The IT industry has become a major part of daily operations. In fact, depending on the type of organisation, the success of the business depends on it. For example, if a company’s website is out of service for an extended period, they lose customers; this is especially true for e-commerce websites like Takealot and Amazon. To combat this, an IT Service Management System is needed to identify and fix issues as soon as they arise. This is where the ISO 20000 series comes into play as it describes a combined set of management processes which forms a Service Management System to ensure effective service delivery.
ISO 20000-1 is the international standard for quality management and is designed to help businesses deliver effectively managed IT services to its customers and strive to maintain those standards over time. It is aligned and fully compatible with the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework.
ISO 20000-1:2011 vs. ISO 20000-1:2018
According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 20000-1:2018 specifies the requirements for an organisation to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve a service management system (SMS).
ISO 20000-1 was first developed in 2005 (ISO 20000-1:2005) and was revised twice – once in 2011 (20000-1:2011) and again in (20000-1:2018). It is based on BS 15000 which was developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and was the world’s first service management standard. It was ultimately made obsolete in 2007.
Below is a list of notable changes to ISO 20000-1:2018:
- ISO 20000-1:2018 follows the common structure of Annex SL which makes the implementation of multiple standards easier.
- ISO 20000-1:2018 reflects the latest developments in service management. Topics now include the management of multiple suppliers and the need to determine the value of services.
- New requirements covering knowledge and the planning of services have been added.
- Several previously combined clauses have now been separated.
- The section known previously as “Governance of processes operated by other parties” has been renamed “Control of parties involved in the service lifestyle”.
- Requirements within the “Control of parties involved in the service lifestyle” section have been updated to include services, service components and processes.
- Clause 3 of the standard has been separated into sub-clauses for management system terms and service management terms.
- The term “service provider” has been replaced by the term “organisation” to align the standard with Annex SL.
Who can be certified?
ISO 20000 is the only standard for service management. Until recently, the ISO 20000 series has been used mostly for IT services but is gaining traction in other areas to aid business practices and decision making. It can therefore be used by any organisation regardless of its size, domain or industry.
Becoming certified requires the organisation to take three steps:
First, an analysis must be performed to analyse the existing IT Service Management System and compare it with the requirements of ISO 20000.
Next, a formal assessment is needed to review current IT service management across all departments against an ISO/IEC 20000 checklist. If any information technology gaps are found, the business has the opportunity to close them.
Finally, Certification and beyond. Once the business has passed the formal assessment, an ISO/IEC 20000 certificate will be issued. This is valid for three years.
Benefits of certification
One of the major benefits of adopting the ISO 20000-1 standard is that it allows organisations to demonstrate its commitment to service delivery and customer satisfaction by meeting and ultimately exceeding the industry’s requirements. Additionally, the benefits of implementing ISO 20000-1 include:
- Improved supplier-based relationships
- The easy alignment and integration of ISO 20000-1:2018 with business strategies.
- Global recognition by complying with the standard and staying ahead of the competition.
- An increase in credibility which leads to customer confidence.
- A decrease in incidents and outages.
- A reduction in costs.
- Proactive service management and ongoing organisational improvement.
How WWISE can help
WWISE develops systems, repairs, maintains and improves them to ensure optimal competitiveness and efficiency for the client companies. To speak to a consultant on how we can assist your business to prepare for ISO 20000-1:2018 certification, send us an email
mailto:admin@wwise.co.za or call us on
08610 99473. You can also visit our website at
https://www.wwise.co.za for more information on other ISO standards we can assist with as well as other services we provide.