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Product Catalog › Asset Management common applications › IT Service Management
Release: Australia · Updated: 2026-03-12 · Official documentation · View source

Model categories

Model categories associate CI classes with asset classes. Model categories are part of the Product Catalog application.

The model category configuration determines if the ServiceNow platform creates an asset from a CI, and, if so, what class of asset. Asset classes in the base system are Hardware, Software License, and Consumable. You can associate a model category to many models and a model to many model categories. For example, a specific model of a computer can be a Computer and a Server.

Image omitted: image.mmasset0021989-models-diagram
Model diagram

Any item that is provided as a service or sold to your customer is tracked as an Install Base Item (IBI). The Model category table associates Asset class, CI class, and Install Base Item (IBI) class.

Note: The Install Base Item class field is available on the Model category form only when the Customer Service Install Base Management [com.snc.install_base] plugin is installed. Currently, only the Medical device install base item [sn_hcls_medical_device_install_base_item] is supported when the Healthcare and Life Sciences Service Management Core application is installed. For more details, see Medical device install base item table. When an IBI class is created, it associates with an asset when the asset exists, otherwise an asset is created.

The fields in the Asset class and the IBI class are synchronized as follows:

  1. When an IBI class is updated, the Account, Consumer, Location, and Install date field changes are synchronized with the corresponding fields of the Asset class.

  2. When an Asset class is updated, the Location and Install date field changes are synchronized with the corresponding fields of the IBI class.

  3. View model categories
    Default model categories are included with product catalog. You can view a list of default categories and the categories that you created.

  4. Create model categories
    You can add custom model categories for your instance.
  5. Create assets manually
    The ServiceNow AI Platform does not create an asset automatically under certain conditions. You can create an asset manually as needed.
  6. Edit model categories
    All default model categories can be edited, except for the Contract model category. You can edit any custom model categories that you created at any time.
  7. Delete model categories
    If a model category is no longer needed, you can delete it.

Parent Topic:Product Catalog

Related topics

Components installed with Product Catalog

Models

Vendor catalog items

Product catalog items

Domain separation and Product Catalog

CMDB classifications and class dependency

Create an asset class