When organizations transition from legacy CMDB status fields (such as custom install status or operational status values) to CSDM-aligned lifecycle status fields, the goal is to map old values to standardized lifecycle stages without disrupting existing processes. In ServiceNow, this is achieved through the Life Cycle Mapping table.
The Life Cycle Mapping table is specifically designed to translate legacy or custom status values into CSDM lifecycle stages and statuses. This allows organizations to preserve historical data and integrations while progressively adopting CSDM standards. By modifying this table, administrators can define how existing status values correspond to CSDM lifecycle stages such as Plan, Build, Deploy, Operate, and Retire .
The Life Cycle Stages table (Option A) defines the standard stages themselves and should not be modified, as these are core to CSDM governance. Life Cycle Stage Status (Option C) defines valid statuses within a stage and is also part of the standardized model. Life Cycle Controls (Option D) enforce governance rules but do not perform value translation.
Therefore, to safely transition from legacy status fields to CSDM lifecycle statuses, the correct and supported approach is to modify the Life Cycle Mapping table, making Option B the correct answer.