ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 is a service management system (SMS) standard. It specifies requirements for the service provider to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and improve an SMS. The requirements include the design, transition, delivery and improvement of services to fulfil agreed service requirements.

ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 can be used by:

• an organization seeking services from service providers and requiring assurance that their service requirements will be fulfilled;
• an organization that requires a consistent approach by all its service providers, including those in a supply chain;
• a service provider that intends to demonstrate its capability for the design, transition, delivery and improvement of services that fulfil service requirements;
• a service provider to monitor, measure and review its service management processes and services;
• a service provider to improve the design, transition, delivery and improvement of services through the effective implementation and operation of the SMS;
• an assessor or auditor as the criteria for a conformity assessment of a service provider's SMS to the requirements in ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011.