• To represent the sum of knowledge within the profession of service management;
• To organize, distill & provide access to the continuously evolving core knowledge used by service management professionals & their organizations;
• To define & use generally accepted definitions & summaries of important roles, concepts, tools, methodologies & practices;
• Promote the advancement, understanding, and recognition of the profession among those who interact with the service community;
• Facilitate professional development for practitioners at any stage in their careers, as well as people who come from other backgrounds/disciplines;
• Provide the basis for future curriculum development and support for professional development and any future certification schemes;
• Promote integration and connections with related disciplines;
  

A Body of Knowledge designed to support the maturity of a profession requires the following minimum elements:

GUIDE
A publication that describes the core elements of the BOK that tend not to change, and acting as the basis for the Service Management Qualification Scheme.

Glossary
A comprehensive lexicon of all the terms, concepts and acronyms used within the GUIDE publication, containing summary explanations, and comparisons with third-party terms used elsewhere in the service management industry, with which they are synonymous.

Personal accreditation qualification scheme
A qualification scheme of credentials and 'certification's an individual can gain based upon commonly accepted roles and responsibilities within a service provider organization.

Standards compliant credentialing program
A credentialing program that is consistent and preferably compliant with the requirements of national, and international education standards. The program should be open to anyone and clearly delineate between credentials, providing a progressive path to the senior credential.

Professional Registry
An open enrollment online service where candidates, professionals and credential owners may record and securely maintain information on their career experience, education history, and professional development units (PDUs). The system should support a request for PDU review and allotment to allow eligibility for elements of the credential program.

References to supporting information sources
The BOK should provide a reference as an acknowledgement of any information used from a third-party source.

Transparent, open governance for growth
An easy to understand and transparent governance scheme to support both the maturity and growth of the BOK, and to oversee the scope and correctness of Qualification Scheme and credentialing program.

Dynamic method for maturity
A request management system capable of supporting questions and enquiries regarding the BOK, and a means by which persons can submit candidate extensions (additions) to the BOK for consideration by the Governance Council.

• The service lifecycle;
• The service requirement lifecycle;
• The service request lifecycle;
• The service provision lifecycle;
• The serviice operations lifecycle;
• The service event lifecycle;
• The service support lifecycle;
• The service revision lifecycle;
• The service release lifecycle;
• The service asset lifecycle;
• The service change lifecycle;
• The service quality lifecycle.