The itSMF ISO/IEC20000 Scheme has been acquired by APMG International

We've had lots of interest in why APMG-International has bought itSMF UK's ISO/IEC 20000 scheme.

The answer is that itSMF UK is a membership organisation whose primary objective is to provide membership services and harness our members' knowledge and understanding to promote thought leadership within our industry and to create collateral that may be used by it. itSMF UK is not ideally structured to administer a certification scheme, especially one that is growing in importance globally.

APMG, on the other hand, is a certification body operating internationally and rather than create their own offering in ISO/IEC 20000 they decided to acquire the market-leading scheme from itSMF UK. They have 17 years' experience of working in partnership with certification scheme owners and are confident that they will be able to generate increased interest in this scheme internationally. This will benefit both the organizations that wish to gain accreditation, and the specialist training and certification bodies which offer the scheme.

itSMF UK will continue to be involved in the scheme. Under our agreement we have committed to working collaboratively for five years, with itSMF UK having responsibility for developing ideas and concepts which could be offered by APMG. Also under the arrangement itSMF UK will receive revenue from APMG based on the success of the scheme.

You can access the APMG ISO/IEC20000 scheme webpages at:

http://www.apmg-international.com/home/Qualifications/ISOIEC20000/ISOIEC20000Home.asp