The delivery of IT services is critical for today-s successful business. ISO/IEC 20000, the new IT service management standard has been published to address this essential service provision. This new standard has replaced the world renowned British Standard, BS 15000.

ISO/IEC 20000 has been developed in order to meet the needs of the wider international audience and to provide a common understanding of the management of IT services worldwide. It covers the aspects of IT service management that are the cause of 80% of the total spend on IT by most organizations. As with BS 15000, the standard is issued in two parts and will enable service providers to understand how to enhance the quality of service delivered to their customers, both internal and external.

Part 1 is ISO/IEC 20000-1: Information technology service management. Specification for Service Management. This provides requirements for IT service management and is relevant to those responsible for initiating, implementing or maintaining IT service management in their organization. Organizations can have their IT service management systems independently certified as conforming to the requirements of ISO/IEC 20000-1:.

Part 2 is ISO/IEC 20000-2: Information technology service management. Code of Practice for Service Management. This gives guidance to internal auditors and assistance to service providers planning service improvements or preparing for audits against ISO/IEC 20000-1:.

There is very little difference between ISO/IEC 20000 and the original BS 15000. Changes were made to make it more applicable for an international audience. These changes were made to the format and structure; consistency between parts 1 and 2; alignment of objectives; standardization of terms and clarification of text. These minor changes clearly demonstrate the efficacy of the original British standard.

The international status of ISO/IEC 20000 is seen as key to its adoption worldwide. There is clear evidence that achieving certification against the standard delivers real value - whether it is demonstrating in-house quality or enabling the selection of suitable external partners.

Notes on ISO/IEC 20000:

ISO/IEC 20000: "promotes the adoption of an integrated process approach to effectively deliver managed services to meet the business and customer requirements". One of the minor changes is the alignment of Parts 1 and 2.

Part 1 comprises a number of sections, including Planning and Implementing Service Management; Requirements for a Management System; Planning & Implementing New or Changed Services; Service Delivery Process; Relationship Processes; Control Processes; Resolution Processes; and Release Process.

Part 2 is a 'code of practice', and describes the best practices for service management within the scope of ISO/IEC 20000 Part 1. It also comprises a number of sections, including Service Delivery Processes; Relationship Processes; Resolution Processes; Control Processes; Release Management Processes.

Together, this set is the world-s first standard for IT service management, and is fully compatible and supportive of the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) framework.

The new standard should be available from the itSMF bookstore within 5 working days

Date Posted: 16 December