Achieving ISO/IEC 20000: Finance for Service Managers 2nd Edition

Description

This book covers budgeting and accounting for IT services based on ISO/IEC 20000. It introduces financial terms that may be unfamiliar to service management specialists, which will help with understanding the requirements and recommendations. It also covers the relationship between budgeting, accounting and charging, and outlines the importance of service management processes in regulatory compliance.

Financial management is central to any successful service provider, irrespective of whether they charge for their services or are funded out of what is considered to be a financial 'black hole'. The importance of value for money and understanding of true cost of ownership continue to increase in importance, with senior management being challenged on these aspects of their service. Often it is the responsibility of the service provider to prove they represent value for money, in some cases this is tested by the customers themselves.

Commercial and in-house service providers are both under these pressures, with customers changing from one service provider to another if they believe there is an advantage to them to do so. Customer satisfaction is also strongly influenced by value for money although this may be based on perceptions in the absence of the information required to make an objective judgment. Financial information and effective processes are particularly important in business relationships, service level management and supplier management.

Some service managers view budgeting and accounting as an alien activity, outside their normal scope and involving a strange language. However, financial management is part of the professional management of any function. There are also many parallels between budgeting and accounting and other service management processes, such as service level management. For example, a budget, which is a set of financial targets, plays the same part in the financial management process as service targets in service level management. Similarly, a meeting to discuss the differences between actual costs and budgeted costs is similar to a service review comparing actual service levels and service targets performed under service level management. Both processes provide input to a plan for improving the service.

Finally, effective service management requires financial management competence, particularly among the process owners, but it does not require accountancy training.

CONTENTS:

* Introduction

    * Financial matters

    * Financial terms and definitions

    * Policy, process and procedures

    * Planning for effective financial control

    * Budgeting and accounting processes

    * Financial responsibilities

    * Charging

    * The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle

    * Interfaces to other service management processes

    * Example metrics and audit evidence

    * Regulatory and legal compliance

    * ISO/IEC 20000 requirements in summary

    * Bibliography and further references

    * Books in the 'Achieving ISO/IEC 20000' series