You've probably heard the adage "Every journey begins with one step." If you are adopting an ISO 20000-based IT Service Management System (ITSMS), the first (or, at the very least, one of the first) steps would be to create an SMS strategy.
What is an ISO 20000 SMS Plan?
The SMS Plan is a document that reflects the company's approach to IT Service Management (ITSM). The goal of such a plan is to describe the scope, requirements, responsibilities, and resources required to run the services. Alternatively, the SMS Plan can be thought of as the SMS's identification card.
If you look at the standard's requirements, you'll see that several other plans are required for developing and running the SMS. These are plans that are particular to specific processes, such as the Capacity Plan, Availability Plan, Service Continuity Plan, and so on. In comparison to these other plans, the SMS Plan is a high-level document to which all other plans must be matched.
What is the Content of ISO 20000 SMS Plan?
The ISO 20000-1 (SMS requirements) text is extremely extensive in outlining SMS Plan criteria. These needs can be classified as follows:
Every part of the service: All components of the service, including the technology used to enable the SMS, the SMS's scope and restrictions, and any relevant policies, standards, or frameworks in place.
Service needs - The SMS Plan, including relevant policies, should be aligned with the service requirements (i.e., customer/business requirements in the background).
Human side - Duties, responsibilities, and authorities should be established, as should connections with other (third) parties.
Procedures and their connections - Defined processes must have explicit roles and authorities, as well as specified interfaces with other processes within the scope of the SMS (e.g., what information, how frequently, and how it will be sent from one process to another).
The Objectives of ISO 20000 SMS Plan
First and foremost, who is in charge of the SMS Plan? The SMS Plan is assigned to high management under the standard. But consider this for a moment. Top management is responsible for the SMS as a whole, and they will not have enough time to deal with "details" like the SMS Plan. Process managers are in charge of various processes (and associated plans) within the scope of the SMS, therefore a management representative (also known as an "SMS manager") is the appropriate choice to be in charge of the SMS Plan.
What would this person's responsibilities be? Let's start at the beginning: making the plan. Because the strategy requires numerous inputs, the management representative will need to communicate with process owners, line management (in IT), other functions within IT and the organization (e.g., finance/controlling), and so on. Once prepared, the plan should be (often) evaluated and (if necessary) revised. Because the SMS Plan is one of the most important components of the SMS, it's a good idea to evaluate and authorise changes to it during the management review meeting, especially if your scope is changing (as previously noted, the scope is part of the SMS Plan).
Why to Choose Certificationconsultancy.com?
There are lots of training and document service providers available in the market. But Certificationconsultancy.com is the best platform. We provide the documents and training presentation kit. We offer a ready-to-use ISO 20000:2018 auditor training presentation package. This ITSMS awareness & auditor training presentation kit is useful for gathering vital information regarding IT Service Management System requirements, as well as information on required documentation and certification methods.
No comments yet