CSDM life-cycle terms

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of CSDM life-cycle terms

    The Common Service Data Model (CSDM) life-cycle terms are essential for aligning ServiceNow products and AI Platform applications with a standardized framework for managing configuration items (CIs), assets, and install base items (IBIs). This alignment helps customers consistently track the life-cycle stages and statuses of product instances across their ServiceNow environments.

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    Life cycle mapping table

    ServiceNow includes a prepopulated life cycle mapping table that links legacy status values from various tables to their equivalent CSDM life cycle stage and status pairs. Each mapping rule defines how to translate legacy statuses into CSDM values, prioritizing rules to use the most meaningful mapping when multiple apply. This ensures consistent interpretation and synchronization of life cycle information across assets, CIs, and IBIs.

    Key terms related to the life cycle

    • Configuration Item (CI): Records in the CMDB CI table that represent components tracked in the system.
    • Life-cycle value pair: The combination of a life cycle stage and a life cycle stage status that fully describe the state of a CI, asset, or IBI throughout its life cycle.
    • Life cycle stage: Broad phases a CI progresses through, from inception or procurement to operation and end of life.
    • Life cycle stage status: Specific status within the current life cycle stage, such as In Use, In Maintenance, or End of Support.
    • CI legacy values: Previous status types like install status and operational status, which are mapped to the new CSDM life cycle values.
    • Asset: Records in the asset table representing tangible or intangible company resources.
    • Install Base Item (IBI): Items tracked as services or products sold to customers, recorded in the install base item table.
    • Product instance (PI): A logical grouping of an operational asset, an IBI, and a CI representing a product instance throughout its life cycle. This can be Asset+CI+IBI, Asset+CI, or Asset+IBI.

    Practical value for ServiceNow customers

    This structured approach enables customers to maintain consistent, accurate tracking of product instances across their life cycles by translating legacy statuses into standardized CSDM life cycle terms. It supports better integration, reporting, and automation across ServiceNow applications and workflows, ensuring that assets, CIs, and IBIs are managed with clarity and precision throughout their operational life span.

    Most ServiceNow products and ServiceNow AI Platform applications align closely with the Common Service Data Model. This table defines terms as they are used across the ServiceNow AI Platform.

    Life cycle mapping table

    The base system includes the life cycle mapping [life_cycle_mapping] table. The table is prepopulated with mappings between widely used legacy status values and the equivalent CSDM life cycle stage and life cycle stage status values. Each record in the table (called a mapping rule) specifies how to map a legacy status value, based on its table, to the best-fit CSDM life-cycle value pair.

    The table typically contains multiple record entries per class, each entry that maps a specific legacy status to a life-cycle value pair. When there are multiple record entries for a class, the entries are prioritized by importance and likelihood for containing meaningful values for the mapping process. The highest priority rule is used when multiple candidate rules apply.

    Mapping rule that specifies the mapping between a legacy status value and the equivalent CSDM life cycle stage and life cycle stage status values.

    See Map legacy status values to CSDM life-cycle values and How life-cycle values for Asset, CI, and IBI are synced.

    Terms related to life cycle

    CI
    Configuration item: Record in the CMDB CI [cmdb_ci] table.
    life-cycle value pair

    A life-cycle value pair is the combination life cycle stage and life cycle stage status values for a CI, asset, or IBI over the life cycle of a product instance. The pair of values fully describe the life-cycle state of the product instance.

    The standard CSDM life-cycle value pair covers all phases of a product instance life cycle.
    • A life cycle stage is one of the broad phases that a CI moves through, from inception or procurement to operation and then to end of life.
    • life cycle stage status is the particular status of a CI within its current life cycle stage.
    For example, a hardware CI in the Operational stage might change stage status over time from In Use to In Maintenance to End of Support. A different hardware CI might go from In Use to End of Support without ever having been in In Maintenance status.
    Allowed life-cycle values during the Operational stage of a hardware CI's life cycle
    CI legacy values
    Value types that were in place before CSDM life-cycle values were implemented:
    • install status
    • operational status
    • hardware status
    • hardware substatus
    asset
    Production asset: Record in the asset [alm_asset] table.
    install base item (IBI)
    Install-Base-Item: Record in the install base item [sn_install_base_item] table. Any item that is provided as a service or sold to your customer is tracked as an Install Base Item (IBI). The Model category table associates Asset, CI, and IBI for the item.
    product instance
    A product instance (PI) is comprised of an operational asset (asset), an install-base-item (IBI), and a configuration item (CI). A PI is a logical grouping of the [Asset/CI/IBI] that represents instances of products (goods and services) throughout their life cycles in ServiceNow applications and workflows. Possible formulations:
    • Asset+CI+IBI
    • Asset+CI
    • Asset+IBI