One of the most common questions I hear in every CMDB or CSDM conversation is:

“Should this go in Business Application, or should it be created as a Business Service and Service Offering?”

This confusion happens everywhere — ITSM teams, application owners, architects, and even ServiceNow admins.

The good news? The answer is actually very simple once you understand the core idea.

Let’s break it down.

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Business Application ≠ Business Service

A Business Application (BA) is NOT the same thing as a Business Service (BS) or a Service Offering (BSO).

They may sound similar, but they serve very different purposes in the CMDB and CSDM.

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1. What is a Business Application?

A Business Application represents an enterprise software system that:

• Supports a business capability
• Has an owner
• Has an application admin team
• Has infrastructure behind it (servers, databases, integrations, or a SaaS backend)
• Requires lifecycle management
• Has architectural relevance

Think of it as: The “system” used to run business functions.

✔️ True examples of Business Applications

• Salesforce CRM
• Workday HCM
• SAP
• Oracle EBS
• ServiceNow
• HRMS platforms
• Banking core systems
• Manufacturing execution systems

All of these depend on application services, have support teams, and are tied to business processes.

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2. What is NOT a Business Application?

The biggest misunderstanding is around desktop software.

Software that is installed locally on a laptop or PC is NOT a business application.

Why?

Because these tools:

• Do not run on enterprise-managed servers
• Do not have application services
• Do not need application admins
• Do not have architecture documentation
• Are simply utilities installed on personal devices

❌ Not Business Applications

• Adobe Reader
• Microsoft Office (local install)
• WinZip
• Chrome / Firefox / Edge
• Notepad++
• VLC Player
• Any end-user tool installed via SCCM/Intune

These tools are part of the End-User Computing Service, not enterprise application architecture.

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3. Then what are these desktop tools?

These should be modeled as:

Business Service: End-User Productivity

Service Offering:

• Adobe Reader
• Office Suite
• WinZip
• Chrome
• PDF Printers
• Text Editors

These are offerings provided to employees so they can do their daily tasks — not enterprise systems.

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4. The right model: BA → App Service → BS → BSO

To simplify:

Business Application (Architecture Layer)

Describes what the application is.

Application Service (Technical Layer)

Describes how it runs — servers, SaaS backend, integrations.

Business Service (Service Management Layer)

Describes what we provide to users.

Service Offering (Service Catalog Layer)

Describes the individual offerings of that service.

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5. Practical Example: Workday

Layer	Record
Business Application	Workday
Application Service	Workday SaaS Subscription
Business Service	HR Management Service
Service Offering	Workday HR Operations

→ When creating Incidents, users select Service, Service Offering, or CI, not the Business Application.

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6. Practical Example: Adobe Reader

Layer	Record
Business Application	❌ None
Application Service	❌ None
Business Service	End-User Productivity
Service Offering	Adobe Reader

→ Adobe Reader is NOT a business application.

→ It's just an end-user software offering.

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7. The rule of thumb (Keep this handy!)

✔️ If the software depends on enterprise servers, DBs, integrations, or SaaS →

Business Application + Business Service + Service Offering

❌ If the software is simply installed on a laptop →

Service Offering only

(NO Business Application)

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8. Why this matters

Getting this wrong creates massive CMDB clutter:

• Hundreds of useless Business Applications
• No alignment with CSDM
• Incorrect Incident/Change routing
• Confusion during audits
• Misleading dashboards and metrics

When modeled correctly, however:

• Support teams know exactly what to pick in Incident forms
• Ownership is clear
• Architecture stays clean
• Dashboards show real insights
• CMDB remains healthy and easy to maintain

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Final Thoughts

The distinction is simple:

Enterprise systems = Business Applications

Desktop tools = Service Offerings

Once teams understand this, CMDB modeling becomes clean, predictable, and CSDM-compliant.

If you are often asked this question (like I am!), feel free to share this blog with your teams.

It eliminates 90% of the confusion around BA vs BS/BSO almost instantly.

PS:

I’ve personally struggled with this distinction in the past, and I know how confusing it can get when you're trying to model CMDB correctly. I hope this post helps simplify the thinking and enables more teams to understand CSDM a little better. If it clears even a bit of the confusion around Business Applications vs Business Services/Service Offerings, then the purpose of this post is achieved.

Few related articles : Types of Services CSDM , Support Group/Approval Group/Managed by Group/Change Group

Regards,

Pratiksha Khandelwal