What is ISO/IEC 20000-1 - Information technology about?
ISO/IEC 20000-1 is the first part of the multi-series standard that specifies requirements for an organization to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve a service management system (SMS). The requirements specified in ISO/IEC 20000-1 include the planning, design, transition, delivery, and improvement of services to meet the service requirements and deliver value.
Who is ISO/IEC 20000-1 - Information technology for?
ISO/IEC 200001 on information technology and service management is useful for:
- Service providers
- Public and private organizations
- Managers and team lead
Why should you use ISO/IEC 200001 - Information technology?
The adoption of a service management system (SMS) is a strategic decision for an organization and is influenced by the organization’s objectives, the governing body, other parties involved in the service lifecycle and the need for effective and resilient services.
ISO/IEC 20000-1 has been prepared to specify requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving a service management system (SMS). An SMS supports the management of the service lifecycle, including the planning, design, transition, delivery, and improvement of services, which meet agreed requirements and deliver value for customers, users and the organization delivering the services.
ISO/IEC 20000-1 informs that implementation and operation of an SMS provides ongoing visibility, control of services and continual improvement, leading to greater effectiveness and efficiency. Improvement for service management applies to SMS and services.
ISO/IEC 20000-1 is intentionally independent of specific guidance. The organization can use a combination of generally accepted frameworks and its own experience. The requirements specified in this document align with commonly used improvement methodologies. Appropriate tools for service management can be used to support the SMS.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 supersedes BS ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011. BS ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 includes some technical changes concerning BS ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011. These include:
- Restructured into the high-level structure used for all management system standards (from Annex SL of the Consolidated ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives Part 1). This has introduced new common requirements for the context of the organization, planning to achieve objectives and actions to address risks and opportunities. Some common requirements have updated previous requirements, for example, documented information, resources, competence, and awareness.
- Considered the growing trends in service management including topics such as the commoditisation of services, the management of multiple suppliers by an internal or external service integrator and the need to determine the value of services for customers.
- Removed some of the detail to concentrate on what to do and allow organizations the freedom of how to meet the requirements.
- Included new features such as the addition of requirements about knowledge and planning the services.
- Separated clauses that were previously combined for incident management, service request management, service continuity management, service availability management, service level management, service catalogue management, capacity management, demand management.

