The creation of an international standard in IT service management will change the way IT departments and third-parties deliver professional services around the world.
This is the view of Charles Osburn, a director of Quintica, the local representative of Marval Corporation and distributor of the Marval Service Management (MSM) application based on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
Commenting on moves by the British Standards Institution to submit the current BS 15000 standard for IT service management - and the foundation for ITIL - for international standardisation under ISO/IEC JTC1 procedures, Osburn says the proposal that BS 15000 should become an ISO standard is a major milestone in the IT industry's development.
"It will raise the bar for professionalism in the field of ITIL-based service management solutions and give organisations of all sizes an opportunity to reap major business and financial benefits.
"Companies will be able to manage and even benchmark multiple suppliers both in-house and externally within a common ITIL process framework."
Achieving the new ISO/IEC 20000 status will require a ballot and support for BS 15000 from 23 countries, including SA. The ballot is expected to close mid-2005 and, if successful, it will become a full international standard before the end of 2005.
"This development will be particularly important for the public sector in SA," adds Osburn, as individual departments will be able to specify ITIL-related ISO standards for service management in their procurements from as early as next year.
"This could make an important contribution to the removal of the 'silos of excellence' within government and the amalgamation and streamlining of IT services within its ranks."
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