Services / ISO 20000-1 certification
ISO 20000-1 certification for IT service management, from $800
For IT service providers, managed service companies and internal IT departments that want to prove their services are planned, delivered and improved in a controlled way.
From $800Certified by EUROTECH
- Accredited by IAB and INTAQS
- Issuing certificates since 2004
- Online or on-site audits worldwide
- Verify any EUROTECH certificate
What ISO 20000-1 certification covers
ISO/IEC 20000-1 sets the requirements for a service management system. It applies to any organization that delivers services, but it is used mostly for IT services: hosting, managed infrastructure, application support, service desks, cloud services and internal IT departments that serve the rest of the business.
The current edition is ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018. It follows the same high-level structure as ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001, with a set of service management processes at its core. The audit checks that these processes are defined, used and improved, and that services meet the commitments you make to customers.
Many teams already work with ITIL practices. ITIL is a body of guidance, not a certifiable standard for organizations; ISO 20000-1 is the standard you can certify against. If your processes follow ITIL, much of the work is already done, and the audit checks the evidence.
- Service catalogue, service level management and reporting
- Incident management, service requests and problem management
- Change management, release and deployment, and configuration management
- Capacity, availability and service continuity management
- Information security management, supplier management and relationship management
- Budgeting and accounting for services
Not every process has to be run by you. If a supplier runs the service desk or the network, you remain accountable for the service to your customer, so the standard expects you to govern that supplier and include its performance in your service reporting.
Scope options and audit format
The scope names the services and the customers they are delivered to, for example managed network services for business customers, or IT support services for an internal group. You can start with one important service and extend the scope later.
IT service management evidence lives mainly in tools: the service desk system, monitoring platforms, change records, configuration databases and service reports. That makes ISO 20000-1 well suited to online audits, with the auditor reviewing live records on screen and interviewing process owners on video.
If you already hold ISO/IEC 27001, the overlap is large: information security, supplier management, continuity and the management system processes can be shared, and an integrated audit saves days. ISO 9001 can be combined in the same way.
Where services depend on your own data centre or operations centre, a short on-site visit may be planned, especially at the first certification.
What drives the price
ISO 20000-1 certification with EUROTECH starts at $800. Audit time depends on the services and the people delivering them.
- Number of services in scope and how many customers they serve
- Number of people involved in delivering and supporting the services
- Sites, such as service desks, operations centres and data centres
- Suppliers that deliver parts of the service, such as cloud or network providers
- Integration with ISO/IEC 27001 or ISO 9001
We confirm audit days and every fee in a written quote. Tool reports that already show service levels, incident trends and change success rates shorten the audit considerably.
Customer agreements with very different terms also add audit time, because each needs its own targets and reports. Standardizing service levels where you can makes both the service and the audit simpler.
How ISO 20000-1 certification works with us
Step 1
Scope and quote
We agree the services, customers and sites in scope and quote the audit in writing.
Step 2
Stage 1 review
We review your service management plan, catalogue, agreements and process definitions.
Step 3
Stage 2 audit
The auditor samples incidents, changes, service reports and supplier records in your tools.
Step 4
Certificate and surveillance
After the decision you receive the ISO 20000-1 certificate, with yearly surveillance audits.
Customers and markets
We certify ISO 20000-1 for IT service providers in the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa. The certificate is most often requested in public sector tenders, in outsourcing contracts and by large enterprise customers who want assurance that their provider manages services in a disciplined way.
Contracts and service level agreements differ by customer and by country, but the standard expects the same thing everywhere: that you know what you have committed to, measure it and act when you miss it. During the audit we sample a few customer agreements and compare them with service reports and incident records.
Where you deliver services across borders, check data protection and contractual requirements in each market. ISO 20000-1 asks you to identify and meet them as part of service requirements.
For providers that sell to public sector bodies, ISO 20000-1 is sometimes a scoring criterion in the tender rather than a pass or fail requirement. A certificate that can be verified online helps evaluators confirm the claim quickly.
What to expect during the audit
Stage 1 checks the service management plan, the service catalogue, service level agreements and the process definitions, together with internal audit and management review. Stage 2 samples the processes in operation.
Expect requests like: show the last three major incidents and their problem records; show a sample of changes, including an emergency change, with their approval and post-implementation review; show the service report sent to a customer last month and what happened when a target was missed; show how capacity is forecast for a critical service.
The auditor also checks how suppliers are managed: contracts, performance reviews and the way supplier issues feed into your own incident and problem processes.
Configuration records are often the weakest part of a first audit. The auditor will pick a service and ask which configuration items support it, how the records are kept accurate and how changes update them. A partial but accurate configuration database is better evidence than a complete but outdated one.
Findings are graded as major or minor, and certification is decided on the evidence. You receive a written report explaining each finding.
Keeping the certificate
Service management improves through its own data. Review service reports, incident and problem trends, change success rates and customer satisfaction regularly, and turn what you learn into improvement actions with owners and dates.
Customer satisfaction counts as evidence. Short surveys after incidents, regular service reviews with key customers and complaint records all show how services are perceived, and the auditor will look at how you respond to what customers tell you.
Update the service catalogue and agreements when services change, and plan new or changed services through the design and transition process the standard requires. Surveillance audits will look at what changed since the last visit and how it was controlled.
Tell us about significant scope changes, such as new services, a new data centre or a large new customer, so the audit plan stays accurate.
Questions buyers ask
How much does ISO 20000-1 certification cost?
With EUROTECH it starts at $800. Services in scope, people, sites, suppliers and integration with ISO 27001 set the final price.
Is ITIL the same as ISO 20000-1?
No. ITIL is guidance for IT service management practices. ISO 20000-1 is a standard organizations can be certified against. ITIL-based processes help meet it.
Can internal IT departments get certified?
Yes. The internal business units they serve are treated as customers, with agreed service levels.
Which edition is current?
ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018.
Can the audit be done online?
Usually yes, since most evidence is in service management tools. A short on-site visit may be planned for data centres or operations centres.
Can we combine ISO 20000-1 with ISO 27001?
Yes. They share structure and several processes, so an integrated audit is common and saves time.
Related services
- ISO 27001 certification
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- ISO 22301 certification
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- ISO 9001 certification
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Get a quote for ISO 20000-1 certification
Tell us your company, sites and the standard you need. We reply with a written quote and the audit plan.
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