Education for IT Service Management Standards

Service management standards such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and now ISO/IEC 20000, provide guidance and tools for effective management and control of IT service delivery. These standards are of increasing importance to organizations around the globe. Education about these standards and possibilities for training of IT staff are, therefore, important. Universities have a place in this education process; however, academics have not embraced these standards in either research or education about them. Regardless, demand grows for IT staff qualified to various levels, particularly basic or foundation levels, in these standards. This paper considers the training on offer and the requirement for education related to IT service management. Benefits to universities, graduates and industry are numerous including increases in student numbers, enhanced employment options for graduates and improved IT service quality but there are challenges too, in particular how to effectively transfer the knowledge to students who have not experienced the IT service environment first hand.