ISO/IEC 20000-1: IT Service Management

Overview

ISO/IEC 20000-1 is the international standard for an IT Service Management System (SMS). The 20000 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an organisation to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and improve a service management system. Certification demonstrates that your IT services are designed, delivered, and continually improved against defined service requirements, with incident, change, problem, and service-level management disciplines formally in place.

We implement the service management system: defining the scope and service portfolio, aligning and documenting your ITSM processes, establishing the SLA framework, and running the internal audit and management review the ISO 20000-1 standard requires. The result is a governed service operation with the evidence base to support a certification audit by an accredited third-party certification body. Compliance with the standard is what the auditor will assess during both stages of the certification process.

The Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits are conducted by our partner certification body, accredited by an IAF MLA signatory. We prepare you for both stages and support you through any findings before and after the audit. ISO standards like 20000-1 share a common high-level structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 27001, so if you already hold one of those certifications, existing management systems documentation can often be reused.

What’s included

• SMS scope, service portfolio, and management system policy
• Service level management and SLA framework
• Incident, request, change management, and problem management processes
• Service continuity and capacity management alignment
• SMS documentation set and records
• Internal audit and management review
• Certification through our partner certification body, accredited by an IAF MLA signatory

How we work

1. 01
   Gap analysis

   We assess your current ITSM practices against ISO/IEC 20000-1 requirements, identify gaps, and define the SMS scope and service portfolio. You know what the work involves before it starts. We specify which processes require new documentation and which existing systems can be adapted to meet the 20000-1 standard.

2. 02
   Build the SMS

   We align and document the service management processes, establish the SLA framework, and produce the mandatory documented information the standard requires. Continual improvement is a core requirement of the SMS: we build the review cadence and performance metrics into the system from the start, not as an afterthought. Best practice is to treat service management system requirements as operational disciplines, not compliance obligations.

3. 03
   Internal audit and management review

   We run the internal audit and management review and close findings before the external audit. The auditor from the certification body sees a functioning system. Conformance with the delivery and improvement of services requirements is what the Stage 2 assessment confirms.

4. 04
   Certification audit

   Our partner certification body, accredited by an IAF MLA signatory, conducts the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits. We support you throughout and manage corrective actions to closure. The partner certification body issues the ISO/IEC 20000-1 certificate once conformity assessments against the requirements of the standard are satisfied.

What you get

• SMS scope statement and service portfolio
• Documented service management processes and SLA framework
• Complete SMS documentation set
• Internal audit report and management review records
• Accredited ISO/IEC 20000-1 certificate (issued by the partner)

Frequently asked questions