Lingua franca: a language, or often a simplified form of it, that has been chosen as a means of communication amongst the speakers of different languages.

I write this feeling happy and relieved because Part 3 of the ISO/IEC 20000 series has been sent for review by an ISO Editor. Following the Editor’s review Part 3 will (hopefully) be successful in its final ballot, with publication this year as ISO/IEC TR 20000-3: Information technology — Service management — Part 3: Guidance for the scoping and applicability of ISO/IEC 20000-1.

Part 3 covers very complex but vital topics for anyone involved in service management. How do you define the scope of what you are doing? Will ISO/IEC 20000-1 be relevant to your organization? How do you prove you do service management really well?

Even if ISO/IEC 20000 is ignored, scoping is fundamental to service improvements and essential to managing a supply chain delivering service. As many of us working in service management have found this is simple to say but very difficult to do. How do we define the complicated sprawling network of suppliers, lead suppliers, sub-contracted suppliers, internal service providers, external service providers and customers…..that have such a marked effect on service management activities?

Thanks to WG25 the International Standards group responsible for IT service management standards, Part 3 now gives practical advice on scoping and applicability of ISO/IEC 20000-1. Part 3 also includes advice on conformity assessment against the requirements in Part 1. Special thanks should go to Anita Myrberg, the WG25 technical specialist who is the Project Editor for Part 3. (‘Project Editor’ is ‘ISO speak’ for a volunteer service management specialist who project manages the production of an ISO document, including the technical editing).

Parts 1 and 2 were published late in 2005 as the first international standard on service management. Because it was a new area for IT standard a completely new group was established in 2006. The interest in service management is so great that we already have a membership of 23 standards bodies and several liaison members, including itSMFI and ISACA/ITGI.

At the same time as producing Part 3, WG25 are developing second editions of Part 1 (the requirements) and Part 2 (advice on the requirements). Other new documents are Part 4 (process reference model) and Part 5 (implementation plan for ISO/IEC 20000-1). WG25 are working closely with WG10 to produce ISO/IEC 15504-8 (process assessment – think SPICE or CMMi).

With such a broad based of membership and a wide range of documents under production, debates have been ‘lively’, sometimes ‘intense’, but ultimately productive.

So what is our biggest challenge? For me, it is not the technical aspects of the work we are doing, instead it is making the 20000 series truly international. ISO effectively operates in English, and I have always been in awe of those that do this work when they are not native English speakers. I have become much more aware of the differences in how ‘ordinary’ words are used and interpreted across language and cultural boundaries. UK English differs from other forms, for example Australian English and US English. The English language has more words than any other and some words just do not have an equivalent in another language. Sometimes cultural differences make a word sensitive to a reader, even if there is a direct translation.

I’d like to share some of these with you, by way of a competition. On the 30th January I will give a small prize to the person who sends in the best paragraph on service management using all the forbidden or ‘sensitive’ words or short phrases below. Split infinitives, bad grammar and punctuation are all allowed.

1. activities
2. any,
3. can,
4. education,
5. implement,
6. management control,
7. may,
8. meet,
9. must,
10. possible,
11. prioritization,
12. role,
13. senior management,
14. to table,
15. training.

Competition Entries