Change Management

Product View
CSDM V3

Change Management Product View and use cases for CSDM V3

This Product View provides guidance on using Change Management with the CSDM V3 white paper

Greg Morrison, Product Manager

[email protected]
 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

Table of Contents
CSDM Overview
CSDM Tables Managed by Change Management
CSDM Tables Used by Change Management
Products that add value to Change Management
Product that benefit from Change Management
Product Overview
Change Management Use Case
Frequently Asked Questions
For More Information
Your foundation for digital transformation

CSDM Overview
The Common Services Data Model (CSDM) is ServiceNow’s standard data modeling
methodology representing Digital Products and Services throughout their entire lifecycle; from
inception to operations. The shared set of service-related data definitions are managed and
leveraged by different products , each providing unique value for the many jobs and stakeholders
we serve.
CSDM is provides prescriptive guidance that addresses traditional CMDB as well as modeling
services, conceptional planning and development entities, and ties-in the common business data
required for reporting and management activities. These CSDM service-related definitions span
the entire ServiceNow® product portfolio and serve as a foundational component of the Now
Platform®.
The data model is a CMDB framework, extended across all products on our platform that enables
multiple level of maturity and configuration strategies. Included are explanations and best
practices related to the proper modeling of data with out-of-box (OOB) tables and relationships.
Most ServiceNow products have dependencies on the common data expressed in this model.
Common Service Data Model
A standard and shared set of service- A CMDB Framework across our products
related definitions across our products and and platform that will enable and support
platform that will enable and support true multiple configuration strategies.
service level reporting.

The CSDM is provided as a series of white papers, specific product views, examples / patterns
and cross-product use-cases to include:
• CSDM White Paper - The standard and prescriptive modeling Framework

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

• Product Views and Use Cases - The product oriented CDSM specification and guidance,
use cases and value of the CSDM data
• Examples / patterns - Specific models for common types of architectures

The scope of CSDM is continuously extended to address the underlying data model for our
products as they evolve, are refined, and additional concepts are added. Guidance on how to
manage and use of the data model also evolved to support ServiceNow products, integrations and
central data management practices.
Note: CSDM is NOT a product from ServiceNow that can be purchased. The guidance
within CSDM is meant to help the standardization and modeling of the Digital products and
services ServiceNow products help define and manage. The CSDM is NOT…
• A process or implementation guide for ServiceNow products
• A set of reports
• Code to install
• An automatic fix for past implementations

For more information about CSDM please read the latest white paper, which is V3 at the time of
this publication.

What are the CSDM Product Views and Use Cases? A product specific viewpoint of CSDM
and the Use Cases that leverages the CSDM data to provide specific outcomes.

There are 3 topics covered by a CSDM product view:

• CSDM Tables Managed – Describes the product features and CSDM tables populated or
managed within the product and related use cases
• CSDM Data Used – Specifies the CSDM data required to support the product specific use
cases
• CSDM Enabled Use-Cases– Explains how CSDM uniquely provides value to Service Now
products and outcomes that are realized
NOTE:
• A CSDM Use Case may encompass 1 or more data types
• Data types used may be managed by other products as well
• Product dependencies to implement the use case may not be fully described
Activities NOT in Scope of this document
• Product implementation guidance
• Non OOB configuration guidance
• Other ITSM, ITBM, ITOM Processes and guidance
Non OOB configurations may be referenced but remain out-of-scope for this Use Case

CSDM Tables Managed by Change Management

1. Configuration Item table = ci_* (multiple)
a. Applications table = cmdb_ci_appl
b. Server table = cmdb_ci_server
c. Virtual Machines table = cmdb_ci_vm_instance
d. Load balancer table = cmdb_ci_lb

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

e. Network Gear table = cmdb_ci_netgear

Figure 1 CSDM elements managed

CSDM Tables Used by Change Management

1. Service table = cmdb_ci_service table, utilizes the choice list of attribute service classification to
identify Business Service, Technical Service, Application Service types of Services
2. Service Offering table = service_offering table, utilizes the choice list of attribute service
classification to identify Business Service, Technical Service, Application Service types of Service
Offerings
3. Application Service tables = cmdb_ci_discovered_service
4. Configuration Items tables = any infrastructure CI

3 2 3 2 3

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

Figure 2: CSDM elements used

Products that add value to Change Management

As with most products on the ServiceNow platform, other products are leveraged to provide data or
functionality to provide a “better together” scenario when used together. The following product / features
provide added value for Change Management as indicated.

• Discovery: Provides hardware and software CI’s at as-deployed operational level of detail to
support change processes
• Service Mapping: Provides the “Application Instance” Service detail in table
cmdb_ci_service_discovered, relating all infrastructure and Application (cmdb_ci_appl) CI’s

Product that benefit from Change Management

The following ServiceNow products benefit from Change Management
• Service Portfolio Management (SPM): Services have context of the Business, Applications,
Information and Technologies that underpin them
• IT Service Management (ITSM): Incidents fixed by Change, Incidents caused by Change,
Services impacted by Change
• IT Asset Management (ITAM): Update to Assets
• IT Operations Management (ITOM): Update to CI’s using a controlled process
• Enterprise DevOps: Provide Change governance for pipeline tool chains

Product Overview
With ServiceNow™ Change and Release Management, you control every aspect of the IT
change processes from creation to approval. Minimize change impact with clear information on
risk and scheduling conflicts.
• Plan, schedule and manage CAB meetings from one interface
• The change management backlog analysis dashboard. Provides visibility into changes
• Service Maps allow you to see impacts to changes at a glance
• Change approval policies increase DevOps velocity and removes IT friction

The Change form references the following attributes and related lists from Task:
1. Service table cmdb_ci_service – form attribute references,
NOTE: this attribute may be labeled “Business Service” in past releases.
2. Service Offering table service_offering – form attribute references where said offering has a
current parent Service
3. Configuration Item tables cmdb_ci – form attribute references
4. Affected CIs table task_ci – form related list
5. Impacted Services table task_cmdb_ci_service – form related list
6. Assignment Group table - Group – form attribute that may be populated using the “Assignment
Group” found on the referenced Configuration Item

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

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Figure 3: CSDM of the Normal Change Form

Change Management Use Case

Overview
For ITSM, specifically incident & change, there is tremendous value in knowing where to find critical
data to reduce mean time to resolution of incidents and eliminate outages caused by change.

Key Features
The CMDB Framework as documented by the CSDM provides value to Change Management in the
following manners:
• Understand the impact of the Change on Services/s and Service offerings.
• Dynamically route Changes.
• Identify one or more Impacted Services to notify/Approve the desired Change.

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

3 4 2

Figure 4: Change Management use of tables

The data model identifies data elements available for use by ITSM:
1. Subscription – related lists on service offerings that identify “who” has access to the offering
and thus may be impacted in an outage. An incident or change can identify impact using the
subscribed by tables. The related lists are as follows:
o Service Subscriptions by Company – service_subscribe_company
o Service Subscriptions by Department – service_subscribe_department
o Service Subscriptions by Group – service_subscribe_sys_user_grp
o Service Subscriptions by Location – service_subscribe_location
o Service Subscriptions by User – service_subscribe_sys_user
2. business service offering may be used by change to provide the Business Approver based on
approval_group and business_criticality. A business service may have multiple offerings, each
with differing criticalities.
3. technical service offering table may be used by change to provide the Technical Approver
approval_group and Technical Assignment Group on the attribute assignment_group. may be
used by change for routing of change and change tasks. May be synchronized onto the CI’s that
the offerings manage thus reducing the manual overhead of maintaining manual data on
thousands/millions of CI’s.
4. application service may be used by incident & change to provide the Environment such as prod
and no-prod (DEV, QA, UAT, etc.). The environment maps to the attribute used_for. Non-prod
environments may be filtered out from incident and change if desired.
Note: Some service offerings may identify the environment of the offering as well.
Outcomes Realized:
To understand the details of a desired Change the following activities are recommended:
1. Populate the Configuration Item attribute on the Change form, configuration_item, with the
target CI for the change activity. This CI can then be utilized to identify details for Change
routing using CI data such as “Assignment Group” and “Approval Group” while also providing
service impact using dependency relationships.

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 Change Management Product View with CSDM V3

2. Populate the Impacted Services related list to the Change form, task_cmdb_ci_service, with the
Services that are related to the populated Configuration Item. These may include Services and
Service Offerings.
3. (Optional) Utilize the Service and Service Offering attributes on the Change form to identify the
provider services responsible for the management of the selected Configuration Item.
Note: dynamic population is not an out of the box capability and will need to be configured on
the Change form.
4. (Optional) Utilize the Affected CI related list to the Change form, task_ci, to identify the CIs that
may also be part of this Change in addition to the populated Configuration Item. Population of
this table may be dynamic or manual. Note: dynamic population is not OOB capability and will
need configuration of the Change form.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are frequently asked questions related to performing Change with elements of the CSDM.

• Why are Business Applications not referenced in the Change Use Case? Business Applications
as documented by the CSDM are portfolio objects utilized for design and planning from an
Enterprise Architecture prospective. They do not contain attribute level details such as
versioning, environment, and localization concerning the unique deployments of 1 or more
applications.
• Who should approve a Change? Ultimately you decide who should approve a Change based on
your implementation of Change. By populating the Configuration Item on the Change form, and
assuming relationships exist to impacted Services/Offerings, then the “Approval Group” data
found on each of the Impacted Services may be utilized in the approval process.
• What CI attribute(s) are utilized for routing a Change? As a change initiator, I should be using
the “Assignment Group” of the selected Configuration Item for the change or change task. If you
are using the concept of build run teams, you could use the support group for the team
assignments.

For More Information

For more information about how CSDM provides value to Change Management:
• Change Management product documentation is here

Your foundation for digital transformation

The Common Services Data Model (CSDM) should be used as a reference for mapping your IT services
into ServiceNow. Additionally, we will be using CSDM to drive standardization and further strengthen
the value proposition of using ServiceNow products, integrations, and services.

ServiceNow brings enormous value for enterprise customers that want to run IT as a business. CSDM,
combined with the Now Platform, creates a standard blueprint for automated and integrated IT services.
With streamlined supporting activities and value streams fully integrated on the Now Platform, you can
realize full-value chain alignment, improved quality, transparency, better insights, increased automation,
and lower costs. Ultimately, the combination of CSDM and ServiceNow serves as the foundation for
digital transformation.

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