Hi,
In April 2011, publication of Part I of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard was released.
Around three months following from this, the UK Cabinet Office published the update to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
This post helps address a number of questions related to ISO 20000 and the 2011 update of the ITIL framework. It discusses three areas where ITIL and ISO 20000 are complementary. Questions addressed include the following:
What is the focus of each of these systems? How can value be gained from them? Are they able to operate in synergy?
If you consider that ITIL is a library of of best-practice guidance. It demonstrates guidance through which the IT organisation may plan for, design, transition, manage and improve IT services.
However, Management often want to implement a median-level of ITIL guidance (you could say 'Level 3' from a scale of Level 0 to Level 5). They desire guidance on what parts of ITIL need to be implemented to achieve such a level.
Therefore, this post suggest three areas where the ITIL Framework and the ISO 20000 standard complement one another. In other words, where the two systems may be used in parallel to achieve the greatest level of value.
1. ISO 20000 helps with ITIL scoping
Scoping of ITIL projects is a challenge to say the least. One of the key aspects to consider is that of maturity. We already discussed how many, if not most organisations can suffice with an 'average' level of ITIL process maturity.
The ISO 20000 standard provides control requirements across majority of the principle ITIL processes up to the equivalent of a Level 3 – which more than the often, suits both IT service providers and customer requirements fairly well.
An assessment of your organisation against the ISO standard and defining the requisite initiatives to close gaps provides well for clarifying an agreed scope for ITIL project scoping.
2. ISO 20000 helps maintain ITIL implementation
Process enhancement all the often executes as a project with guidance provided by ITIL Experts/Consultants.
But how does the organisation continue to maintain the relevance of the policies, procedures and processes once the project is over? Much hard work is invested within both their development and implementation, therefore there need to be smart methods of retaining process alignment longer-term.
ISO 2000 is invaluable in this regard from a number of aspects, such as the following:
3. ISO 20000 and ITIL have Unique Differences
The former is a standard - a collection of explicit controls whose implementation can be audited against, i.e. a 'what to' approach.
The latter contains tried and tested, best practice guidance for managing quality, business-aligned IT services, i.e. a 'how to' approach.
One example that demonstrates how the differences between ISO 20000 and ITIL actually address gaps is that of the Service Reporting process.
The 2011 update of ITIL recedes Service Reporting and Service Measurement to becoming a technique or method. This runs the danger of this extremely important area being neglected over time. However, ISO 20000 bring the due focus on reporting back by devoting a section of the standard to this process.
Best regards,
Musab Qureshi
musabqureshi4@yahoo.co.uk
In April 2011, publication of Part I of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard was released.
Around three months following from this, the UK Cabinet Office published the update to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
This post helps address a number of questions related to ISO 20000 and the 2011 update of the ITIL framework. It discusses three areas where ITIL and ISO 20000 are complementary. Questions addressed include the following:
What is the focus of each of these systems? How can value be gained from them? Are they able to operate in synergy?
If you consider that ITIL is a library of of best-practice guidance. It demonstrates guidance through which the IT organisation may plan for, design, transition, manage and improve IT services.
However, Management often want to implement a median-level of ITIL guidance (you could say 'Level 3' from a scale of Level 0 to Level 5). They desire guidance on what parts of ITIL need to be implemented to achieve such a level.
Therefore, this post suggest three areas where the ITIL Framework and the ISO 20000 standard complement one another. In other words, where the two systems may be used in parallel to achieve the greatest level of value.
1. ISO 20000 helps with ITIL scoping
Scoping of ITIL projects is a challenge to say the least. One of the key aspects to consider is that of maturity. We already discussed how many, if not most organisations can suffice with an 'average' level of ITIL process maturity.
The ISO 20000 standard provides control requirements across majority of the principle ITIL processes up to the equivalent of a Level 3 – which more than the often, suits both IT service providers and customer requirements fairly well.
An assessment of your organisation against the ISO standard and defining the requisite initiatives to close gaps provides well for clarifying an agreed scope for ITIL project scoping.
2. ISO 20000 helps maintain ITIL implementation
Process enhancement all the often executes as a project with guidance provided by ITIL Experts/Consultants.
But how does the organisation continue to maintain the relevance of the policies, procedures and processes once the project is over? Much hard work is invested within both their development and implementation, therefore there need to be smart methods of retaining process alignment longer-term.
ISO 2000 is invaluable in this regard from a number of aspects, such as the following:
- The ISO standard has Management and Governance built-in as an explicit set of controls. This provides amongst other things, a mechanism and schedule for auditing the compliance of the ITIL processes. What this does is provide assurance that IT maintains its compliance on a continuous basis.
- All updates are mandated to be approved through the Change Management process - this helps maintain the relevance of documentation.
- The controls of ISO 20000 provide management with demonstrable evidence of process compliance. The standard mandates requirements using the verb 'shall' thus stipulating mandatory activities to ensure ITIL process compliance.
- In order for the organisation to retain certification status, minor audits are mandated annually and full audits every three years. This also serves to ensure continued compliance.
3. ISO 20000 and ITIL have Unique Differences
The former is a standard - a collection of explicit controls whose implementation can be audited against, i.e. a 'what to' approach.
The latter contains tried and tested, best practice guidance for managing quality, business-aligned IT services, i.e. a 'how to' approach.
One example that demonstrates how the differences between ISO 20000 and ITIL actually address gaps is that of the Service Reporting process.
The 2011 update of ITIL recedes Service Reporting and Service Measurement to becoming a technique or method. This runs the danger of this extremely important area being neglected over time. However, ISO 20000 bring the due focus on reporting back by devoting a section of the standard to this process.
Best regards,
Musab Qureshi
musabqureshi4@yahoo.co.uk
