CSM Configurable Workspace, Portals, and Agent Experience
Two surfaces, two audiences
The CSM Configurable Workspace is the agent-facing experience, built on Next Experience and configured in UI Builder. You compose pages and page variants, list menus, the ribbon, record pages, and the contextual side panel. Playbooks give the agent a guided step sequence; Advanced Work Assignment (AWA) routes work items into the agent's inbox based on service channels, queues, agent skills, capacity, and availability. Agent Assist surfaces knowledge and similar cases.
The Service Portal is the customer-facing experience: pages assembled from widgets (create case, case list, knowledge search, approvals), catalog items and record producers, and the Virtual Agent chat widget. Portal users are restricted by role and ACLs so they see only their own account's or their own cases.
Traps candidates fall into
First, mixing surfaces: a question about ribbon, list menu, side panel, or page variant is Workspace; a question about widgets or self-service catalog is Portal. Second, assuming classic UI16 configuration applies - workspace layout is UI Builder, not form layout. Third, forgetting AWA prerequisites: without a service channel and queue (and agent capacity/availability) work will not route. Fourth, assuming agents get work pushed automatically when AWA is not enabled.
Worked rule of thumb: read the subject of the sentence. "Agent needs to…" → Configurable Workspace and AWA. "Customer needs to…" → Service Portal or Virtual Agent. Configuration language mentioning UI Builder, pages, or variants → Workspace.