NCC Members have free access to this Guideline on the NCC Membership website.

As the supply of IT (from bespoke to packaged software) is far more a service than a product issue, it is vital to have a route to define and control those services to make the intangible, tangible. BS 15000 provides management direction, and the framework to plan for putting adequate resources in to delivering services.

More and more people rely on these IT services, requiring advanced facilities at minimum cost, whilst the service providers must satisfy their customers within a cost-effective framework. BS 15000 explains:

• To service providers: how to manage and improve the quality of the services to their customers.
• For the customers: how to work with the service providers to agree the levels of service.
• For both: the users? responsibilities (such as incident reporting, security of log-ons etc.).

This works for outsourcing, and for managing the relationship between the IT department and the rest of the organisation.