The aim of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard is to provide a common reference standard for all companies that deliver IT services for internal or external clients. One of its other objectives is to promote a common terminology which makes an important contribution towards communication between service provider, supplier and customer.

The standard will also adopt the integrated process approach from the service management framework of ITIL®. These processes are contained within a process model, forming part of the quality management system and providing an important aid in communication with the customers (users) as well as within the IT. The process model illustrates which processes control, support and continually improve service delivery.

ISO/IEC 20000 is coordinated with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®). ITIL® is a collection of best practices to which a service provider can align itself so it can deliver high quality services. ISO/IEC 20000 represents the quality benchmark. ITIL® therefore supports the service provider along this route.
 

ISO/IEC 20000 Part 1: Specification for Service Management
This formal specification defines the requirements of an organization and the management system for delivering managed services at a level of quality acceptable to the customer. In this respect it is irrelevant as to whether this is an internal or external customer.

ISO/IEC 20000 Part 2: Code of Practice for Service Management
This part represents a Code of Practice and describes the optimum experiences achieved with service management processes within the scope of ISO/IEC20000-1. This Code of Practice is useful in particular for organizations who wish to prepare for an audit and the certificate in accordance with ISO/IEC20000-1 or who are planning fundamental improvements in their services.