ISO 20000 : 2018 Information technology — Service management

The requirements in ISO20000 part one is supplemented by guidance contained in part two. Even though it isn’t a requirement for certification, part two is well worth reading as it fills in some of the gaps in understanding how the requirements in part one should be met and gives more clues about what the auditor may be looking for.

When looking at IT service management the emphasis is usually on the delivery of IT services and the processes used to support them. And it’s right that this should be the focus; it is, after all, the main deliverable of the whole ITSM idea.

The ISO20000 standard proposes that we don’t just need a set of processes; we need a Service Management System or SMS. The function of the SMS is to wrap itself around the processes (such as incident, change and configuration management) .

Benefits:

  • Demonstrate reliability and high quality of service;
  • Access key markets, as many public-sector organisations mandate that their IT service providers demonstrate compliance with ISO 20000;
  • Assure clients that their service requirements will be fulfilled;
  • Enforce a measurable level of effectiveness and a culture of continual improvement by enabling service providers to monitor, measure and review their service management processes and services;
  • Access additional material on security management and managing suppliers and the business.