{"id":4426,"date":"2015-03-31T18:56:50","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T18:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multiacademstg.wpengine.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/03\/31\/itil-and-iso-20000-what-does-project-management-have-to-do-with-it\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T15:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:58:10","slug":"itil-and-iso-20000-what-does-project-management-have-to-do-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/blog\/2015\/03\/31\/itil-and-iso-20000-what-does-project-management-have-to-do-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"ITIL and ISO 20000 \u2013 What does Project Management have to do with it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Both <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/what-is-itil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ITIL<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/what-is-iso-20000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ISO 20000<\/a>\u00a0are related to IT services. But, how much does project management fit in with (both of) them? I would say \u2013 a lot. Actually, I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not telling you anything new when I say that Project Management is (very) often used in IT \u2013 in many different ways and at many different points throughout the service lifecycle.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Common issues<\/h2>\n<p>There are many project management methodologies, and features of each. But, more or less, all of them have a few common parameters:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Resources \u2013 this includes human as well as non-human resources, their amounts and capabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Time \u2013 in the real world, this is one of the most critical components \u2013 every project has milestones and deadlines.<\/li>\n<li>Budget \u2013 meaning, how much the project is allowed to cost. I assume there is no need to discuss this parameter (including overspending for the project implementation).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My experience is, when following the project management approach, surprises will be kept to a minimum and control will be maintained over time, resources, and money. Consequently, your superior, in the first place, will be satisfied. And, sooner or later, you will notice that you can \u201cbreathe normally\u201d during the implementation.<br \/>\n<div id=\"middle-banner\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><script>loadMiddleBanner();<\/script><br \/>\n<div id=\"side-banner-trigger\" class=\"banner-shortcode\"><\/div><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">In scope of ITIL and ISO 20000<\/h2>\n<p>ITIL and\/or ISO 20000 consider many implementations. Let me distinguish between these two categories: i.e., implementation of new services or changes to existing services, and how project management correlates with them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4427\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/Service_Lifecycle_and_Project_Management.png\" alt=\"Service_Lifecycle_and_Project_Management.png\" width=\"687\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/Service_Lifecycle_and_Project_Management.png 687w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/07\/Service_Lifecycle_and_Project_Management-300x118.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\" \/><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><em>Figure: Service Lifecycle and Project Management\u2013 emphasized in Service Design and Service Transition<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>New services may be easier to present. There is a business requirement, and consequently, the introduction of a new service. As you can see in the Figure, as the new service progresses through the phases, more and more processes, functions, and roles get involved. If you were responsible for the IT Service Management, wouldn\u2019t you like to have more overview and control? I\u2019m sure you would. Introducing one new service can be complex. Can you imagine having many of them? Things can easily get out of control \u2013 Project Management can help you to keep control, particularly if you have changing business <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=relationship-and-agreement-processes&amp;doc=service-level-requirements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requirements<\/a>. For example, you are implementing a service and during implementation your main competitor introduces the same service with additional functionality. To stay competitive, the least you can do is to implement the same functionality (change in requirements, in your case) or even something better. But, you will not start a new project \u2013 you\u2019ll continue with the existing one, taking into account the changed business requirements (and, don\u2019t be surprised \u2013 that could happen several times before the service goes live).<\/p>\n<p>If you already have live service(s) and you need to change something \u2013 there are several places where Project Management can help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Change Management \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=service-design-build-and-transition-processes&amp;doc=request-for-change-and-change-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Change<\/a>\u00a0implementation require many different resources, is time sensitive, and needs some budget to spend. And, all these are characteristics of a project. Well, of course, standard changes or some smaller (minor) changes are (most probably) excluded. But, many other types of changes will benefit if developed and implemented using Project Management methodology.<\/li>\n<li>Release and Deployment Management \u2013 that\u2019s a very important step before a new or changed service enters the live environment. The design of the service can influence the quality that we provide with the service(s), but Release and Deployment Management (RDM) is where we can add a high amount of value and quality to what the future service (or change in existing service) provides. Therefore, besides being in the customer\u2019s best interest, it\u2019s also in our own best interest to go through the <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/?rel=service-design-build-and-transition-processes&amp;doc=release-and-deployment-management-process\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RDM process<\/a> as best as possible. Having in mind all activities that need to be performed, Project Management is a logical tool to keep it managed.<\/li>\n<li>Continual Service Improvement \u2013 if I may say so: \u201cThe sky is the limit.\u201d Continual Service Improvement, if done properly, opens many smaller or bigger projects. And that\u2019s the phase of the service lifecycle where efforts invested in Project Management pay off in the form of higher efficiency, savings, optimization, etc. Of course, not all improvements require setting up a project, but due to the scope that improvements cover \u2013 many improvement initiatives will.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">Pitfalls<\/h2>\n<p>Maybe it sounds (from the elaboration so far) like Project Management makes a perfect match with ITIL or ISO 20000. That\u2019s mostly true, but, on the other side, there are some pitfalls that need to be avoided:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Project Manager \u2013 as in all projects, ITIL\/ISO 20000 projects are dependent on the Project Manager\u2019s knowledge and experience. Dealing with expensive technology\/components or affecting customer services only serve to increase that need.<\/li>\n<li>Complexity of implementation \u2013 this point is an add-on to the previous one. Adding new services, their components, and infrastructure that need to be managed increases the complexity of the new projects. The Project Manager\u2019s skills are crucial to handle this situation.<\/li>\n<li>Inflexibility \u2013 Project Management methodologies are OK, and I like them, but they aren\u2019t the \u201cbe-all and end-all.\u201d Sticking solely to the Project Management Methodology will be too inflexible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px;\">The approach<\/h2>\n<p>One mistake that I have often seen is that people try to lead implementation from their heads, meaning without a managed, controlled procedure \u2013 i.e., Project Management. Sometimes, it works. But, sooner or later it won\u2019t, and then the problems start. I don\u2019t think that you should blindly stick to certain Project Management methodology. Use the one you prefer, but keep in mind that there is another methodology that should lead the game \u2013 common sense.<\/p>\n<p><em>To implement ISO 20000 easily and efficiently, use our<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/iso-20000-documentation-toolkit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ISO 20000 Documentation Toolkit<\/a> <em>that provides step-by-step guidance for full ISO 20000 compliance.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Both ITIL\u00a0and ISO 20000\u00a0are related to IT services. But, how much does project management fit in with (both of) them? I would say \u2013 a lot. Actually, I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not telling you anything new when I say that Project Management is (very) often used in IT \u2013 in many different ways and at many &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":4427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[391,340,400,401,344,379,402,204],"class_list":["post-4426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-change","tag-continual-service-improvement","tag-implementation","tag-isoiec-20000","tag-itil","tag-project-management","tag-release-and-deployment","tag-service"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4426"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18462,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions\/18462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.advisera.com\/20000academy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}