Understanding the impact of CMDB data quality—and the cost of its absence—isn’t always easy. But it’s critical. Poor data quality can be the number one reason ServiceNow underperforms. Now, with the advent of AI everything, the problem is becoming very visible.
AI won’t deliver the expected results without good data. In fact, if you Google why AI projects fail, data quality is always mentioned as one of the root causes. As far as AI goes, CMDB and Foundational Data are critical since workflows and automations require the shared data they contain.
Data Content Manager is a ServiceNow-certified tool that helps address data quality issues in ServiceNow. Organizations use it to define and enforce data models, improve CMDB accuracy, and align with the Common Service Data Model (CSDM). All necessary for AI to deliver on its promise.
From our experience with organizations investing in data quality, we know it’s a journey. Convincing stakeholders to fund something as intangible as “better data quality” can be tough. But while investments in data quality might not create immediate new features, they enable the foundation for every capability on the ServiceNow platform—especially AI.
Let’s now look at five high-level challenges companies often face when improving CMDB data quality.
#1 Lack of Ownership & Commitment
Probably the #1 challenge organizations face in their data quality improvement endeavours is the absence of clear data ownership.
For instance, a Configuration Manager typically relies on numerous Business Application owners to oversee the data for their respective applications. Yet sometimes, these Business Application owners aren’t even aware of their responsibility to manage this data.
Compounding the issue, they are usually not familiar with data models, CMDB, or even ServiceNow. So, they might not know what to do when asked to update their data, even if they knew they needed to and wanted to.
To bring clarity to roles, responsibilities and expectations, we recommend the Consumer – Owner – Provider model. It is simple to understand, yet robust.
- Data Consumers are processes or individuals that utilize the data for specific objectives. They should articulate their needs, enabling Data Providers to cater to these demands.
- Data Owners are responsible for overarching concepts, data models, and the processes to maintain the data. Their role involves collaborating with Data Consumers and Data Providers to outline requirements, shape data models, and offer guidance.
- Data Providers are the processes or individuals tasked with generating and maintaining data. They collaborate closely with Data Owners to satisfy the needs of data consumers and often serve as domain-specific experts.
By leveraging this straightforward model, you can demystify roles and accountabilities.
Click here to learn more about establishing ownership in your CMDB.
#2: Overlooking Data Consumers
#2: Overlooking Data Consumers
Even when roles are defined, Data Consumers are surprisingly often overlooked. They might be hard to find or not perceived as experts in data quality, leading some to think their input is less relevant. This perspective is misguided.
Examples of Data Consumers include:
- Service Desk agents assigning tickets correctly.
- Change Managers analyzing impacts.
- Problem Analysts identifying root causes.
- Request Fulfillment processes using CI data to automate workflows.
- Finance teams allocating costs to the right Business Units.
These stakeholders interact with data daily and know when it doesn’t work. If you can’t identify a consumer for a data set, you should question whether it belongs in the CMDB at all.
Engaging Data Consumers strengthens business cases, clarifies priorities, and secures management buy-in.
Read more about preparing a Business Case for Data Quality Management.
#3 "Deliver the CSDM" is Unrealistic
The data in the CMDB needs to align with the CSDM. ServiceNow functionality relies on this, including AI. So, we sometimes talk to individuals who have been tasked with “delivering the CSDM, “ or “A CSDM”.
This framing is misleading. CSDM alignment isn’t a one-off project, and it requires more than a single person to accomplish.
CSDM is a journey. It reshapes how your organization structures and governs data over time. It’s also essential: if you want to unlock the full potential of ServiceNow and ServiceNow’s AI capabilities, you can’t ignore it.
The key is pragmatism. Even achieving the initial “Crawl” phase takes effort and time. Success comes from incremental steps, a committed team, and celebrating progress along the way.
To support this, we’ve developed the CSDM Content Pack for DCM. It provides pre-built, CSDM-compliant Blueprint templates (What’s a Blueprint?) that can be adapted to your needs, giving you a practical way to move forward.
Explore the CSDM Content Pack for Data Content Manager
#4: Data Quality Metrics are Generic
Data quality isn’t a solo sport—it involves many people. In large organizations with hundreds or thousands of Business Applications, many owners may not even be aware that they’re responsible for updating the CMDB.
We’ve already covered the C-O-P model for role clarity. The next barrier is motivation.
High-level KPIs like ServiceNow’s CMDB Health scores are useful, but they’re too broad for any individual to influence. That makes it hard for people to see the impact of their work.
DCM addresses this by providing granular KPIs, making improvements visible at the individual level. When someone updates their records, they see their metrics improve instantly. This makes data quality progress tangible, motivating, and even suitable for gamification and recognition.
Not only that, DCM provides gives the Data Providers a simple workspace that is specific to them. They can fix their data by pointing and clicking in a simple interface personal to them, instead of trying to find a needle in the haystack. We call it the DCM Data Quality Workspace.
Read How to Make CMDB Data Quality Personal.
#5: Vague, Ineffective Communication
When it comes to securing resources or rallying people, communication is paramount. However, the way you communicate can make a world of difference. Finally, communication can make or break your initiative. Compare these two approaches when asking for resources:
- “We think our CMDB might have issues. Aligning with CSDM seems important, but we don’t know where to start. Still, we’re confident it’s worth the effort.”
- “By auditing Business Applications in our CMDB with DCM, we benchmarked against CSDM Crawl requirements. Out of 1,387 apps, 622 don’t meet requirements and 280 lack owners. These gaps increase risk and have already led to costly incidents.”
The second approach wins every time. Why? Because it’s specific, measurable, and actionable.
Procrastination Doesn’t Improve Data Quality
We’ve heard it:
- “It’s too hard.”
- “We don’t have the resources.”
- “There’s no management support.”
- “We don’t have the skills or tools.”
Waiting and making excuses doesn’t fix the problem. AI, automation, and modern ServiceNow capabilities all demand high-quality data. If your leadership isn’t already driving data quality initiatives, they surely should.
By addressing the five challenges above, you’ll lay the foundation for success.
And you don’t have to do it alone. DCM is designed to help you overcome each of these barriers—and we make it easy to start with a guided trial.
Next Steps to Improve Your CMDB Data Quality
The next steps are straightforward:
- Schedule a demo with us to see how DCM turns firefighting into a systematic way of working.
- Get our Free Guided Trial to experience – with your own data - how quickly you can uncover and fix issues before they cause expensive problems.
Data quality is the foundation for everything. The sooner you start, the faster you’ll unlock the full value of your ServiceNow.
