Benefits of ISO 20000-1 Certification

5 Major Problems to Avoid When Implementing ISO 20000-1

You are bound to run into a few problems when implementing ISO 20000-1. Both large and small organizations struggle to put new procedures and practices into place.

An audit and overhaul of the whole company will make people antsy—but that’s just the beginning. Lucky for you, people have been implementing ISOs for decades, so we know what kinds of issues to look out for. Here are 5 major problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1.

No Management Support? The First Problem to Avoid When Implementing ISO 20000-1

You may be part of your company’s IT service management team. You are scouring the internet for problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1 and realize your biggest fear is true. This can’t be done without management support.

Trying to put a service management system (SMS) into action without executive involvement is bound to fail. You need them to set aside resources. You need them to follow through on the management requirements that are part of the standard. Explain all the benefits of implementing ISO 20000-1 to get them on board.

Too Few Resources

One of the major problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1 is not setting aside enough resources to complete the project. This is often related to problem #1 (lack of management support). Get realistic about the amount of time and money you need. How many people are you going to need to implement and run your SMS?

View the problems from as many angles as possible. Look at existing practices. What can you reuse to meet requirements? Should you build an in-house team or hire an expert?

Lack of Employee Buy-In is a Serious Problem to Avoid When Implementing ISO 20000-1

If your team doesn’t care about the project, then implementation will ultimately be unsuccessful. Change stresses people out. They shy away and resent having to learn a new way to do their jobs, especially if they don’t understand why. Lack of employee buy-in is one of the major problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1

To get employee buy-in, try

Training and Information: Employees are more likely to feel confused and frustrated if they don’t understand what is going on. Give them as much information as they need.
Highlight Benefits: One of the problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1 is leaving your employees to feel like they have more on their plate. Help them identify what is getting better. Things like clearly defined roles and few ambiguities make work less stressful.
Celebrate: Make sure that your team knows and appreciates their successes. Feeling that we are good at something and that we are progressing drives interest and satisfaction.

Scope Creep

You are running short on resources. You are missing milestones. What is happening?

Scope creep is when your project expands beyond the initial purpose you had laid out. This is very common, especially with larger organizations.

Scope creep is one of the major problems to avoid when implementing ISO 20000-1. Make sure all team members are aware of the scope of the project as defined in your SMS.

Avoid scope creep by involving your team in defining the scope. This way, they’ll be less likely to develop some other project or make decisions in a vacuum.

Lack of Communication is the Biggest Problem to Avoid When Implementing ISO 20000-1

This is the real problem that underlies every other problem. Without effective communication, you won’t be able to get management support. You won’t be able to get employee buy-in. You won’t get the resources you need and slowly but surely, scope creep will set in.

Make sure every team member at every level of the organization understands what is going on and what their role is. If you can do this effectively, the rest of the pieces will fall into place.

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How to Provide Consistent IT Service Delivery with ISO 20000-1

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How to Provide Consistent IT Service Delivery with ISO 20000-1

Consistent IT service delivery with ISO 20000-1 is not only possible but easy. If you want to retain the customers you’ve spent so much money acquiring, you have to make sure you are giving them a steady, predictable product.

Imagine going to your local McDonald’s. You walk in and order the same thing you always do, a quarter pounder. You get the burger. Maybe not the best food you’ve ever had, but exactly what you expected.

Now imagine going overseas. You’re visiting Amsterdam with your family. You walk in and feel transported. Same menu, same uniforms, same chairs. You order the quarter pounder. Same burger.

The ability to replicate the same product or service consistently is the backbone of successful companies. That is what Ford’s Model T or Ray Kroc’s burgers have in common.

People would rather have a mediocre product that they can count on than something incredible but unreliable.

You want to provide both. Something above the cut and steady. You want to reduce the risk for your customer while providing as much value as possible. And you can! You can provide consistent IT service delivery with ISO 20000-1.

Your service management system (SMS) Plan

When you implement your ISO, you’ll build an SMS Plan. This is a document that outlines your companies approach towards IT service delivery.

You document all the processes in your business. What are the responsibilities of each person? What policies are in place? What are the services you provide?

You also detail the scope of your plan. Does your plan cover outsourced processes? Do you have different requirements for internal and external customers?

Your SMS plan is going to allow you to provide consistent IT delivery service with ISO 20000-1.

Clear Guidelines Help Provide Consistent IT Service Delivery with ISO 20000-1

By creating clear guidelines for every process in the business, you can provide consistent IT service delivery with ISO 20000-1.

Here are the Top 5 Ways:

Eliminate Ambiguity: When you have a clear roadmap that tells your team what decision to make at each turn, they no longer have to guess the best way to handle a situation. A customer can expect the same response no matter who their point of contact is.
Preventive Action: Team members will be expected to contribute to the culture of continual improvement. Taking preventive actions is one way that your people can provide consistent IT delivery service with ISO 20000-1. They will be able to see any bottlenecks before they occur and nip the problem in the bud.
Common Lingo: Have you ever gotten your IT people and your HR people in the same room? They seem to speak a completely different language. Imagine how much worse that problem is for a customer who is being transferred between departments. Changing this dynamic allows you to provide consistent IT delivery service with ISO 20000-1. Every employee is trained to speak the same lingo.
Reduce Redundancies: With clearly defined roles and responsibilities, your team provides customers more consistent IT delivery service with ISO 20000-1. Everything is documented and each person knows what needs to be taken care of.
Improved Accountability: If everyone is responsible, then no one is. A simple fact of life is that we all struggle to do what we should when no one is looking. That’s why the improved accountability given by the RACI matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed) will help you provide more consistent IT delivery service with ISO 20000-1.

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How ISO 20000-1 Can Help You Win Your Next Federal Contract

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How ISO 20000-1 Can Help You Win Your Next Federal Contract

All of your customers want to make sure that they are getting a quality service. They don’t want a supplier somewhere down the line holding them up. They want insurance that the supply chain won’t break.

The government is no different. They are just another customer trying to get a good deal.

Okay. Not just another customer.

Winning federal contracts is not a slam dunk. They are a huge client who can provide you with a large, consistent workflow that can bring your organization value for years.

What would it mean for you if ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract?

Your business will be able to secure loans more easily
You can sell whenever you’re ready
Prestige will bring you more opportunities on the market

Here’s how ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract.

You are online searching federal contracts. The Department of Commerce posted a Request for Proposals with an opportunity that would be perfect for your company. Here’s what gives you the confidence that you’re the best match:

1. Less Risk for the Customer: People are extremely risk-averse. Whenever you are buying a new product or working with a new organization, you are taking on a risk. You worry if you’ve made the right decision. ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract because they will see you as less of risk. You are meeting international standards for reliability and consistency.

2. Reduce the Cost of Doing Business: One way to avoid risk is to make sure you don’t invest too much in your decision. When you offer a lower cost to a customer, you allow them to shoulder less risk. ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next government contract by reducing the cost of doing business. The savings you get from a streamlined business process can be passed on to your customer.

3. Promise Security: We all want to keep our information private. Perhaps the government most of all. If you want to be in business with the government, they need to know that their information will remain private. Information security management is an important part of this standard. Putting ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract because your customer knows they’ll be safe with you.

4. Guarantee Timelines: You are driving down a road that used to lead directly to your house but now you have to take a detour. Again. This road reconstruction problem was supposed to take 2 months but has stretched to 10 so far.

This is a situation we are all familiar with and frustrated by. Who has ever heard of a government project being completed on time and on budget?

When you implement ISO 20000-1, you’ll have a better idea of how long and how many resources a project actually takes. ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract by allowing you to show off a proven track record.

5. ISO 20000-1 Can be a Solicitation Mandate: Let’s get down to brass tax. Nearly all federal contracts require service providers to have a quality assurance system in place. If you are in information technology, that means you need to have ISO 20000-1. Without it, you cannot get your foot in the door. ISO 20000-1 is going to allow you to bid in the first place. Once you win that contract, you’ll be able to pass any inspections because of your adherence to the international standard.

Now you know how ISO 20000-1 can help you win your next federal contract. Ready to get started?

The Best Guide to ISO 20000-1 Implementation

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We are not going to overwhelm you or bog you down with details. You are going to go from, “Where do I start?” to “Let’s get started” by the end of this guide to ISO 20000-1 implementation.

Steps to Make ISO 20000-1 Implementation Easier

Get Management on Board: ISO 20000-1 Implementation is possible with limited management support, but difficult. As a quality professional, you need to get executives to buy-in to the idea of a system change. Check out our article here to get a clearer picture.
Establish the Project: You don’t need to do this but you want to. ISO 20000-1 Implementation becomes easier when you go start with your project management glasses on. Get a clear vision of the people and resources that you need to reach your goal. This is a great time to create a budget for the project.
Perform Gap Analysis: This is another optional step that will save you time and money later on. You already have some kind of information technology management system (ITSM) in place. Measure yours against the global standard to make ISO 20000-1 implementation smoother.

Steps You Need to Take for ISO 20000-1 Implementation

Define Scope, Management Intentions, and Responsibilities: Create an SMS policy and SMS plan. This means figuring out the resources needed to run your service management system. Ask yourself: What are the purposes, principles, and basic rules of your management systems?
Implement Support Procedures: Support procedures are processes that don’t always affect your day-to-day but are the backbone of an organization. Documents and record controls, internal audits, and communication procedures all need to be recorded during this step.
Generate Process/Function Documents: If you followed our suggestions for making ISO 20000-1 Implementation easier, this is where you’ll reap the benefits. This is when you make clear where each process your organization performs, starts, and ends. What are the inputs? What are the outputs?
Implement Process/Functions: Take those steps you just documented for each process and put them into action. Review the steps together with all relevant team members.
Perform Training Program: Remember that one of the primary goals of your new ITSM is to make your company more flexible and agile. To accomplish that, everyone needs to be on the same page and speak the same lingo. Make sure everyone knows what they’re responsible for.
Operate Your Service Management System: Put your SMS plan and policies into place. See how everything is moving. Monitor, measure, and record the results.
Create Continual Service Improvement Concept: Another key goal of ISO 20000-1 Implementation is to create a culture of continual improvement. Remember the continual improvement model: Do. Check. Act.

After you’ve created the concept, implement your continual service improvement concept.

Conduct an Internal Audit: How far have you come? Try to get an objective third-party in to assess your ISO 20000-1 Implementation. This can be someone within the organization or a consultant.
Management Review: This is the last step for your internal ISO 20000-1 Implementation. Management needs to be in the loop. Present the results of your audit and record the minutes of your meeting.

Audits for ISO 20000-1 Implementation

Almost finished! Your organization has done its part for ISO 20000-1 Implementation. Remember to thank and congratulate everyone for their effort.

You are now ready for stage 1 and stage 2 certification audits. The first audit will be a documentation review for ISO 20000-1 Implementation. You and your team can use this information to take corrective actions.

You’ll then have your main audit. If everyone is done their part, you’ll be certified.

Massive Benefits of ISO 20000-1 Certification

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Benefits of ISO 20000-1 Certification

The benefits of ISO 20000-1 outweigh the costs of adopting the standard. Like all ISO standards, there is a focus on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement that keeps you competitive. Adopting the international information technology service management standard (ITSM) allows your company to asses performance.

Here are a few of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 that your company will enjoy.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 : Better Reputation

One of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 is that you have an independent organization certifying you. This allows you to piggyback on the reputation and authority of the standard. This will improve the way partners, suppliers, and customers view you. The improved reputation can win you customers you otherwise may have missed out on.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 : Open Up New Doors

The government is a huge consumer of technology services. One of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 certification is that you may be able to get contracts with public agencies that were previously off-limits. The number of public sector agencies that require ISO 20000-1 is growing. The UK National Health Service and the United States Air Force both mandate certification for service providers for government contracts.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 : Customer Satisfaction

You have all of these new public and private sector customer because of your new certification. Customer acquisition is expensive. Keeping a good customer satisfied is cheap.

Luckily, another of the benefits of ISO-20000-1 is that you will be able to retain those customers through improved customer satisfaction. Customers will enjoy decreased downtime and increased performance because you have monitoring and measurement systems in place.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 : Improved Productivity and Flexibility

If you want an organization to be agile, every person from the top of the ladder to the bottom has to be clear about their roles and responsibilities. Without that clarity, you get redundancies and useless, time-sucking meeting. When everybody is on the same page and processes are defined, working efficiently and responding to market demand becomes easier. One of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 is that the standard ensures responsiveness and productivity.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 : Benchmarks and Continuous Improvements

When heading a company or department, we often find ourselves wondering, “How is X being done elsewhere? How quickly?” One of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 is that you will finally have answers to your questions. Certification will allow you to glean the processes and services of other organizations. You will be able to create benchmarks and compare yourself with those competitors.

You can also look forward to continuous improvements. Through corrective action, you will find root causes to any problems within your processes and define a solution. Through preventative action, your team will be able to foresee future problems and identify areas for further refinement. This process will help you and your team think ahead when planning and implementing actions and that continuously will improve processes and outcomes.

Benefits of ISO 20000-1 Reduce Costs of Doing Business

Improved productivity, increased customer retention, and decreased the cost of customer acquisition through an improved reputation will all drive down costs.

But that isn’t all.

One of the benefits of ISO 20000-1 is that implementation with the standard will reduce the costs of conformance with other regulations. Sarbanes-Oxley and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) will both be easier and cheaper to meet when you have instituted your information technology service management standard.

Now that you know some of the benefits of IS 20000-1, let’s get started!

ISO 20000-1 Corrective & Preventive Actions, for Continual Improvement

Introduction to ISO 20000-1

ISO 20000-1 is an internationally recognized standard specially designed for IT Service Management System often abbreviated as ITSMS. The focus narrows down to all the mandatory requirements for the service providers for effective planning, establishment, implementation, operation, monitoring practices, review and improvement of a Service Management System. The scope of ISO 20000-1 also covers design, modern transition, on time flawless delivery and improvement of services to accomplish pre-decided requirements.

ISO 20000-1 Applies to Whom?

ISO 20000-1 can be used by the following:

Service Satisfaction: an organization that seeks for going beyond expectations from service providers and require 100% quality assurance.
Consistent Approach: Any organization seeking consistent and précised quality services from their service providers.
To demonstrate one’s Unbeatable Capabilities: Any organization that tends to exhibit their competence for their innovative designs, edgy delivery style and services like none other competitors present in the market.
Continuous Improvement: Any organization that has the urge to improve themselves continuously and rigorously.

Two Parts of ISO 20000-1

ISO 20000 has been further divided into two parts:

ISO 20000-1: which majorly outlines the minimum requirements of the ISO standard.
ISO 20000-2: which gives more helpful guidelines for the implementation of the standard.

Summarized Structure of ISO 20000

Clause 1: Scope of ISO 20000-1

Clause 2: References

Clause 3: Helpful Terms and Definition

Clause 4: General Requirements of the Service Management System

Clause 5: Design and Modernized Transitioned Services

Clause 6: Delivery Process and Service

Clause 7: Relationship Processes

Clause 8: Resolution Process.

Clause 9: Process Control

How Continuous Improvement Cycle Works In ISO 20000-1?

In the initial stages of ISO 20000-1 stages, a common question arises in Auditees’ mind about the working, its implementation and continuous improvement process entangled.

Step 01: Define scope, targets, and goals of IT service management plan.

Step 02: Have crystal clear definition of Service Delivery Requirements based on your customers’ voice.

Step 03: Define and divide role and responsibilities without having overlapping and ensuring healthy teamwork.

Step 04: Periodic review of IT services for continuous improvement

Step 05: Identify opportunities for further improvements

The Plan Do Check Act commonly abbreviated as (PDCA) cycle is one of the basic and essential components of best ISO management practices that will ensure continuous improvement cycle to get live in your current management system and is one of the simplest problem-solving tools also that will enhance Corrective and Preventive Actions to avoid reoccurrence of the potential non-conformities.

Sterling Journey Of Getting ISO 20000-1 Begins Here!

Number Of Tasks	What You Need To Do In ISO 20000-1 certification process	Support You’ll Get From Sync Resources Team
Task 01	Buy, Read and Understand the requirements of ISO 20000-1 standard	Explore the relevant information on Sync Resources websites and Blogs
Task 02	Ensure everybody in your organization gains in-depth knowledge	Training about ISO 20000-1 certification process Download ISO 20000-1 Self-Assessment checklist for internal audits
Task 03	Tap us to book an appointment for ISO 20000-1 certification assessment	Providing Effective Solutions to efficiently align your current management system with ISO 20000-1
Task 04	Ensure to execute a certification assessment on time	Your Certification Assessment with (hopefully) a certificate.
Task 05	Implement Continuous Improvement Cycle	Assisting you and your team in the re-certification process

Ground Breaking Outcomes of ISO 20000-1

Better Understanding of Business Objectives: With crystal clear definition of everyone’s roles and responsibilities, it is compulsory to ensure everyone gets fully aware of their own roles and responsibilities so that collective business targets can be achieved with teamwork.
Improvement Corporate Image in Marketplace: Reduction in system outage, foul proof security systems, less probability of incidents, increased system availability will make you stand out of the crowd. Moreover, being ISO 20000 certified is not less than a marketing asset that will increase your chance for tender wining among market competitors.
Reduction In Risks and Improved Incident Management: With everything done in standardized formats and each and every quality protocol will be followed then the probability risk in form of data loss and other risks of security will be reduced.
Consistent IT Services Delivery: Better services, fewer customers’ complaints, timely delivery with 100% compliance and strict quality measures will help to accomplish consistent service delivery measures.
Increased Customer’s Satisfaction: Reduction in complaints will lead to high customers’ satisfaction levels.
Reduction In Response Time Leading to Better Customers’ Service: With better data management and clearly defined roles and responsibilities will lead to a reduction in response time to not only to customers but to suppliers as well.
Improved Cost Management: Decrease in rework and wastage will definitely lead to cost-saving and increase profit margins.
Culture of Continuous Improvement: Fundamental shift from reactive to proactive approach can be seen vividly in organizational culture. Actual root cause resolution approach will save time and money as re-occurrence of the problems will be reduced to minimum levels. Periodic Internal audits and Annual surveillance audits will further assist in finding opportunities for improvements at all levels.

Tips and Tricks for Getting ISO 20000-1 Certification

Pitfalls during Implementation

Few most common challenges are faced by Audi tees of IT service management firm during effective implementation. The most typical pitfalls are:

Less or No Senior Management Support

A commitment of senior management is the topmost priority during the process of ISO 20000-1 implementation. More the senior management seems committed to the ISO 20000-1 certification, more chances will be increased for certification.

Fewer Employees’ Engagement

Employees must be eager to learn and should be able to deliver ISO 20000-1 requirements within prescribed defined timelines with enthusiasm and passion for success. Less employee engagement will result in work completion with uncountable loopholes and maybe with major non-conformities which can result in unsuccessful certification.

Insufficient or Fewer Resources

With full senior management commitment, it is mandatory to conduct external or in-house training and refresher sessions for the staff so that results can be achieved and all employees can be fully equipped with the complete knowledge of the requirements of ISO 20000-1.

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