How to quantify the value of CSDM and showcase it to stakeholders
What makes a CSDM journey successful, and why do some of us (many, in fact) struggle with it? CSDM might be the most misunderstood topic within ITOM. After establishing a CMDB, it may seem logical to begin modeling your data, applications, and services. However, before diving into CSDM and the value it truly brings to organizations, let’s distinguish CSDM from other ITOM concepts and topics. It’s an entirely different feature, so let’s aim to understand its ideas and values in this CSDM deep dive first.
CSDM as framework for connecting your business with service operations
The reason we will separate CSDM from ITOM is that it is not a tangible framework that t can be easily shown in demos. It requires higher-level thinking at a conceptual level. Questions like how to model your applications and services in the CMDB, infrastructure, and IT systems; align business stakeholders and their expectations; and map and define all applications, technical systems, and business end-consumers cannot be answered with a fixed approach. These questions can be addressed in many ways, depending on the organization’s maturity, intentions, capabilities, and objectives.
The values and benefits of CSDM are like gravity and force: you only observe their effects, meaning you can only measure their impact on your business stakeholders, technical teams, and systems after implementation—not before.
CSDM is a unique journey for everyone
That being said, the effect and impact can vary significantly across different organizations, teams, and systems. As CSDM is not a fixed framework with a single approach or a constant force acting upon you 24/7, 365 days a year, it means every organization will have a unique CSDM journey rather than a standardized, one-size-fits-all experience. This is another key insight to keep in mind as we progress further in this CSDM value deep dive. Numerous factors will influence the success of your CSDM rollout, including both technical aspects and human psychology.
The aim of this intelligence briefing is to provide you with the necessary insights from successfully implemented CSDM projects to develop your own capabilities in creating your CSDM journey, rather than simply explaining what it is. We also aim to simplify CSDM concepts and provide insights to prove its values for your teams. Understanding CSDM requires considerable experience, including learning from failures and implementations. This briefing is drafted to provide you with the data perspective in helping you pitch the value of CSDM.
What do we mean by CSDM value and how do we measure it?
An organization is considered to have achieved value with CSDM when it successfully meets the goals and objectives it has set for its CSDM initiatives. Value can be subjective and may vary based on the organization’s specific goals and objectives. For example, this could range from improving data quality and consistency within the CMDB to enhancing service management, reporting, or developing decision-making capabilities across various ServiceNow applications.
Other ways organizations can create value include realizing ROI through cost and process optimizations, saving resources, or delivering improved services that support business activities and add value to other business units.
We developed a framework based on these criteria to assess whether organizations have achieved their CSDM roadmap goals and realized platform, cultural, or other outcomes, such as improved transparency or governance with CSDM. We then reached out to various organizations to survey their CSDM journey. After receiving good response from the industry, we benchmarked values & outcomes they have achieved and evaluated who benefited from the CSDM implementation and how it addressed their specific pain points.
The results speak for itself. We received a good response in our CSDM Values & Outcomes benchmarking survey from 35 large enterprises worldwide. Now, let’s break down the insights from the survey data.
What does the data from 35 CSDM journeys at enterprises worldwide tell us?
We observe a significant effort among enterprises worldwide to achieve value with CSDM, intending to drive change in their service landscape. This means there has not been a single enterprise that achieved no value or outcome at all; however, some may achieve only limited outcomes or just a few of the intended benefits.
Improved Governance after CSDM implementation was a great success
- While only a minority (10%<) of respondents initially intended to focus on governance, 50% of the correspondents ultimately achieved significant improvements in governance, e.g. ownership, accountability, documentation, and compliance after implementing CSDM. This highlights that CSDM can significantly improve governance and ownership.
- Achieving transparency across service landscape was a key focus area
With 70% of respondents aiming to improve it, and 60% successfully achieving this goal, making significant progress in increasing visibility across their service landscape, which is essential for informed decision-making and operational efficiency. - ITSM process improvements delivered solid results, with 60% of respondents setting out to improve incident and change management processes, and two thirds of them successfully achieving this goal. This demonstrates that although challenges exist in achieving improved ITSM, the majority of correspondents succeed.
- Cost tracking and financial calculations saw notable success. While few respondents (10%) intended to enhance cost tracking, a quarter of all the respondent ultimately improved cost tracking & financial calculations with CSDM; twice the organizations intending to improve it with CSDM, reflecting ongoing improvements in optimizing financial tracking and gaining better financial oversight with CSDM by many organizations.
Different CSDM values & outcomes realized at different maturity levels
The CSDM journeys reveal the differences in maturity levels across enterprises. While some organizations have fully realized key goals—such as enabling precise cost tracking for services or improving ITSM processes—others remain in the early stages of their implementation. This uneven progress indicates that while the adoption of CSDM is widespread, the pace of transformation is highly dependent on the enterprise’s starting point, resources, and strategic alignment. Enterprises in the “crawl” phase are beginning to build their as-is and to-be models but are yet to see full benefits, while more mature organizations are already reaping the rewards of a well-implemented CSDM framework.
What ServiceNow Platform Values do Organizations enable with CSDM?
- Enabling new features and functionalities to get more value from ServiceNow platform:
The majority of the respondents used CSDM to enable new features and functionalities to get more value and opportunities from their ServiceNow platform. Meaning that organizations want to do more with their ServiceNow platform. - Strong shift back-to-the-Box:
The strong preference for going back to the out-of-the-box functionalities is not a surprising shift, indicating that it’s still the focus of many organizations to minimize customization. This move points to a broader trend of simplifying ServiceNow implementations for long-term sustainability. - Cost reduction is a major driver:
Reducing platform costs, particularly by minimizing manual work and maintenance efforts, was a major success realized by half the respondents. This suggests that cost-saving measures are becoming an increasingly critical part of ServiceNow optimization strategies. - Early-stage organizations focus on simplification:
Some organizations, particularly those in earlier stages of their CSDM journey, are placing significant emphasis on reducing complexity and technical debt as foundational goals. This prioritization shows that organizations are increasingly recognizing the value of starting with a simplified, manageable platform.
Did CSDM bring any cultural benefits?
- Strengthened sense of ownership and accountability as major cultural benefit:
Many enterprises reported that CSDM has installed a stronger sense of ownership and accountability among their teams. This cultural shift is key for the successful management of services, as it promotes a mindset where individuals take greater responsibility for the services they oversee. The improvement in accountability is a natural outcome from an improved sense of ownership. Leading to a more engaged individual enabler. - Not surprising, enhanced governance and control as a significant cultural benefit:
Significant improvement in governance. The outcome reflects a continued broader organizational focus toward a more structured approach to managing services. - Improved service delivery mindset:
Respondents frequently mentioned that the CSDM implementation improved service delivery mindset within their organizations. This mindset shift indicates that employees are not just focused on fulfilling technical tasks but are also aligning their work with broader service outcomes. By adopting a service-first mentality, organizations are creating a culture where employees prioritize the quality, reliability, and performance of the services they deliver. This cultural transformation is central to the ongoing success of IT and business services in a CSDM-enabled environment.
Case study: What values & outcomes did an enterprise in the manufacturing sector achieve with CSDM?
Scope and Roadmap Focus
- Business Services, Business service offerings, Business Application
- Technical Services, Technical service offerings
The scope expanded to include both Technical and Business Service Offerings
- Application Service
- Service Commitments
- Documentation of subscribe by and available for
Realized Platform Values
- Going more Back-to-the-Box:
Emphasis was placed on minimizing customizations by leveraging ServiceNow’s out-of-the-box features, reducing technical debt, and enhancing platform capabilities. - Enabling New Features and Functionalities with CSDM:
A strong push towards creating new features and automation functionalities, unlocking more value and capabilities from ServiceNow platform. - Decreased Technical Debt:
Standardizing the platform to reduce complexity and customizations, making it more sustainable and easier to maintain.
Cultural Benefits
- Improved Ownership and Accountability:
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities ensured that each service component has a designated owner, fostering a stronger sense of accountability within teams. - Enhanced Service Delivery Mindset:
CSDM encouraged a service-focused culture, leading teams to prioritize customer-centered and consistent service delivery.
Outcomes Achieved
- Significantly improved Transparency Across the Service Landscape:
With CSDM, it achieved a clear, unified view of all service components, enabling stakeholders to understand service dependencies and impacts across the service landscape more effectively. - Improved Governance beyond expectations:
After defining roles and responsibilities, ensuring data accuracy and compliance, a significant improvement in accountability and service management was observed. Especially using benchmarked Ownership models based on industry best practices. - Optimized ITSM Processes:
Enabling more accurate incident, problem, and change management through a clear view of service dependencies and impacts.
Challenges
- Time & Complexity of CSDM Concepts:
The project required more time than anticipated due to the complexity of CSDM concepts, especially for the IT department and key business stakeholders. Main challenges in delays are increased time to understanding complex CSDM concepts, lack of resources and the necessary time intensive transformation needed for CSDM.
How to pitch the values of CSDM to others
Proven use cases and data on the values achieved by other organizations can help kick-start your own CSDM journey or evolve your CMDB and CSDM initiatives to the next level. CSDM can play a crucial role in transforming your organization into a service minded enterprise, where digital services become key strategic drivers for delivering business value and enhancing customer service. So, how can we best pitch its value to key decision-makers and your teams?
Here are some key takeaways to use in your CSDM pitch
Understand Organizational Objectives and Capabilities
First, map out what your organization and its stakeholders want to achieve with CSDM. While objectives vary based on business goals, you can tailor the CSDM approach to address existing issues or drive organizational transformation. Depending on your goals and capabilities, you may choose a top-down or bottom-up approach.
Although the CSDM whitepaper suggests a phased approach, you don’t have to strictly adhere to it. We’ve observed that organizations tend to follow an approach suited to their objectives and capabilities. This tailored approach has proven more effective than strictly following a phased approach or attempting a large-scale CSDM transformation that often leads to scope creep and diminishing value over time.
By aligning CSDM with your specific organizational goals, you can start small—perhaps by focusing on a few business applications (make the scope not too small)—to achieve quicker results, demonstrate early wins, and showcase value, then scale up to cover more use cases across the business. Early success builds momentum and garners buy-in from your teams. Ultimately, align the CSDM journey with your organization’s current state rather than trying to force your organization into a prescribed CSDM approach.
Showcase Value and Best Practices for Each Use Case and Stakeholder
Leverage industry benchmarks and best practices to determine the optimal path for achieving the objectives within scope. Demonstrate what can be achieved for each stakeholder, highlighting the value they will gain, and the steps needed to get there, drawing inspiration from other CSDM journeys.
Establish the Optimal Governance for Your Organization from the Start
A key observation from CSDM survey data is that organizations often overlook governance in their roadmaps and scope. Interestingly, governance improvements emerged as a standout success. Although only 5% of respondents initially intended to focus on governance, 50% ultimately achieved significant gains in ownership, accountability, documentation, and compliance. This highlights a strong shift toward reinforcing internal controls and governance frameworks.
These are just some of the key takeaways. Read the CSDM benchmark reports for more in-depth knowledge and insights!
