A **Business Application** is an entity within the [[Design & Planning (CSDM domain)|Design & Planning domain]] of the [[Common Service Data Model|Common Service Data Model]] (CSDM), a reference architecture developed by [[ServiceNow|ServiceNow]] that provides prescriptive guidance on service-related definitions and data modeling within the ServiceNow AI Platform. A Business Application represents all software and infrastructure configured to provide business functionality, serving as the logical representation of all instances used to increase productivity and perform business functions accurately. Business Applications are not operational [[Configuration item|configuration items]] and should not be used in [[Incident management (ITSM)|Incident]], [[Problem management|Problem]], or [[Change management (ITSM)|Change]] management processes. Business Applications are recorded in the cmdb_ci_business_app table and can span multiple environments (development, test, production) or geographies (Americas, APJ, EMEA). They are version-agnostic and serve as the inventory or portfolio of applications, distinct from the [[Application (CSDM)|Application]] table which contains discoverable instances. Business Applications reference [[Product Model (CSDM)|Product Models]] through the model_id attribute and can be related to [[Business Capability (CSDM)|Business Capabilities]] using [[CMDB relationship|CMDB relationships]] for visualization and reporting. The "architecture type" attribute includes choices for "platform app" and "platform host" to represent platform dependencies. Business Applications should be related to [[Application Service (CSDM)|Application Services]] using the "Uses::Used by" relationship to enable [[Enterprise Architecture (ServiceNow)|Enterprise Architecture]] capabilities such as Technology Portfolio Management risk assessment. While use is not required, Business Applications are recommended for planning transformations such as mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, cloud migrations, or cost reduction initiatives.