An IT service management system (ITSMS) is a strategic tool that can help firms increase efficiencies, optimize technology usage, save money, and provide a variety of other benefits beyond IT. The ISO and IEC 20000 family of standards give international best-practice guidance for an efficient ITSMS.
This standard lays out the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving a service management system in an organization (SMS). The planning, design, transfer, delivery, and enhancement of services to meet service criteria and deliver value are all included in the standards described in this standard. The following people may benefit from this standard:

• a customer who is in the market for services and requires assurance regarding the quality of those services;
• a customer who requires a consistent service lifecycle approach across all of its service providers, including those in a supply chain;
• an organization's capacity for planning, designing, transitioning, delivering, and improving services;
• the capacity of an organization to plan, design, transition, deliver, and improve its services;
• an organization's planning, design, transition, delivery, and improvement of services by implementing and operating an SMS effectively;
• an organization or other third party that conducts conformity assessments with the specifications contained in this document;
• provider of service management training and consultation.

The ISO/IEC 20000 series can assist everyone who offers services to clients, whether it is an entire organization or a single department, by not only increasing service but also ensuring that service management activities are aligned with business priorities and objectives.