CSDM terms for Digital Portfolio Management

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of CSDM terms for Digital Portfolio Management

    This content provides definitions and explanations of common Common Service Data Model (CSDM) terms relevant to Digital Portfolio Management (DPM) and Service Portfolio Management in ServiceNow. Understanding these terms helps customers effectively manage and align their digital portfolios and service offerings according to CSDM standards.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Terms and Their Practical Use

    • Portfolio: A grouping of services, products, projects, or applications managed together based on business objectives or capabilities. This helps organize related items for streamlined management.
    • Business Capability: High-level organizational abilities needed to execute business strategies and achieve outcomes, such as demand management or financial planning.
    • Service: A means to deliver value to customers by enabling desired outcomes without ownership of associated costs or risks. Services have three aspects: Interaction, Offering, and Service system.
    • Service Types:
      • Business Service: Services published to business users, typically supporting business capabilities and orderable via the ServiceNow Service Catalog (e.g., procurement).
      • Technical Service: Services for service owners supporting business or application services, also orderable via the Service Catalog (e.g., networks).
      • Application Service: Logical representations of deployed application stacks like hosting or data backup.
    • Application: Deployed software programs providing specific functionality, often discoverable components like Apache Web Server.
    • Business Application: Software and infrastructure environments configured to deliver business functionality, such as Dell Online.
    • Service Catalog: A consumable interface showing available products, services, commitment options, and offerings, acting as the access point for users to request services.
    • Service Offering: Different levels or packages of a service defined by capability, availability, pricing, and features, allowing tailored service delivery (e.g., ITSM Standard vs ITSM Pro).
    • Service Commitment: Agreed service delivery obligations between consumer and provider, often represented through contracts like Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
    • Configuration Item (CI): Physical or logical infrastructure components managed under configuration management, such as servers or databases.
    • Asset: Items tracked for financial value and lifecycle management; may overlap with CIs but focus on financial aspects (e.g., Microsoft Office 365).
    • Operating Model: An abstract representation of how an organization delivers value, including strategy, automation, delivery models, and IT expectations.

    Why This Matters

    By familiarizing themselves with these CSDM-aligned terms, ServiceNow customers can better structure their Digital Portfolio Management and Service Portfolio Management initiatives. This alignment facilitates clearer communication, streamlined service delivery, and improved governance of services, applications, and assets within the ServiceNow platform.

    Because both ServiceNow® products of Digital Portfolio Management (DPM) and Service Portfolio Management closely align with the Common Service Data Model (CSDM), it's helpful to know the common terms when working in these applications.

    Table 1. Common CSDM terms used in DPM and Service Portfolio Management
    Term Definition Notes
    Portfolio Collection of services, products, projects, or applications. Used to manage like items together for a business. Portfolios may be grouped by objective, capabilities, organization, like projects or services.
    Business capability High-level capability that an organization requires to execute its business model or fulfill its mission. Typically described in the context of performing one or more specific tasks to achieve business outcomes. For example, demand management or financial planning.
    Service Means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. Typically has three aspects:
    • Interaction
    • Offering
    • Service system
    ServiceNow provides three base service types:
    • Business
    • Technical
    • Application

    Customers can extend the base types to align with the service types in their organization.
    Business service A service type that is published to business users and it typically underpins one or more business capabilities. Typically orderable by business users. Business users are able to select the desired offering and service commitment levels via the ServiceNow® Service Catalog. For example, procurement, shipping, and finance.
    Technical service A service type that is published to service owners and typically underpins a business or application service. Typically orderable by service owners. Service owners are able to select the desired offering and service commitment levels via the Service Catalog. For example, computers, storage, and networks).
    Application service A service type that is a logical representation of a deployed application stack. Examples of application services are hosting, data backup, and recovery.
    Note:
    There is not a 1-to-1 relationship between application and application services.
    Application Any deployed program, module, or group of programs that is designed to provide specific functionality on a computer infrastructure. Defines behavior and has specific functionality associated with it. Applications are typically discoverable functionality, like Apache Web Server.
    Business Application Represents all software and infrastructure environments (dev, test, prod) configured to provide functionality. Used to increase productivity and perform other business functions accurately. For example, Dell Online.
    Service catalog Provides consumable view of available products, services, service commitment options, and offerings.

    Helps manage what services a user may have access to. Also, catalogs are the initiation point for access to available services. For example, IT services catalog.
    Service offering A stratification of a service into capability, availability, pricing, and packaging options. Different levels of performance and features for a given service can be made available. For example, ITSM Standard and ITSM Pro.
    Service commitment Defines service delivery obligations agreed to between the consumer and the provider. Often manifested in the form of contracts such as service level agreements, operational level agreements, and underpinning contracts. Service commitments include specific performance characteristics that differentiate one offering from another.
    Configuration item (CI) Physical and logical components of an infrastructure that are currently or soon will be under configuration management.

    May be a single module such as a server, database, or router or a more complex item, such as a complete system. For example, a web server, database, or infrastructure.
    Asset An item whose financial value is tracked. Many assets are CIs and vice versa, but that is not always the case. Assets have a life cycle with financial considerations, for example, Microsoft Office 365.
    Operating model An abstract and ideally visual representation (model) of how an organization delivers value to its customers or beneficiaries. Typically represents the various elements of how an organization operates. It usually incorporates strategy positions such as the innovation model, degree of intelligent automation, industry alignment, provider delivery models, and the business expectations of IT.