The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electoral Commission (ICE) jointly developed ISO 20000, an international standard for IT service management (ITSM). The majority of member nations are required to approve ISO 20000 for it to be recognized as a global standard, meaning most nations have adopted it.
The standard outlines a series of management procedures intended to make it easier for organizations to provide IT services (to clients as well as employees within the company) that are more effective. The firm may demonstrate that it adheres to best practices by using ISO 20000, which also provides the methodology and structure that are needed to manage the ITSM and enhance the quality of the IT services that provides. Any industry and any size of business are enclosed by ISO 20000.
Before beginning the ISO 20000 implementation, you must establish your strategy for handling documents that must be produced within the parameters of your Service Management System (SMS) — what is required, within what parameters, in what sequence to write the documentation, etc. This will make things easier. So let’s look into how to structure the SMS documentation collection and how to choose what documents are required. Policy, plan, process, and record documentation are mandated by the standard. The phrase “documented” is frequently used in the standard to indicate that the information for a requirement must be recorded (either in a document or in the tool).
Whether a company utilize a tool or not will affect how much documentation and record-keeping is required for ISO 20000 implementation. The necessity for recorded information (or documented information) for the ISO 20000 standard can be satisfied if you have a tool. Additionally, if you don’t utilize a tool, you will need a lot more paperwork to meet all the requirements. For instance, if you have a tool, you should use it to log events and service requests. However, if you choose not to use a tool, you will need to find another method of recording them because it is mandated by the standard. For fewer events and service requests, a spreadsheet will work just well.
No specific method for structuring the ITSMS documentation is required by ISO 20000. However, it is mandated that records and documents for every process are covered by ISO 20000. When attempting to organize your SMS documentation, the following crucial components, i.e., may be helpful:
- Documentation structure – Create ITSMS policies, regulations, and process descriptions using the same model. The ISO 20000 documents kit will be simpler to navigate as a result.
- Sequence – SMS requirements and processes are the two main components of ISO 20000. Writing documentation in that order is also a good idea; for example, creating documents relating to SMS setup first, then documents about the process, and finally, documents required for internal audit and management review.
- Content – Policies, or procedures, must adhere to certain requirements outlined in ISO 20000. This means that your change management procedure, for instance, must specify how to deal with urgent changes. Because the requirements are stated plainly in the standard, that is the simpler part. However, you’ll also need to include a few optional components to make your procedures appropriate to your business. The Incident and Service Request Management procedure, for instance, is not initiated according to the standard. So, based on your circumstances, document it. That will make the procedure clear-cut.
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