ISO20000 and ITIL.

[DrITIL]

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently adopted the BS15000 standard and is expected to publish the ISO 20000 standard for Service Management by 2006, although many think it likely that this effort will take longer.

Adoption of a standard by ISO is not something new to the industry. In fact, ISO had previously adopted the BS7799-2:2002 security standard (in part). A complete ISO version of BS7799-2:2002 is expected to be published early next year, most likely as ISO27001.

So, What effect will ISO20000 have on ITIL?

While some industry analysts worry that adoption of ITIL by ISO may slow down ITIL process improvements, this does not seem to be the case. In fact, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is currently in the process of refreshing and enhancing the ITIL methodology. An endorsement of ITIL by ISO is almost certain to have significant benefits.

What about ITIL Awareness?

In the U.S. adoption of BS15000 has been somewhat slow. A 2004 survey by Gartner, comprised mostly of U.S. companies, found that 58% of respondents had little or no knowledge about ITIL, and 19% of respondents were still evaluating models for standardizing their IT operations. ISO standards, on the other hand, are widely known and accepted in the U.S.

The ISO 9000 standard, for example, had approximately 8500 registered sites in the U.S. in January 1996. Today there are more than 43,400 - owing at least in part to an IRS ruling in January 2000 that many costs associated with ISO 9000 certification would be tax deductible. The number of ISO U.S. registrations is expected to rise even further with additions in the environmental, automotive, medical devices, and aerospace sectors.