Branimir Valentic
July 12, 2016
It’s easy to talk to the people who are familiar with ISO standards, i.e., their purpose and pros & cons of the implementation. But, let’s be honest – such people are the minority. There are many more who know a bit about the standards and have their own opinions about them. I have seen realistic expectations (from implemented ISO standards), but I have seen many more unrealistic ones.
The same goes for ISO 20000 implementation. As a standard, it defines the Service Management System (SMS) end encompasses the whole lifecycle of a service. It sounds promising, but does that mean that, by implementing ISO 20000, an organization will excel in service delivery? Let’s see.
If you would have to answer the question set above, firstly – you will need to understand who the major stakeholders of your services are and what their expectations are. So, your major stakeholders are your customers and your management. There are two of them and they are cross-connected. Your management wants your customer to be satisfied with IT service delivery, and your customer will complain at your management if they are not satisfied.
So, these were the expectations. But, what does it look like in real life? Does an ISO 20000-based SMS guarantee that your team achieved a high level of efficiency, your costs are under control and funds are optimally used, and your customers are satisfied? Well, the reality looks different.
What you will find in real life is the following:
Back to the question from the introduction. It may sound confusing, but it does pay to have an SMS in place. Namely, by implementing an SMS you give yourself the opportunity to be efficient and have your organization and processes managed. Sure, there is no guarantee that your SMS is perfect once you implement ISO 20000, but controlling the risks of having ad-hoc processes and a self-organized IT Service support team is worth the effort.
Like in life, it’s the same in IT Service Management – there is no magic wand that will make your work a fairytale. But that shouldn’t bother you. ISO 20000 gives you an excellent foundation to excel in service delivery and make your customers and your management smile. And it’s up to you what you make out of it – a success story, or…
Use this free ISO 20000 Gap Analysis Tool to check your compliance with ISO 20000 requirements.