Life cycle mapping form

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 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 Life cycle mapping form

    The Life Cycle Mapping module in ServiceNow enables customers to convert legacy status values for assets and Configuration Items (CIs) into standardized CSDM life-cycle value pairs, specificallylife cycle stageandlife cycle stage status. This mapping ensures consistency and alignment with the Common Service Data Model (CSDM) framework, facilitating more accurate asset and CI management.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Mapping for Table: Defines which legacy CMDB tables or their descendant tables the mapping applies to, allowing granular control over where mappings are enforced.
    • Priority: Determines the order in which mappings are applied when multiple legacy values match; the mapping with the highest priority (lowest numerical value) is used.
    • Active Flag: Enables or disables specific mappings. Disabling a mapping causes lower-priority mappings to be used or sets life cycle fields to TBD (To Be Determined).
    • Legacy Field and Subfield Names/Values: Specifies the exact legacy fields and values (including subfields if applicable) that represent life cycle stages in the legacy system.
    • Life Cycle Control: Defines the authoritative class, life cycle stage, and status that the legacy values map to, ensuring valid combinations consistent with the CSDM model.
    • Life Cycle Stage and Status: The target standardized values that legacy statuses map to; if no mapping exists, values default to TBD.
    • Inheritance Model for Business Applications: Business Application records have a restricted set of life cycle stages tailored to application planning and usage. However, they also inherit additional stages from parent CI classes via aggregation-based inheritance, meaning some infrastructure or hardware-related life cycle stages may appear on business applications by design.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By using the Life Cycle Mapping form, customers can:

    • Seamlessly transition legacy asset and CI statuses to standardized CSDM life cycle stages and statuses, improving data consistency across the CMDB.
    • Leverage prioritized mappings to handle overlapping legacy values efficiently during synchronization.
    • Understand that Business Applications may display inherited life cycle stages from infrastructure classes, which is an expected behavior reflecting the hierarchical structure of the CMDB.
    • Maintain control over which mappings are active, enabling phased or selective adoption of CSDM life cycle values.

    This capability is essential for organizations aiming to align their asset and CI data with CSDM standards, enabling better lifecycle management and reporting within ServiceNow.

    Use the Life Cycle Mapping module to specify how existing legacy status values should be converted to CSDM life-cycle value pairs (life cycle stage and life cycle stage status). You map both asset and CI legacy status values to life-cycle value pairs.

    Fields on the Life cycle mapping form

    Table 1. Life cycle mapping form
    Field Description
    Mapping for table Legacy CMDB table and descending tables that this mapping applies to.

    Applies to a descending table unless there is a mapping configured specifically to the descending table.
    Priority

    Priority of applying this mapping definition for the table.

    The Priority value on the life cycle mapping table is used when a record update triggers the “legacy-to-life-cycle” synchronization, and multiple legacy value states on the record match with mapping rules. Of the multiple values, the highest priority (lowest numerical value) entry is used to set the life-cycle value pairs. If the highest priority entry can't be used, the system uses the next record in priority.

    Note:
    Priority is not used if Reverse synchronization is active because there should be a maximum of one reverse-synchronize choice for each life-cycle value per class.
    Active

    Denotes whether to apply this mapping definition.

    Deactivation results in lower-priority mappings being used or setting standard life cycle fields to TBD.
    Legacy field name Legacy field in the specified Mapping for table that is currently being used to store a life cycle stage. The value should be used as the source for the life cycle mapping.
    Legacy subfield name Value to set if the Legacy field name has a subfield. For example, if hardware Status has a substatus, then specify the name of the substatus here.
    Legacy field value Legacy value in the specified Mapping for table that is currently being used store life cycle stage. The value should be used as the source for the life cycle mapping.
    Legacy subfield value Value that is set if the Legacy field value has a subfield. For example, if hardware Status has a substatus, then specify the value of the substatus here.
    Life cycle control Class and life cycle stage and life cycle stage status that are used as the authoritative source of valid combinations for life cycle mapping.
    Table Standard object table that the Life cycle control belongs to.
    Life cycle stage

    Standard life cycle stage to map the specified Legacy field value to.

    Note:
    The Life cycle control setting determines that this particular life cycle stage is appropriate for the mapping.

    If there is no match in the life_cycle_mapping table, the value is set to TBD.
    Life cycle stage status

    Standard life cycle stage status to map the specified Legacy field value to.

    Note:
    The Life cycle control setting determines that this particular life cycle stage status is appropriate for the mapping.

    If there is no match in the life_cycle_mapping table, the value is set to TBD.

    Life Cycle Stage inheritance for Business Application records

    Business Application records define a restricted set of Life Cycle Stage values that are intended to reflect application planning and usage, such as Ideation, Design, Operational, and End of Life. These life cycle definitions are configured using the life_cycle_control table specifically for the cmdb_ci_business_application class. When you view or edit a Business Application record, however, additional Life Cycle Stage values such as Deploy and Inventory might also appear. These stages are not defined directly for Business Application, but are inherited from parent CI classes (for example, cmdb_ci) through the aggregation-based inheritance model that is used by life_cycle_control. In this model, life cycle definitions from the current CI class are combined with life cycle definitions from all parent classes in the CMDB class hierarchy. Child classes therefore extend parent life cycle definitions rather than overriding them. As a result, Business Application records can display Life Cycle Stage values that are applicable to infrastructure or hardware CIs but might not be semantically meaningful for applications. This behavior is expected and working as designed.

    In contrast, in sys_choice inheritance definitions in child tables override the values in parent tables.