This webinar was originally recorded in September 2020 and reflects CSDM 3.0 ServiceNow's Common Service Data Model has evolved significantly since then, but the session remains a useful look at the principles behind the Crawl stage and the practical challenge of turning a target data model into manageable improvement work.
Mark Bodman, then Senior Product Manager for CSDM at ServiceNow, explains the thinking behind CSDM 3.0 and the Crawl stage. Mikko Juola then demonstrates how Data Content Manager can be used to define data requirements, compare live ServiceNow data against the model, and identify the gaps that need attention.
If you are implementing CSDM today, use this recording as historical and practical context rather than current implementation guidance. ServiceNow continues to recommend a staged approach to CSDM adoption rather than trying to implement the entire model at once.
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CSDM Crawl: what this early approach still teaches us
CSDM has changed considerably since this webinar was recorded, but one of the central ideas behind the Crawl stage remains useful: start with enough structure to make your ServiceNow data operationally useful before trying to model everything.
CSDM adoption can quickly become overwhelming when the goal is expressed simply as “implement CSDM.” The model covers applications, services, infrastructure, foundation data, relationships, ownership, and increasingly broader parts of the ServiceNow platform.
The Crawl approach helps turn that large target into a smaller starting point.
Start by connecting applications to their operational context
In CSDM 3.0, Crawl placed particular emphasis on establishing the basic connections between Business Applications, Application Services, and the infrastructure supporting them.
The terminology and model have evolved since 2020, but the underlying data-quality challenge remains recognizable.
A Business Application record on its own provides limited operational context.
Likewise, discovering a server tells you that infrastructure exists, but not necessarily which application or service depends on it.
Relationships are what allow ServiceNow teams to move from an inventory of records toward a connected service model.
That context can support use cases such as:
- Understanding which applications and services depend on infrastructure
- Improving impact analysis
- Clarifying ownership and responsibility
- Supporting more consistent service reporting
- Creating a foundation for more advanced CSDM adoption
Do not try to implement the whole CSDM model at once
One of the useful principles behind Crawl is that CSDM maturity should be progressive.
Even today, ServiceNow recommends implementing CSDM in stages rather than attempting to introduce every element at once. The current model uses Foundation, Crawl, Walk, Run, and Fly to describe that progression. ServiceNow's current CSDM guidance explains the latest version of that staged approach.
For a ServiceNow team, this means the immediate question does not need to be:
“How do we implement the entire CSDM?”
A better starting question is:
“Which part of the model do we need next for the outcome we are trying to support?”
Define the minimum requirements before measuring compliance
Before measuring CSDM alignment, teams need a practical definition of what they expect from the data.
That may include:
- Which records should exist
- Which relationships are required
- Which ownership information should be present
- Which attributes are important for the use case
- Which records are currently in scope
Once those expectations are explicit, the live ServiceNow environment can be assessed against them.
That is more useful than working toward a broad percentage for “CSDM compliance” without being clear about what the percentage represents.
Use the target model to identify actionable gaps
The DCM demonstration in this session shows the basic idea of using a visual target model as more than documentation.
The expected records and relationships are defined first, and the live data can then be compared with that model.
This shifts the conversation from:
“Our CSDM implementation is incomplete.”
to specific questions such as:
- Which required relationships are missing?
- Which records do not meet the agreed requirements?
- Which part of the model should we improve next?
- Who is responsible for validating or correcting the data?
That principle remains relevant even though the CSDM version demonstrated in the recording is no longer current.
Build CSDM maturity progressively
The practical lesson from Crawl is not that every organization should reproduce the exact CSDM 3.0 model shown in this 2020 session.
It is that useful CSDM adoption needs a manageable starting point.
Define the outcome.
Select the data domain.
Agree on the minimum records and relationships required.
Measure the current state.
Improve the gaps.
Then add more detail as the operating model matures.
For current implementation guidance, see our CSDM in ServiceNow: How to Align and Succeed guide.
You can also continue through the original historical webinar series with CSDM 3.0: Walking & Running with DCM and CSDM 3.0: Flying with DCM.
