Service Management Best Practice

Best Practice? What is it? A set of recommendations that you may use to help improve Service Management.

•	“Practice” - that means the recommendation is based on a method already in use that has proven itself among many different sizes and types of service organizations. It is not theory, it is something that really works.
•	“Best” - there are many service management solutions, but some are more complete, more coherent, cost less, give better customer satisfaction, are better aligned with business strategy, and are recognized by peers as being of high quality .

Who decides what is best practice? The simple answer is “You, the service management practitioners.”

•	The best known and most widely accepted Service Management Best Practice compilation is the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), owned by the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom.
•	The de facto professional organization for Service Management practitioners is the IT Service Management Forum (itSMF), which has a chapter in Switzerland and in France
•	For more information about ITIL, check out this FAQ.
•	ITIL uses precise terminology which makes communication and understanding easier. Here is a multi-lingual glossary.

Where can I find additional useful information?

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The ITIL publications may be ordered at reduced rate by itSMF members, or they may be ordered directly from The Stationery Office , which publishes them.

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IT Service Management is anchored to a large variety of international standards, of which the two most useful are ISO/IEC 20000 (IT Service Management Standard) and ISO17799 (Information Security Standard).

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There are hundreds of software tools useful for helping to manage services. A useful site listing many tools is the ITIL Tooling Page.

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Portals and certain commercial sites are useful starting points for individual Service Management disciplines. Here are some examples:

•	General - Startkabel, ITILWorld, The ITIL and ITSM Directory
•	Service Desk - helpdesk.com
•	Problem Management - Kepner-Tregoe, Inc.
•	Availability Management - availability.com
•	Capacity Management - The Computer Measurement Group is a not for profit organization for capacity management professionals.
•	ISO/IEC 20000 Certification Schemes - There are certification schemes for Registered Certification Bodies, Consultancies, Auditors, Training Organizations and Trainers. All are managed by itSMF.


	ITIL FAQ Glossary itSMF