ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 - IT Service Management

ISO 20000 Certification

ISO 20000 is the international standard for IT Service Management Systems (SMS), aligned with ITIL best practices. It specifies requirements for planning, establishing, and improving IT service delivery to meet business and customer needs. ISO 20000 certification demonstrates IT service management excellence and is increasingly required by enterprise customers and for managed service provider contracts.

Demonstrate excellence in IT service delivery with ISO 20000 certification—the global benchmark for IT service management.

Check Your Readiness Talk to an Expert

What is ISO 20000?

ISO 20000 specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, and improving an IT Service Management System aligned with ITIL best practices.

ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 uses Annex SL structure for integration with ISO 27001 and other standards. It covers the full service lifecycle: portfolio, design, transition, delivery, and improvement. The standard requires documented processes for incident, problem, change, and configuration management. It's essential for managed service providers and IT departments demonstrating service quality to stakeholders.

Improved IT service quality and reliability
Better alignment of IT services with business needs
Reduced service disruptions and downtime
Enhanced customer satisfaction

Typical Timeline

4-8 weeks

Pass Rate

100%

Controls

Clients Certified

50+

Deep Dive

ISO 20000 Control Requirements

Click each control to see implementation guidance and required evidence

ISO 20000 for Your Industry

How ISO 20000 applies to different business sectors

Managed Service Providers

MSPs need ISO 20000 to demonstrate service quality. It's increasingly required in enterprise RFPs and provides competitive differentiation.

Key Requirements

✓Multi-client service delivery
✓SLA management
✓Scalable processes
✓Reporting and governance

Example Use Case

An MSP achieves ISO 20000 to win enterprise contracts, using certification to demonstrate mature service management and win against competitors.

Financial Services

Financial services IT must demonstrate service reliability and governance. ISO 20000 provides auditable framework for IT service management.

Key Requirements

✓Change governance
✓Incident response
✓Regulatory reporting
✓Service continuity

Example Use Case

A bank's IT department achieves ISO 20000 to satisfy regulatory expectations for IT governance and demonstrate service reliability.

Technology & SaaS

SaaS providers need structured service management to meet customer SLAs. ISO 20000 demonstrates enterprise-ready operations.

Key Requirements

✓24/7 incident management
✓DevOps integration
✓Change control
✓SLA reporting

Example Use Case

A SaaS platform achieves ISO 20000 to win enterprise clients requiring mature service management and demonstrable SLA performance.

Transparent Pricing

ISO 20000 Certification Costs

What to budget for your ISO 20000 certification journey

📊 Typical Investment Ranges — These are industry-standard ranges based on company size (50-500 employees). Your actual investment depends on scope, existing controls, and compliance maturity.

Cost Component	Starting From	Up To	Notes
Assessment & Gap Analysis	$8,000	$25,000	Current state evaluation
SMS Development	$20,000	$60,000	Processes, procedures, tooling
Implementation	$15,000	$50,000	Training and deployment
ITSM Tooling	$10,000/year	$100,000/year	ServiceNow, Jira, etc.
Certification Audit	$12,000	$35,000	Stage 1 & Stage 2
Annual Surveillance	$6,000	$18,000	Required maintenance

💡 Get your personalized quote: Costs vary significantly based on organization size, infrastructure complexity, and existing security controls. Our ISO 20000 readiness assessment provides a tailored cost estimate within 48 hours.

Get a Personalized Quote

Framework Comparison

ISO 20000 vs Other Frameworks

How ISO 20000 compares to related compliance standards

Aspect	ISO 20000	ISO 27001	SOC 2
Focus	IT service management	Information security	Trust services criteria
Framework Alignment	ITIL aligned	ISO 27002 controls	Trust Services Criteria
Primary Audience	IT service providers, IT depts	Any organization	Service organizations

Avoid These Pitfalls

Common ISO 20000 Mistakes

Learn from others' mistakes so you don't repeat them

Process documentation without adoption

Consequence

Documented processes not followed. Audit non-conformities. No service improvement.

Prevention

Ensure processes are practical and adopted. Train staff. Monitor compliance. Improve based on feedback.

CMDB inaccuracy

Consequence

Change impact assessment fails. Incident resolution slower. Root cause analysis unreliable.

Prevention

Implement automated discovery. Verify CMDB regularly. Integrate with change management.

Weak change management

Consequence

Uncontrolled changes cause incidents. Service instability. Customer impact.

Prevention

Enforce change process. Assess risk and impact. Require testing. Conduct post-implementation review.

Multi-Framework Efficiency

ISO 20000 Control Overlap

Leverage shared controls when pursuing multiple certifications

ISO 20000 ↔ ISO 27001

65%

Shared control areas:

Change managementIncident managementAsset managementContinuity

ISO 20000 ↔ ISO 22301

60%

Shared control areas:

Service continuityIncident responseRecovery procedures

ISO 20000 ↔ SOC 2

55%

Shared control areas:

Change managementIncident managementAvailabilityMonitoring

Your Path to Certification

Our proven process gets you certified faster

Current State Assessment

1-2 weeks

Evaluate existing practices against requirements.

SMS Design

3-4 weeks

Design service management system and processes.

Implementation

6-10 weeks

Deploy SMS with tooling and training.

Internal Audit

1-2 weeks

Verify compliance before certification.

Certification Audit

1-2 weeks

External audit and certification.

Expert Insights

What compliance experts say about ISO 20000

"For MSPs, ISO 20000 is becoming table stakes for enterprise clients. Combined with ISO 27001, it demonstrates both service quality and security. We often implement both together—the overlap in change and incident management means you're building one integrated system that satisfies both standards."
H
Heena Sharma
Privacy & Compliance Lead at isauditr

Frequently Asked Questions

Who needs ISO 20000?

MSPs, internal IT departments, cloud providers, and any organization demonstrating IT service management excellence. It's increasingly required in enterprise RFPs for managed services.

How does ISO 20000 relate to ITIL?

ITIL provides best practice guidance; ISO 20000 is a certifiable standard. They're complementary—most ISO 20000 implementations use ITIL as the framework for designing processes.

Can ISO 20000 integrate with ISO 27001?

Yes, both use Annex SL structure. Many organizations pursue both for comprehensive IT management—ISO 20000 for service management and ISO 27001 for security. Significant overlap exists in change and incident management.

What ITSM tools are needed?

You need ITSM tooling supporting incident, problem, change, and configuration management. Options include ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Freshservice, BMC Helix, and others. Tool selection depends on scale and requirements.