T-Systems in South Africa has become the first South African company to be awarded recertification for ISO 20 0000, the international standard for service management, by the SABS (South Africa Bureau of Standards).
The ISO 20 000 standard offers a consensus on quality standards for IT service management processes. These service management processes deliver the best possible service to meet an organisation's business needs within agreed resource levels, therefore, service that is professional, cost-effective and with risks which are understood and managed.
Explains Mike Van Dijk, Principal Consultant Quality Management at T-Systems in South Africa: “In essence, the ISO 20 000 comprises the best guidelines and principles of well-known standards and methodologies such as ITIL, ISO 9001 and CoBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology). We are extremely proud to now have two of our biggest clients, Mercedes-Benz South Africa and Mutual & Federal ISO 20 000 certified.
“Moreover, we believe it has significantly contributed towards the South African market's appetite for T-Systems' services as we are backed by our adherence to one of the world's foremost standards for service management - it is a key differentiator.”
T-Systems was the first company in the country to receive ISO 20 000 certification in 2007 for Mercedes-Benz South Africa, and the recertification of the company and the inclusion of further clients speaks volumes of T-Systems' high-standard of service delivery in the service management industry.
In terms of the recertification, Van Dijk comments, SABS played a big role in enabling the organisation to achieve recertification. “The organisation really provides a lot of support; their assistance means a great deal and undoubtedly contributed to our recertification.
“As part of the organisations' ISO 20 000 journey, our clients are involved with the process from the get-go. “It was really a partnership in every sense of the word, they were involved with the entire life cycle and audit processes. If you don't have the buy-in from your customer, you will battle to achieve certification.”
The ISO 20 000 standard, for example, recommends that service providers should adopt common terminology and a more consistent approach to service management. It gives a common basis for improvements in services. It also provides a framework for use by suppliers of service management tools.
Furthermore, it provides guidance to auditors and offers assistance to organisations planning service improvements or to be audited against the standards. ISO 20000 certification will become the T-Systems standard, and over time the company will strive to certify more of its clients.
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