Synopsis
ISO/IEC 20000 is an IT service management standard produced by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO). ISO/IEC 20000 is a process-based standard that provides the basis for assessing whether service providers have best-practice, reliable, repeatable and measurable processes. It is based on, and is intended to supersede, the earlier British Standard, BS 15000.
ISO/IEC 20000 is composed of two specifications; ISO/IEC 20000-1 promotes an approach to effectively deliver managed services whilst ISO/IEC 20000-2 describes best-practice for service management within the scope of ISO/IEC 20000-1. Achieving ISO/IEC 20000 Capacity management describes the requirements for delivering capacity management as described in clause 6.5 of ISO/IEC 20000.
This book is the eighth in a series of ten publications, all written by the same authors; Jenny Dugmore and Shirley Lacy are service management consultants rather than capacity management specialists.
The first thing to note is that much of the book's information on achieving ISO/IEC 20000 is not limited to capacity management. For example, the section on the role of suppliers is relevant to most service management functions. Similarly, the final chapter on management requirements and policy, process and procedure is not specific to capacity management. Given that much of the information in this book is likely to have been reproduced in the other nine volumes, a single consolidated volume would have been more pragmatic. The £25 retail price does not represent good value for money for a book that is just 73 pages long. (Note, however that the total cost of the ISO/IEC 20000-1 and ISO/IEC 20000-2 specifications is £220 for a total of 48 pages).
The book itself is a slim paperback, which has been typeset using standard Microsoft Office products. The charts and diagrams in particular lack the professional look that one would expect in such an expensive book.
The book contains a number of examples that serve to describe the benefits of a best-practice capacity management process. These should help someone unfamiliar with capacity management to understand its importance. As ISO/IEC 20000 does not specify any methods, techniques or procedures for capacity management, it is perhaps not surprising that these are not discussed in the book. As such, it does not provide much practical information on how to actually deliver capacity management. The book does contain a five-page example checklist for a capacity plan that would be a useful starting point for someone unfamiliar with producing one.
The most useful section of the book is an appendix containing a three page summary of the specific requirements of capacity management for achieving ISO/IEC 20000. These are broken down into ISO/IEC 20000-1 requirements and ISO/IEC 20000-2 recommendations. However, as this information could be obtained from the standard itself, even this is of limited value.
Summary
Although the book does make some useful points (for example, that best-practice capacity management also includes capacity planning for people and facilities) it is lightweight in its approach and lacking any real depth. Whilst this book can help an organisation to understand what is required to achieve ISO/IEC 20000, it does not provide enough added value to justify the price.
Ultimately, this book doesn't contain much to interest anyone already familiar with capacity management (readers that want an introduction to capacity management are advised to read the first few chapters of any capacity planning book by Daniel A.Menascé). Achieving ISO/IEC 20000 Capacity management contains no original research or any methods for delivering best-practice capacity management. As such, it is unclear what value it brings beyond a summary of the requirements of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard.
