ServiceNow CSDM implementation and CMDB reimplementation

Challenge

Following the rapid establishment of ServiceNow capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent transition from Test and Trace to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an opportunity emerged to enhance the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) within the ServiceNow platform.

The initial ServiceNow implementation had successfully delivered core functionality during a critical public health emergency, but as UKHSA evolved, the organisation recognised the strategic importance of maturing its CMDB capabilities. An independent assessment highlighted areas for improvement in the existing configuration management approach.
UKHSA's forward-thinking leadership identified the value of implementing a more robust, industry-aligned CMDB structure to support the agency's ambitious transformation roadmap.

The organisation sought to establish a trusted, accurate, and sustainable CMDB framework that would enhance IT service management functions, optimise operational efficiency, and position ServiceNow as the strategic source of truth for the organisation's future initiatives.

Solution

Methods, as UKHSA's strategic partner, undertook a comprehensive six-month project to rebuild the CMDB and implement ServiceNow's Common Service Data Model (CSDM) from scratch. The implementation followed a phased approach aligned with CSDM best practices.

The team first established the Foundation Domain, ensuring accurate base data for other domains. This included defining and implementing Business Processes, Product Models, Configuration Item Groups, Life Cycle Data, and Common Data.

Building on this foundation, the Design Domain was implemented to support digital product planning, creating relationships between Configuration Items and Services to enhance decision-making capabilities and define Business Applications.

The Build Domain implementation supported the systems development lifecycle by establishing tables representing logical development details for enterprise applications used within UKHSA.

Next, the Manage Technical Services Domain was implemented, focusing on tables used by IT Operations Management (ITOM) products. This phase included designing and implementing Technical Services, Technical Service Offerings, Dynamic CI groups, Applications, and Application Services - key components for supporting current ITSM operations and future ITOM initiatives.

The Sell/Consume Domain implementation established Business Services, Business Service Offerings, and Service Portfolios, ensuring accurate reflection of business services consumed across the organisation while preparing for potential future Service Portfolio Management.

Finally, the Manage Portfolio Domain defined ownership and responsibilities across all services, service offerings, and previous CSDM domains. This challenging phase required UKHSA to adopt new approaches aligned with best practices to ensure future success.

Impact

The complete CSDM and CMDB implementation was successfully deployed to UKHSA's Production environment, meeting all project milestones. The successful go-live was followed by an exceptionally quiet Early Life Support period, indicating a smooth transition.

Senior stakeholders considered the project a great success, with Methods delivering on all promises:

• improved ITSM processes
• established governance to protect the CMDB
• positioning UKHSA for future success with its ServiceNow roadmap and strategic objectives.

The transformation established a solid foundation for UKHSA's ServiceNow platform, enabling additional transformation initiatives. Looking ahead, UKHSA and Methods are already collaborating on several transformative projects, building on the previous year's work by introducing Discovery, Service Mapping, and Hardware Asset Management capabilities.

This successful implementation empowered UKHSA to confidently pursue its strategic objectives while positioning Methods as a key partner for ongoing ServiceNow-enabled transformation.