ISO 20000 ( IT Service Management Certification )
ISO/IEC 20000 is an internationally recognized standard for IT Service Management. The standard outlines how to implement IT services that are driven by and support business objectives – rather than just technology needs. By achieving the ISO 20000 certification, your organization will be able to gain benefits such as: improving corporate image and credibility, increased customer confidence, reduction in incidents and improved incident management.
What are they, really?
- Implementation of ISO 20000 encompasses the business of the company, as well as operation of the services, which implies many options. We could argue about every single process and what ISO 20000 brings, but that would lead to endless discussion. Let’s stay at the service, i.e., process level. In that case, the benefits of the ISO 20000 implementation are:
- Competitiveness and credibility – implementing ISO 20000 is your way to improve your company’s reputation (because you’ve adopted an internationally recognized standard for IT service management), competitive edge (because of your ability to compete with much bigger, well-organized competitors), perception and image (an ISO certificate, generally, improves the way partners/suppliers and customers perceive the organization), and credibility (e.g., your customers will trust you when they see that your internal organization and processes are aligned with ISO 20000).
- Compliance – by your implementation of an ISO standard, your customers know what they should expect; i.e., there are clear evaluation criteria (e.g., by implementing ISO 20000 they know what to expect from the Change Management or Incident Management process). Additionally, ISO 20000 takes care that legal or other regulations (e.g., security/ISO 27001) and their requirements are considered.
- Customer satisfaction – is there anything better in business than a satisfied customer? Well, implementing ISO 20000 makes it much easier to control IT service delivery processes and fulfillment of SLA targets (through having defined and implemented incident and problem management processes with respective roles and their responsibilities, as well as having monitoring and measurement in place). That improves the efficiency of your service management team and organization – a fact that makes your management happy.
- Productivity – let’s assume you are responsible for the whole IT service management team. Imagine a situation where everyone is clear about who does what and when, processes are defined, documented and in place, interfaces between them are clear… etc. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, ISO 20000 provides that agility. Big companies have already gained a lot of experience in IT service management, but smaller companies need an “instant” solution – they don’t have the time and resources to start from scratch. Further on, by having people and processes under control, it shouldn’t be hard to control (and optimize) your costs. Believe me, management will like that.
- Benchmark and improvement – ISO 20000 is a recognized standard for IT service management. By having it implemented, you can compare your organizational setup, processes, and services with those of other organizations (particularly with those that have also implemented the standard). And, as with all other ISO standards, continual improvement is a cornerstone of the implementation and ensures that your Service Management System (SMS), and the IT services it supports, is regularly monitored, measured, and reviewed. That opens the possibility to be better day-by-day and helps your management get a clear picture about performance and efficiency. In real life, that means that you are able to respond to the changing business requirements, which are so commonplace in today’s dynamic business environment.
So, as you can see, the advantages of the ISO 20000 implementation relate to both the business and operational ends. Your management is aware that excellence in delivery of services (operational domain) enables business excellence. Business excellence means satisfied customers, as well as increased revenue and market share. And that’s the language management likes.
And, it’s not only customers who appreciate your responsiveness and efficiency in delivery of IT services. Your own employees will like to work in an environment that is organized and monitored, in which they know what their job is and the inputs and outputs, duplication of activities is almost zero, suppliers are under control, etc. That means greater stability of your IT service management team and cost optimization.
Is that all?
That’s just the beginning. The five benefits that I just explained contain lot of catchy, but “hard” words. Meaning, when you’re explaining benefits, you are actually making promises. And, as with any other promise, you should pay more attention to the ones you believe are achievable. That’s because if you want management to believe in the implementation, and the benefits such implementation should achieve – there must be one person who has an even higher level of belief – you.
How to get your ISO Certificate
Our approach is collaborative and transparent, guaranteeing open communication and expert execution throughout the project, from the initial concept to the final delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ISO?
ISO refers to the international standards organization, which was founded on 23 February 1947, and is an organization that is specialized in its work in setting standards, and consists of representatives of many national organizations.
According to that definition, it is a non-governmental organization, but its standard setting gives it the power to impose laws that are signed, followed and stipulated by treaties. this results in giving it more support and strength than most other non-governmental organizations. as a result, that organization has an alliance with the vast majority of world governments and its permanent headquarters is in Switzerland, specifically in Geneva.
The word ISO expresses International Organization for Standardization, which means to provide global guidelines and standards that ensure high quality and continuous customer requirements, which are presented to institutions and companies in the form of certificates, and recognizes that this company applies the agreed and authorized standards
Importance of ISO
ISO 9001 has grown in importance for several reasons :
– As the moment of application of the decisions of the World Trade Organization approaches on 1 January 2005, when institutions all over the world become equal rights in the markets, there is no monopoly or advantage offered to one institution over another. The win comes from the ability of the institution to satisfy its customers. the first step to satisfy its customers is to obtain one of the ISO 9001 certificates. therefore, in the end, all customers will expect that enterprises of any kind or size that have not obtained the certificate will seek to obtain them.
– It is also important that it is considered the entrance to the countries of the European Union, the United States of America and Canada, because obtaining this certificate gives the institution that has obtained the right to enter these huge markets, it gives a competitive advantage to the institutions that have obtained it.
– Facilitating trade and standardizing patterns and foundations throughout the world.
– It is also the first step to apply TQM despite its inability to apply principles such as continuous improvement, but it helps to clarify the current state of performance as it documents the entire performance of the organization and create a quality guide, hence it can proceed towards the application of TQM which has the tools and methods to achieve this improvement.
The importance of the ISO 9001 system lies within four main pillars
Most of the benefits of obtaining an ISO certification can be summarized within four main pillars: :
1-product quality: this is done through periodic review, improvement and continuous development of production methods and methods and then documenting and working under them.
2-competition: obtaining ISO certification motivates the company to maintain a high level of quality, especially in the face of competing companies that have not qualified for such certification and produce similar varieties.
3 – Customer service: in many cases, especially in export markets the imported request that the issuer holds an ISO certification.
4. Productivity and profitability: this is done by increasing the effectiveness of the enterprise through product quality and competitiveness and thus leads to increased sales volume and profit.
ISO is a real need, not just for advertising purposes
The desire to obtain the ISO certificate must be a real desire to develop and apply the total quality standards and not only for promotional aspects, because if the organization’s goal to obtain the certificate to satisfy the customers and gain their trust in the service provided or the product may get the certificate for the immediate stage, but if this
Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the desire to obtain a quality certificate as a logo and an advertising area and between the radical and real structural change towards excellence in comprehensive and integrated performance in the areas of performance built on sound and committed firm foundations. Following these foundations, a company or organization can progress and excel in a sequential and interrelated manner, making it eligible for higher degrees and certificates of efficiency and quality of multiple and diverse.
The decision of an institution or a company to become distinctive and enjoy the application of quality standards is a cumulative process and requires constant effort it is not a routine thing or a decision that can be applied in a short period of time (and if done, what comes quickly goes quickly), so it is necessary to take care of the proper construction of the
And there are things that the organization must take care of in order to ensure continuity in excellence and development in general :
Interest in research and development.
Attention to training and Human Development.
Achieve technical leadership.
Encourage teamwork and innovation.
Open communication lines and their continuity.
Provides conscious and open-minded leadership.
Interest in the consumer and make it (the first factor) that influences the decisions and actions of the enterprise.
What are the types of ISO certificates?
* ISO 9001 Quality Management System
* ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certificate
* ISO 45001 Occupational Safety and health management system
• ISO 22000 Food safety management
* ISO 20000 Information Technology Management System
• ISO 27001 Information Security
* HACCP hazard analysis and critical point identification system
* Quality certificate for ISO 17025 test coefficient numbers
* ISO13485 Medical Equipment Quality certificate
* ISO 50001 Energy Resource Management System
* ISO 10002 Customer Satisfaction Management
* CE Mark European market certificate of conformity
* Quality and safety of BRC packaging materials
