scope:

This part of ISO/IEC 20000 represents an industry consensus on quality standards for IT service management processes. These service management processes deliver the best possible service to meet a customer's business needs within agreed resource levels, i.e. service that is professional, cost-effective and with risks which are understood and managed.

The variety of terms used for the same process, and between processes and functional groups (and job titles) can make the subject of service management confusing to the new manager. Failure to understand the terminology can be a barrier to establishing effective processes. Understanding the terminology is a tangible and significant benefit from ISO/IEC 20000. This part of ISO/IEC 20000 recommends that service providers should adopt common terminology and a more consistent approach to service management. It gives a common basis for improvements in services. It also provides a framework for use by suppliers of service management tools.

As a process based standard this code of practice is not intended for product assessment. However, organizations developing service management tools, products and systems may use both the specification and the code of practice to help them develop tools, products and systems that support best practice service management.

This part of ISO/IEC 20000 provides guidance to auditors and offers assistance to service providers planning service improvements or to be audited against ISO/IEC 20000-1.

ISO/IEC 20000-1 specifies a number of related service management processes