Benefits resulting from the combined use of ISO/IEC 15504 with the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

This paper relates how different thoughts and experiences with ISO/IEC 15504 standard and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) lead to a R&D project definition for a combined use of both standards, in a SMEs adapted way. The idea is born from empirical findings emanating from several IT process improvement projects taking place in the Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor (Luxembourg). After underlining several facts such as disconnection between IT service management and IT development, IT quality standards not adapted to SMEs, and the more and more frequent implementation of ITIL and ISO/IEC 15504 within companies, the paper describes the links that can be established between both standards and the resulting R&D project aiming at building an integrated assessment and improvement approach combining their use, and dedicated to SMEs.