure domain not part of the Solutions layer of the TBM Taxonomy (where Services and Products are found).
Recommendation
Retain your product hierarchy, if established, and map your products (as Business or Technical Offerings) into the Solutions layer of the TBM Taxonomy.
| TBM | CSDM: CMDB Table |
|---|---|
| Data Center | cmdb_ci_datacenter |
| Network | cmdb_ci_netgear |
| Storage | cmdb_ci_storage_device |
| cmdb_ci_storage_server | |
| cmdb_ci_storage_volume | |
| Mainframe | cmdb_ci_mainframe |
| cmdb_ci_mainframe_lpar | |
| Servers | cmdb_ci_server |
| Database | cmdb_ci_database |
| cmdb_ci_db_instance |
Note
- Review documentation for your TBM/ITFM tool or, if using Apptio™ tools, review Help documentation titled “Datalink ServiceNow Ingress connector” for more information.
Recommendation
The better the existing system of records are, the higher the likelihood of success. Organizations, on the other hand, should not delay until their data is perfect before launching a TBM program. Likewise, existing systems are substantially improved by adopting TBM practices.
