Adoption of the ISO 20 000 global standard for IT service management (ITSM) should be compulsory for all organisations.
This is according to Don Page, visiting ITSM evangelist and CEO of Marval Group, a UK-based ITSM software, training and consultancy services solutions provider.
"It should be obligatory for companies to know how to manage investments as well be able to identify strengths and weaknesses," he says.
Page is in SA at the invitation of Quintica and is scheduled to meet representatives of 35 private sector organisations this week. He will also meet local and national government, including the State IT Agency (SITA), to discuss how IT departments can demonstrate the value they deliver to business.
For organisations like SITA, ISO 20 000 should be a pre-requisite for any service improvement programme, according to Page. Knowing IT infrastructure is being managed in the best way is one of the biggest business drivers for the standard, he says.
"The job of IT is to do things faster, more reliably, more efficiently at lower cost and if it`s not achieving that prime directive, it`s pointless."
Page says the solution for the common issues and inadequacies around the world is to embrace a formal, auditable global standard like the ISO 20 000. This standard is designed to help business understand the impact and value of IT and effect positive change, he says.
"It`s about taking ITSM to the next level to achieve cost reduction, resource optimisation, infrastructure reliability, investment protection and reduction, positive workplace behaviour, and improved customer experience and communication."
ISO 20 000 is underpinned by and aligned with the IT infrastructure information library (ITIL) framework, says Page. However, whereas ITIL is "documented common sense" the ISO standard is "auditable common sense" that business can use to enable change that focuses on continuous improvement.
"Any IT professional not interested in ITIL and ISO 20 000 is in the wrong job because there is no other way to demonstrate to business how he or she adds value. If they don`t add value, they are going to be replaced."
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